Wine Wednesday: Flip Flop Pinot Grigio

Hey there, Wine Wednesday!  This week, we are featuring a wine that I have long avoided.  Flip Flop Pinot Grigio.  To be honest, the only reason I avoided this wine was because it was called Flip Flop.  I don't know why, it just rubbed me the wrong way.  But K suggested we try it, and I decided to put aside my name snobbery so that I could bring you all a new review.  Do you see the sacrifices I make for you readers?  And by "readers", I mean my mom and my cousin.  Oh hey, Mom!

Anyway, after purchasing this bottle, I realized that part of the reason this wine is called Flip Flop is because the proceeds benefit Soles 4 Souls, which is a shoe and clothing charity.  So, sort of like when you buy a pair of Toms, your purchase helps provide shoes to someone in need.  Ok, Flip Flop.  Bonus points for charity.  Now I feel bad about judging you for your name before.

Anyway, back to the task at hand, which is the wine.  To be honest, this wine was exactly what I expected.  It wasn't a bad bottle of wine, but it was pretty much exactly what you would expect to get for seven dollars.  It was light and refreshing, with balanced flavors.  Nothing really stood out to me about this wine.  Although it was fine, I don't think it will be replacing my fallback cheap wines anytime soon.

Wine:  Flip Flop Pinot Grigio
Year: 2012
Region: California
Purchased From: Sprouts
 Price: $7
Verdict: 3/5

Wine Wednesday: Gruner Veltliner Laurenz und Sophie 2011

Wine Wednesday, where have you been?  I've been on a blogging hiatus recently.  I'll blame the fact that I finally got a job and have less free time.  But it is really just because I've been lazy.  Don't worry, though, I didn't forget to celebrate Wine Wednesday all this time, I just neglected to blog about it.

I'll launch this Wine Wednesday with a clearance find from Target.  The great thing about buying marked down wine is that it feels like you are taking less of a risk.  So the random wine you bought was horrible?  At least you didn't pay full price for it.  This was the logic behind grabbing a few random bottles we found on a clearance endcap on a recent jaunt to Target.  Until recently, I had never heard of Gruner Veltliner.  But I was looking for a new wine to order at our favorite (also the only nearby) wine bar.  I spotted the Gruner Veltliner, and had to google it to A.) learn how to pronounce it and B.) decide if I wanted to try it.  After teaching myself how to pronounce it at least somewhat correctly (Grooner Velt-Lean-Er), and learning that this is a white wine grown in Austria, I decided to go ahead and order it.  And although nothing can replace my beloved Pinot Gris, I did enjoy it.  And so, all of this lead to me throwing a few bottles of Gruner into my shopping basket.

This particular wine was veeerrrryyyy dry.  And it oddly reminded me of champagne without the bubbles.  Which makes sense because I later learned that this type of a grape is often turned into a sparkling wine.  This wine was not sweet AT ALL, and not really fruity.  If you love chardonnay, you may like this wine - although this doesn't have any oaky taste to it as many chardonnays do.  I normally prefer a frutier, slightly sweeter wine, but I did enjoy this wine.  I think we also got a fabulous deal on it, because my online research seems to indicate that it runs around $15, and we only paid $5.74 for it. Clearance win!

Wine:  Laurenz und Sophie Gruner Veltliner
Year: 2011
Region: Austria
Purchased From: Target
 Price: $5.74
Verdict: 3.5/5