I apologize for trashing this wine on social media.  I really am.

I am here to have an open mind, and try new things.  I am also here to have an opinion.  I speak to this blog like I would speak to anyone about wine.  I am not hiding behind any flowery words or political walls.  I’m going to lay it out for you as painful as sometimes it may be.

Before I even tasted this wine, I attempted to do a little research.  What I did find was that this wine consists of a blend of Syrah, Merlot, Malbec and Zinfandel.  This excited me.  Syrah is just a sexy beast of a grape; violet hues, silky, full bodied, and all kinds of voluptuousness.  The rest of the grape crew was promising me spice, pillowy yet capable tannins, and balance.  This should be a balanced wine; perfect combination of earth, fruit, and tannic structure.  (more about tannins soon, I promise)

I really can’t say where this wine is specifically from.  I did know it was from California, and I believe one of my searches stated Napa, but that is all I got.  We can PRESUME the Zin was coming from Amador County, or Lodi (great growing area for Zin in California).  The rest MAY come from the North Coast of California, but this is just an educated guess.

Who cares anyway – the wine is a loser.

I tasted nothing.  The fruit was so fleeting that I didn’t even notice it was there.  There was this candied oak presence that turned me off instantly.  When I stuck my nose in the glass, I picked up a grape chewing gum smell.  This is just a turn off, and a sensory memory I left in grade school.

Black Ink wasn’t even a good pairing for pizza!  I think pizza is probably one of the easiest foods to pair with wine, specifically red.  You kind of can’t go wrong.; there was a lot of “wrong” going on.  There was also this viscous texture left on my palate after drinking the wine.  What the heck was going on here!

Crossfitters beware!  I know you want to try this because of the tattoo innuendoes, but just trust me and say no.  I may not be able to climb a freaking rope, or do a butterfly pull up, but I got this wine thing.

My sister usually asks me for a wine she can just guzzle; she is not choosey.  She is a music teacher in a grammar school, and a single mom to a four year old; romantic choices have left her consciousness.  I would tell her to take a pass on this $9.99 choice and pick up a box wine for the same price (Lindemans makes a great one; check it out).  Great marketing here, great packaging, and nice idea……if it’s not in the bottle, does this all really matter?