We brought a wine home from Chicago last summer that sat quietly in one of the top slots in our kitchen island rack, mostly out of sight and until a few days ago, completely forgotten. The wine is Tabor Hill's Classic Demi-Red. It's a $9 wine from Michigan, and I broke it out looking for something that would go well with a spicy (for us at least; read here: has some spices in it) chicken goulash that Carol threw together just for fun.
Yes, it's fairly sweet by wine snob standards, but it's less sweet than St. Julian's excellent Red Heron, and on a sweetness par with most white zins. It has the virtue of not being sour, as semi-sweet wines too often are, probably by imitating white zin. It's fruity and does not have the sour white zin ragged edge. The label calls it “soft” and I agree. No perceptible bitterness, and not grapey, though “grapey” is not a show-killer for me. (It usually means having a whiff of concord in it, which is not always a bad thing.)
It's a 12% wine and went down very easily, making a good complement to the goulash. I don't know where all you can get it. We saw it in several of the Meijer's markets outside Chicago, and I can only assume it's common in Michigan. I have yet to see it in Colorado, and we probably won't have it again until our next trip in.
Nonetheless, if you like sweetish wines, I call it highly recommended.
By the way, tonight is The Wall Street Journal's Open the Bottle night, and we will (finally!) be opening the bottle of 1994 Schlossadler Dornfelder that we failed to open for our 30th wedding anniversary back in '06. Maybe's it's vinegar. I don't know how well dornfelders age. But we'll let you know.
