Wine Box Experience - Alex Salazar

A Personal Touch

The GrapeFind experience has really been a fun and bumpy ride. I’ve officially reached a year of providing my vision of a personalized Sommelier at home service and it’s continuing to improve every day. The goal of this month’s Wine Box Experience is to take you through the process of how wines are selected for you. I’ll breakdown the steps from creating your profile to selecting your wines for this month. By the end, you’ll understand what the wines represent for your growth of understanding with wine.

When you signed up you filled out an Introductory Questionnaire which was full of all sorts of wine topics which helped me design a profile for you. The questions basically told me what your preferences were regarding wine, and, at the end of the day, I was able to figure out what style of wine you enjoy. My profile for you was that you are a medium-to-bold red wine drinker who leans towards a New World wine approach to wine making. So, what does that mean in plain English?

I saw you as a red wine drinker who likes strong flavors but doesn’t care for bitter or sharp qualities. With this in mind, I selected wines for you which represented this style while also pushing you to try wines and grapes from around the world which fit your profile. Along the way different topics were presented which were designed to expand your understanding of wine. Now let’s take a closer look at this month’s selections.

For the Paxton Graciano I wanted to introduce you to a new grape (Graciano) which originates in Spain and is a hidden gem in the blending of such well known wines as Rioja and Ribera del Duero. It provides complex notes like spices and herbs but also shows intense flavors of dark red fruits while remaining bright and vibrant at the same time. It fits right into your flavor profile of wines which you’ve said are favorites of yours like Syrah and Zinfandel but expands the profile a bit with a touch more elevated acidity and tannic (dryness/astringent) structure.

With the Board Track Racer The Shift Red Blend we dive head in to the Syrah characteristics of spicy, jammy and earthy which you stated you liked. This is a new world (modern winemaking style outside of Europe) approach to an old world (European in style) traditional blend. Syrah, Mourvedre & Grenache are typical grapes used in Southern Rhone to create their wines. In this wine you find the presence of dark black fruits as well as notes of black pepper spice and dark chocolate, but they use modern oak in the aging with softens the wine a bit giving it a creamy vanilla profile as well.

This is the approach I’m trying to do with GrapeFind. Introduce you to new and familiar wines but always pushing your understanding of wines and what goes into making them. Below you’ll find the QR Code to the wine descriptions to assist you in your learning process. Thank you again for your support and I look forward to continuing to join you at home as we explore the exciting world of wine. Cheers!