Halloween Wine Review
In this Halloween Wine Review you’ll discover two Halloween themed wines for your next Halloween party.
You could serve them, bring them, or maybe drink them while handing out candy. ;-)
Both of these wines have great labels, as you’ll see in the picture below.
They come from John Nathaniel Wines and Flora Springs in Napa Valley, California and both were received as samples for review purposes.
As an aside, like many Napa Valley wineries, Flora Springs was very much on edge during October 2017 due to the terrible wildfires in that region. As you can see from the picture below (courtesy Flora Springs) things were too close for comfort. They were spared, fortunately.
Halloween Wine: Ghost Winery Red Blend and JN Wines Skull Ring
Flora Springs celebrates the Halloween season every year with selections from their “Ghost Winery” in St. Helena. The winery has a stone cellar from 1885 and they say the cellar may have a few ghosts within its walls.
Spooky!
Check out the Flora Springs website for more info about these Halloween themed wines.
We’ll start with the Ghost Winery Red Blend and then move on to Skull Ring from JN Wines.
Note: The Ghost Winery Red Blend comes with three different label designs. The one they sent me was the “Cemetery Band” and the label was designed by Wes Freed, who is known for his CD cover art. The other two (not shown here) are the “Dead Man’s Vineyard Party” and the “Ghost Jumper.”
Ghost Winery Red Blend
In appearance, this wine is very dark plum in color with a purple meniscus in the glass. Little to no light shines through. The wine really coats up the glass and legs are thick and slow to fall.
The wine’s aroma is predominately black cherry, though there was some pepper spice in there as well.
Flavor was of jammy black fruits and bing cherry. There was also a bit of dusted chocolate in there too, though I couldn’t quite place it at first, and had to cheat and look at the tasting notes.
“All over the mouth” tannins were grippy but not off-putting.
Finish was long-lasting and enjoyable. Also, it was well balanced between the tannins and the flavors, with the tannins winning out by a hair.
Flora Springs suggests pairing this wine with “duck or wild game as well as a hearty stew.”
Ghost Winery Red Blend price $44.00 SRP.
Overall, the 2013 Flora Springs Ghost Winery Red Blend is a lovely harvest season wine with flavor, depth and structure that will bring just the right touch of class to your Halloween party.
Jon Rogers, Honest Wine Reviews
JN Wines Skull Ring
This wine comes in an impressive (though big and heavy) bottle.
It’s also quite opaque in the glass, though it let in a little more light then the Ghost Winery Red Blend did. Dark purple in color, its huge legs were slow to fall and glass-coating.
My first impression of the aroma was pepper-jam jelly alongside various red and black fruits. I also noted a hint of alcohol sting in the nose which seemed appropriate for the 14.5% alcohol content, per the bottle.
Taste was deliciously rich with flavors of dark chocolate and black cherry.
Mouthfeel was silky with supple tannins felt primarily on the tongue.
The wine’s finish was quite long and dominated by the dark, rich flavors.
Overall, very enjoyable. While this is a great Halloween wine perfect for a seasonal party, it’s also a great anytime sipper.
Well done John Nathaniel wines!
JN Wines Skull Ring price $80.00 SRP. A little pricey, but a lot delicious!
I hope you enjoyed this 2 for 1 Halloween wine review… Cheers!
