2019 Chateau Franc-Cardinal Bordeaux

Please, look at this promotional image. This is how things were before AI.... beautiful. Anyway, you might think I'm on a wine bender with two reviews in a row, but it's really just wacky life circumstances and the power of RNG. (Too bad). This has one of the most intense Brettanomyces situations I've ever experienced. I am not a Brett bae. It smells like a sweaty saddle, and that's being generous. Since I am not attracted to horses, this is an unpleasant smell. However, the wine has high ratings, so I tried to stick it out. It does ease up if you let it breathe, and on the 2nd day the smell is much reduced. But the taste is still leather, squeaky, plastic, mulch. Farm life in a bottle. Since the darling otter (?) is serving it, I will endure, but this is really not my vibe. Decent on the acids/tannins spectra though. 

Overall
Cost: 3/10 [29$]
Taste: 5/10

2020 Brindle Ridge Merlot

Whew, when I opened this I wasn't breaking my alc triangle, but don't ask how things are going now. Anyway, it's pretty good. A strong flavor at first, like always, that made me worry it was too long in my warm house. A little like drinking a basket which once held winter potpourri. Like cinnamon, berry, wicker, and pine. Aftertaste of bright cherry. A long finish. Accidentally paired with lasagna, which was great. 

Overall
Cost: 8/10 [2.79 !]
Taste: 6/10 

San Giorgio Ziti

Never was a cornflake ziti girl, even though all the Italian-Americans in my life (and there are have been many) were extremely into baked ziti. But in a lasagna, ziti is actually so good. Or maybe I'm still soaking up the San Giorgio energy. Whatever it is, these are a top-tier pasta. They weren't as thick as I expected, and the al dente time of 10 minutes was actually accurate. Praise be!

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [1.50ish]
Taste: 7/10 

Spindrift Strawberry Vanilla

Another spindrift soda offering -- this time, the ingredos are: fizzy water, strawberry puree, apple juice, vanilla extract, and strawberry extract. Starting to see a pattern! It tastes like the things it is, and I do like super-wet strawberry juice, so it's pleasant. Someone online said that it's kind of strawberry-yogurt flavored, and I can definitely see that. More yogurt than shortcake (the old name of this flavor), so changing the name to an ingredient description was a wise move. We love transparency!! 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10 

Watermelon Dots

I will make up for my inability to eat fresh watermelon with an assortment of artificial watermelon flavored foodstuffs! These are definitely better than the lemonade dots. There is only one flavor here: watermelon. Just like the watermelon La Croix, the flavor is strong, bright, and candy-esque. Well, these are candy, so that makes sense, but it's like a chewy version of a watermelon jolly rancher. And they are very cute, also. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries

Despite my heritage(??) I'm not that into potatoes. Or at least non-liquid potatoes. But I have so many sauces that I don't know what to put on, so to the fry aisle we go. These seem appealing because they're skinny, which is less potato per square mile and more salt/oil/sauce/air. In the end, they projected more cardboardy potato than their size warranted. Not impressed. But, the smell when cooking reminded me of East Mall Arby's, which reminded me of my grandma, so that was nice. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10 

Sargento Whole Milk Mozzarella

I guess this is strictly different than the part-skim off the block mozzarella, although I'm not sure I could tell the difference in a blind taste test. This is a solid cheese option, and mozz is unaged so OK for migraine girlies. Is it OK for the sensitive stomached among us? Well... sometimes. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10