Trader Joe's wine #7 Oakley fiveReds

Here we go with wine number #7 2007 Cline Oakley fiveRed


From the bottle: "Oakley fiveReds is a smooth blend of red grape varietals and other flavors of spice berries. An excellent accompaniment to spicy western grub or tomato-based dishes."


The first thing I noticed about this wine was the strong fruit smell.  It took me a little while to place the smell but then it hit me...strawberry puree.  The smell reminded me of making jam.


We had this wine over two nights...the first night with friends and the second with chocolate.


The first night: The wine started with a sweet and syrup-like taste that quickly thinned as the spice level increased.  It finished with a subtle dryness that felt like some of the wine was evaporating as it hit the back of my throat.  The wine was a rich dark red color that was thin enough to see through.

The second night, I hated the wine.  Okay, hate might be to strong of a word but regardless, this wine was definitely not as good the second night as it was the night before.  Thankful we had plenty of chocolate. 

First we tried it with pieces of a Hershey's milk chocolate bar and suddenly the not-so-good-the-second-night bottle of wine was excellent!  The wine enhanced the creaminess of the chocolate so much that it tasted almost like drinking a milk chocolate moose.    


We then tried it with a Chipotle Chili dark chocolate bar from World Market (64% cacao) and wow! 
If you thought the chocolate was too spicy by itself, then maybe you shouldn't try it with the Oakley fiveReds.  This wine is really good at bringing out the flavor of whatever you are eating it with, in this case, the spicy chocolate.  Our spicy, bitter (the high the cacao content, the more bitter the chocolate) became even spicier and more bitter.