Blue Apron Wine Subscription Box Review – October 2017

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Blue Apron Wine is a subscription for people who love trying new wines as much as they love great food. You may be familiar with the Blue Apron Meal Delivery Kit subscription, which sends boxes of fresh ingredients to make exciting meals at home. The wine subscription is separate from the meal subscription, but it’s designed to complement it.

Here’s how it works: every month, for about $11 per bottle ($65.99/month, including shipping and tax), Blue Apron sends you 6 bottles of wine, plus tasting notes and pairing recommendations. The wines are selected to pair perfectly with the meals in the Blue Apron kits. The bottles are 500 ml, or 2/3 the size of a standard bottle, which, in addition to being adorable, means that you and your dining partner can enjoy your entire bottle with your meal without regretting that additional glass needed to finish a standard-sized bottle.

Blue Apron pairs with wineries around the world to bring a wide range of new and interesting wines to you each month. I love wine, and I love food, and I love everything about the idea of this subscription.

The wine comes securely packaged in a clever little box. Keep in mind that someone 21+ will need to sign for it.  Everything is in great shape when it arrives, and the packaging is, happily, recyclable cardboard.

DEAL: You can try out your first box of Blue Apron dinners for $30 off with this link.

Blue Apron Wine now allows you to select your wines!  You can go all white, red, or mix it up. This month, I went with what was recommended, but it’s incredibly easy to switch out your bottles.

If you’re wondering what a 2/3-sized bottle looks like, here is one of the bottles with a standard-sized bottle next to it. You’ll get about 3 1/2 standard glasses in a bottle, or a generous pour plus a top-off each if you’re with a partner.

Each box comes with a great collection of tasting notes. Blue Apron tells you a little bit about the winery and how the bottle was made, plus the region at large. Because, come on, you didn’t REALLY know where the Central Coast was, did you? The info details the color, body, and structure of the wine, and also gives some thoughtful food pairings for each bottle. The info is terrific – wine is not scary, and tasting it should be fun and informative. Data is your friend.

I really love October. True story — I grew up in Florida, and when I moved as an adult to a latitude where there is an autumn season, I saw a tree whose top leaves were turning yellow, and I commented to a friend that it was sad the tree was dying. I mean, I KNEW leaves changed color, I just didn’t realize it happened slowly. Ha. Anyway, the leaves are changing, and the hurricanes are… well, yeah, still around. We brought our box of wine (except for one bottle!) to our friend’s house and tried them all over chili with lanterns.

First up was the 2016 DeSante “L’Atellier” White Blend. I (sometimes) love a blend! A (always) love a good blend! This one comes from Napa and is a third Sauvignon Blanc and a fifth each of Semillion, Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc. It’s organic, too.

The L’Atellier is very light gold in color, and very light in weight. The aroma from this is fantastic, all lime blossom and white peach. There is a ton of fruit to the flavor, but it’s overshadowed by the gorgeous floral elements in the wine. It finishes with a crisp acidic zing that is totally palate-cleansing. And at 12.5% ABV, this is relatively low alcohol, so you can pair it with lots of foods. I really, really, liked this wine. It was so fresh and different–light but not ephemeral, fruity but not sweet. I would have another bottle of this in a second. (Actually, I think I might snag one for my next box). I had this with the Chicken Enchiladas I made from my Blue Apron box, and it was a nice complement to the tomatillos and onions in that dish. We drank it cold but not icy. So great!

First up with our friends, everyone’s new favorite white, a Sauvignon Blanc! Specifically, the 2016 Blue Quail. Another organic wine, this one comes from Mendocino County, California. I was half-expecting a big fruity SB because of the region, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one is of the Frenchier, minerally variety.

The wine is a bit yellower than the L’Atellier, with a similarly light body. The mild nose is citrusy, with a hint of wet pavement underneath. The grassy, herby flavors typical of a French SB dominate the front of this wine, with some juicy lime and barely-sweet citrus at the back end. It has a nice zip of acid at the end to keep things fresh.  This was not what I was expecting out of this wine, but I really liked it — I prefer a leaner SB than what is popular in America now. A couple of my friends thought it was a touch austere, but they agreed that it went well with the crudites and hummus we passed around. We drank this pretty cold, and it worked.

I was stoked to see our last white in the lineup, the 2016 Matthiasson White Blend. This is a legit winery from Napa, and their bottles retail for a lot more than I usually spend on wine. It’s so fun to get a great bottling like this through Blue Apron!

This white blend is about half Sauvignon Blanc, and that shows in the barely-there color and weight of this wine.  The ABV of this wine is quite low, only 12.1%, which lets you be a little more generous with your pour, and also calls for something light to eat. We had smoked salmon and cream cheese with capers, which was a pretty inspired pairing, if our hurricane-provisions do say so themselves. The nose of this is faint but complex, with some fruit and stone underneath. This wine is so deliciously dry and crisp, with high acidity to the back of the taste. It definitely has that fruity SB flavor, but there is a backbone of mineral here that is really appealing and complements seafood beautifully. We drank this fairly cold, but it warmed up nicely in the glass as we drank it.  Three out of three white wine winners this month!

On to our first red wine, the 2015 Vina Libertad Malbec. As you would expect, this one comes from Argentina.

Malbec can be heavy and fruity, or more tannic and spicy. I like it on the spicy side, and this bottle, happily, provides. The color is a typical dark purple color with a medium/high body. Cola and spicy dominate the nose.  The flavors lead with dark fruit, and then finish with a hint of baking spice and licorice. There is a nice backbone of tannin to keep everything in order. This was a tasty Malbec, though it carries a hefty 15.2%ABV that really needs food to balance it out. It would go with a lot of different foods, but I can’t think of anything better for it than grilled meat, especially chicken or flank steak. Cool room temperature is best here.

Our next red was the 2016 Prism Teroldego. I love trying a new varietal! Teroldego is a somewhat obscure grape that seems to be on the rise in wine drinkers’ interest. It’s on the spicy side, like a Syrah, but has some round fruitiness to it, like a Zin.

The Prism is very dark purple in the glass, with a moderate body and a strong nose of herbs and blackberry.  There are floral notes to the initial flavor, which rounds into a spicy fruity finish with medium tannins but high acidity. This was really interesting to drink–it definitely has a complexity to it that is appealing. We had it with beef chili, and I think the spices clashed a bit. This would probably go better with a tomato or mole dish where there isn’t as much heat. Intriguing, for sure. Cool room temperature here.

Last up was the 2015 Ryme Syrah/Grenache Blend. This comes from McDowell Valley, which I’m sure is named after a very nice farmer but sounds like the most hipster place in the world. This is a giant wine with a big alcohol bite at 16.1% ABV (wow!), so watch out.

The wine is a medium red/violet in the glass, with a big swirl of fuchsia and a fairly heavy weight. It has a strong nose of fruit and meaty/chocolate notes, and those carry into the flavor. There is a lot of big cherry and berry flavor, with notes of chocolate and spice. It finishes with a big tannic bite and alcohol heat, with a lingering spice. If you want a giant California wine to show your friends, this is the one for you. It is pretty well-balanced in spite of the big flavors, and the tannins keep it from tasting too fruity. I think it would complement a roast or maybe a dark stew. I don’t think I’ve ever had bear or elk, but this seems like something that would go with that. Room temperature here.

Wow, what a great October box of Blue Apron Wine! We mostly stayed in California this month, and we got a wide range of styles to try from one big state. We have been really pleased with the variety and quality of this wine subscription. If you’re a Blue Apron subscriber, I’d definitely give the Wine subscription a try. The recipe pairings are spot-on, and it’s a great way to try a wine or two you might not know about.

By the way, Blue Apron has a new system for pairing its wines and its food subscriptions, somewhat like you might have seen in nicer grocery stores — the wines are categorized by type (crisp & minerally, plush & fruity, etc.) and then that symbol shows up on the food recipes. Pair any wine of the recommended type to the food, and voila — you have a great meal!

Have you tried Blue Apron Wine? What do you like to drink to ride out bad weather? Tell us in the comments below!

Visit Blue Apron Wine to subscribe or find out more!

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