Tag Archives: drinking

FitVine Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Review

Going Mom and I shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from FitVine Wine the other week, you can read my review here. We both agreed on it being easy-to-drink dry, yet crisp, white wine good for almost any occasion, but our thoughts differed on FitVine’s Cabernet Sauvignon.

FitVine Wine, cabernet sauvignon, healthy, drinking, alcohol,

FitVine describes their Cab as follows:

Classic Cabernet nose of currant, lavender, black licorice and a hint of new oak. Rich purpose soft tannins wrap around flavors of cedar, boysenberry and coffee, chocolate with a hint of leather. Full flavored, clean taste with a smooth finish.

As mentioned in my review of their Sauvignon Blanc, I’m no connoisseur, but I have trained my palate well enough to know to stay clear of Boone’s Farm. Upon pouring the freshly opened bottle into a glass, I quickly picked up on the subtle hint of currant. I sipped, tipped my head back, and took a light breath while holding the wine in the back of my throat and could taste a dry, slightly earthy flavor.

FitVine Wine, cabernet sauvignon, healthy, drinking, alcohol,

The aftertaste was the same leaving a pleasantly clean finish. My verdict was that I enjoyed everything from the first sip to the last. To me it’s a good wine to have with chicken or a steak at dinner. Or, as I prefer, on its own after dinner.

Would a sommelier offer this to someone at a fine dining establishment? Most likely not, but I’m not one for fine dining, I enjoy cooking at home, and I’ll happily choose FitVine Wine’s Cabernet Sauvignon on the rare occasion that I drink.

My wife, on the other hand, was not as pleased, saying it left a “weird taste” in her mouth. Like me, she’s no connoisseur. so she can’t explain in wine terms like what the tannins were like or how earthy undertones rolled off her palate in the wrong way, but she knows what she knows. As the husband, I’ve learned not to question still push my luck sometimes, so I insisted on another glass. Seriously, who can turn down this face?

FitVine Wine, cabernet sauvignon, healthy, drinking, alcohol,

Not Going Mom, that’s for sure. Good thing, because she ended up at least enjoying it more and admitted she’d drink it again. Phew, as a lightweight I need my wife to help me share a bottle…..over the course of a couple days. Hey, told you I was a lightweight!

With their fermentation process resulting in less residual sugars, higher antioxidants, less sulfites, and grapes with no pesticides, FitVine has just what any healthy, active individual would want in an alcoholic drink. The less sugar means a drier wine, so if you like the sweet stuff, don’t expect it to be here. But we could all use a little less sugar anyway, so give it a try!

Having had the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc thus far, I am positive the average person would content with either choice depending on their preference for white or red wine. If you’re not a wine lover, go for the Sauvignon Blanc, chances are it’ll surprise you.

Last in the lineup for my wife and I to try is the Chardonnay. As always, once we do, you can read about our thoughts right here. Be sure to check out FitVine for yourself and be sure to connect with them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

FitVine Wine sent me their wine free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.

FitVine Wine Sauvignon Blanc Review

I first learned about FitVine Wine from the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast that I subscribe to.  I’m a fan of Ben Greenfield and enjoy the vast topics on fitness and nutrition that he shares, so when he featured FitVine Wine as the wine he endorses, I had to try it for myself. Plus, as the name, it’s made by active and healthy people for active and healthy people who love a good wine.

After reaching out to FitVine about a possible review opportunity, they graciously agreed to send one of each of their wines for me to review. I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get started trying their superior craft wines.

FitVine Wine, healthy drink, alcohol, biohack,

Let me get it out now that I am no wine connoisseur, far from, but just like food, I demand quality from anything I put in my body. Yes, even alcohol. I used to be a beer fan, but now stick to straight spirits or wine. With clear spirits like vodka and red wine being my favorites.

That said, I am a light drinker, and only have a glass or two on the weekends. It doesn’t take much for me to feel the effects of alcohol, but that’s fine with me, I like to enjoy the beverages I have, not pound them down just to get crunk. If you demand quality from your drinks, FitVine has just what you’re looking for.

Their goal was to produce a quality wine with less residual sugar, meaning lower carbohydrates and calories, higher in antioxidants, and less sulfites. With their intricate, multi-step process, they succeeded in creating wines with full flavor that’s higher in beneficial compounds like resveratrol, polyphenols, proanthocyanidins.

Here’s a paragraph from their site that explains their process.

All of our wines go through malolactic, secondary fermentation to lower pH levels to ensure the cleanest, best tasting wine. All our wines are cold stabilized and chilled to drop out impurities prior to filtration. We filter with both diatomaceous earth and micron pads. Our fermentation process is extended to 10-15 days to enhance the antioxidants and optimize the pH levels. With pH levels being at optimum levels, we do not have to add sugars, additives and or unnecessary amounts of sulfites. Many wines have sulfite levels of 50ppm (parts per million), where FitVine Wines are at 35ppm – that’s almost half the sulfites of typical wines! No GMOs here and all of our grapes are pesticide free!

That’s a lot of science! What does it all mean? We spent extra time and effort to create healthier, cleaner wines so you know what you’re putting into your body. This is the way wine is meant to be made, not with all the additives, sugars and impurities that wreck havoc on our bodies. #cleandrinking

They basically follow four ways to make a healthier and tastier wine. Here’s a handy infographic I found from Ben Greenfield’s site.

cafepoint-wine-graphic

So, their wine is much healthier, and leaves no concern about high levels of arsenic. Which is unlike many winemakers that had a class action lawsuit filed for the arsenic levels in their wine. Very concerning, by the way, so make sure you choose your wine wisely.

As I mentioned, I don’t drink often, so I’ll share my thoughts on their Sauvignon Blanc first. This was the one Going Mom and I opened over the weekend to enjoy together.

FitVine Wine, healthy drink, alcohol, biohack,

I can’t wax poetic about how the wine leaves a dry but fruity taste on the palate with the perfect balance of tannins. Did I even use these tasting notes in the right way?

But, both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this white. It was in fact dry, but not overly so. I would compare it to a good brut champagne minus the bubbles. My wife and I both prefer reds, so we were pleasantly surprised to find how much we enjoyed drinking this white.

Since it wasn’t sweet like other white wines, that helped, but it was fit perfectly with the warm Texas weather. The aroma left a fresh hint of citrus and made for an easy drink with a crisp finish. I had more wine than I usually do and never felt ill effects from alcohol. It was hard to keep from drinking more as it truly is an easy-to-drink wine that will sneak up on you. Bring this along on your next picnic or other nice weather outing for a perfect pairing to enjoy with chicken salad or a simple cheese and cracker tray.

I think we’ll try the Cabernet next, and I’ll be sure to share our thoughts soon after. In the meantime, check out FitVine for yourself and be sure to connect with them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

FitVine Wine sent me their wine free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.

TreyMark Black-eyed Pea Vodka: Our Private Tour

Having done the Revolver Brewing brewery tour two days before, the next obvious stop with our visiting family was a local craft vodka distillery. This is not just any vodka either, it’s distilled using mainly black-eyed peas, the world’s first!

Before the tour, we met at a cool little joint called Lili’s Bistro for lunch. Any place that is happy to accommodate my request to do or add less is an instant favorite, and they pulled through! Actually, we all enjoyed our meals and the service was good too.

But Avery was on the wild side (no surprise) and we quickly found out highchairs are NOT acceptable. Instead, she switched between my wife or my mom and me as she danced around on the booth. Thankfully, G-Ma’s sunglasses case kept her somewhat preoccupied.

2015-07-21 20.42.40

Good ol’ Grandma in the background. Isn’t she pretty? I would never believe she was in her 80’s if I didn’t know her. One of my mom’s friends joined us for lunch and took my grandma out shopping afterward since she didn’t care much about trying vodka. I think she was burned out on drinking after this visit!

For the rest of us, good thing we had vodka to look forward to right after because Avery made it necessary! Okay, not really, but it sure does help! The distillery was only a few minutes away and we went right to it after paying our bill.

The name is TreyMark Vodka, and is located in an old fire station in Fort Worth, Texas. The creator, Trey (obviously), put together everything with the help of his business partners/friends and started distilling the world’s first black-eyed pea vodka.

TreyMark Vodka
This used to be where the pole was located for firemen to slide down.

He chose black-eyed peas since his family had a large farm with the legumes and it just wasn’t turning a profit, so why not make alcohol? Check out his story and look out for a bottle near you!

I first spoke with Trey’s mom/manager (how cool is that?) who arranged the meeting for all of us to meet for a private tour. No charge, no hassle, and he opened the doors just for us! The only drawback was having no A/C on when we visited, but I can’t blame him; gotta keep costs low!

Uncle Paul with my mom on the left and Aunt Tammy on the right.
Uncle Paul with my mom on the left and Aunt Tammy on the right.

That’s the distillery behind the lovely ladies and handsome young man.

Trey kindly greeted us at the front and gave us an excellent history of how he got started and gave a great summary on how he produced his one-of-kind vodka. Leave it to me to poke and prod with too many questions that he couldn’t answer due to being a family secret and what sets him apart from other vodkas. Hey, gotta try, right?

DSC_1683

It’s crazy to think just a couple guys were able o put all of this giant equipment together! The entire place smelled heavily of alcohol (duh), but it wasn’t overwhelming. I actually kind of enjoyed the scent. What none of us enjoyed was the very hot, stale air, but we were provided a little relief when we went up stairs for tasting and he opened a window.

DSC_1648

Going Mom is not a big fan of vodka and opted out of the tasting, so she kept watch over Avery as she danced around the wooden floors. She really enjoyed the loud tapping noise her Soft Star Shoes made when tromping around the room.

DSC_1666

She also explored a little and since we’ve never had her up stairs like this before, she was fascinated at the view from below.

DSC_1658

Well, at least for a minute, then Kelley had to give up her phone to keep the peace.

Crisis averted!!
Crisis averted!!

While Kelley was watching over our crazy toddler, we were learning more and more about the vodka world as we tried TreyMark’s vodka alongside another top Texas “handmade” competitor. Holy burn, Batman, the stuff I used to think was good had nothing on the smoothness of TreyMark!

DSC_1656

All of us tried the competitor’s vodka, which Trey ingeniously keeps on hand for comparison, and came to the same conclusion; TreyMark took the trophy, hands down! Check out Paul’s action shot with all of us except our escapee toddler.

2015-07-21 20.42.39

I could hold his vodka in my mouth without a major burn, but the other stuff just lit my mouth up instantly. I never would’ve thought there is so much of a difference, but it’s all in the processing, and Trey has it down pat.

You want this!
You want this!

After feeling the burn of one, lesser vodka, and enjoying TreyMark’s smoothness, we were feeling the family love and posed for a few pics.

DSC_1664

Lucky to have these beautiful ladies in my family! Love you, Mom and Tammy! As G-Ma went to get money to buy a bottle of vodka, I guess Avery thought it might be for her college fund or something….

DSC_1668

I think my mom is saying “Silly girl, this is for vodka, not edu-macation.” Avery remained expressionless, and hardly cracked a smile when I tried to pose with her even as I held the almighty phone.

DSC_1676

Everyone enjoyed the tour and I’m thankful to Trey and his mom for providing a great experience for all of us. This was the last time for us to see Paul, Tammy, and Grandma before they headed back up North to PA, so we said our farewells in the parking lot.

It’s crazy how fast time flies and we never seem to realize it until after the fact. Still, it was great seeing my family and look forward to flying up to PA with Avery when she’s a little older.

Have you ever visited a distillery?

Would you prefer spirits, wine, or beer or something else?

Kids in highchairs. How do your act in restaurants?