pop & pour

[This bottle was provided as a sample for review purposes.]

That familiar E, now in red form.

If you are at least a semi-regular wine drinker, chances are you’ve stumbled upon the white version of Evolution, a borderline-bizarre blend of 9 different grapes concocted by Oregon producer Sokol Blosser which has become the poster child of fun quality table wine.  White Evolution has been around for 15 years and counting, and this year it has been joined by a red counterpart out to accomplish the same mission using darker-skinned grapes.  Sokol Blosser is keeping the specific mix of grapes for this new wine a secret, revealing only that red Evolution is a Syrah-based blend, but a look at past SB red offerings can let us take an educated guess as to what might be in the bottle.  For the past few years, Sokol Blosser has made a sister red brand called Meditrina, which was a blend of Syrah, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel.  With the introduction of Evo red this year, Meditrina is no longer being made, and I would think there’s a better than even chance that the Syrah, Pinot and Zin grapes which were previously sourced for Meditrina may have found their way into this new label.  I almost hope this is true, because I found Meditrina quite enjoyable when it still existed, and tying it to the juggernaut Evolution brand would certainly help increase its exposure. Read the rest of this entry »