What is Kaitlyn Bristowe like in-person? Is the S&S Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir Good? Who would you recommend Spade & Sparrows wine to? Find out below.
Hello, my wine lovers (and Bachelorette fans)!
As you may already know, I am a huge Kaitlyn Bristowe fan. I’ve been following her journey since she began her tv debut on Chris Soules season of the Bachelor. Since then, her career has flourished, from becoming the Bachelorette to starting her podcast, Off The Vine, and later pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Kaitlyn Bristowe is clearly one of the most successful Bachelorettes (and my favourite). My inner fangirl has got me to meet her 3 times at different local events, one of which was a month ago when she was at the BC Liquor store for a meet and greet event to promote her Spades & Sparrows wine label.
In-person, she’s the same person as she is on TV – fun, quirky, charismatic, and gorgeous - makes sense why she was a good fit for TV.
Being at this event, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try her wine and see whether this wine truly lives up to the hype it gets on social media. After all, I am a professional wine taster.
Disclaimer: I promise to provide my honest opinion of Spades & Sparrows wine and not sugarcoat anything because I’m a KB fan girl.
All I gotta say is I liked the Cab Sauv a lot! It’s full-bodied, smooth, and bursting with flavours all in my palate. It has notes of ripe cherry and blackberry, with hints of oak and violets. On the tannins side, it almost has none, which is a bit unusual for a Cabernet Sauvignon.
All in all, this wine is very approachable and easy to drink, but lacks complexity.
Based on the flavour profile, this wine likely has not been oaked for a long time (minimum time should be around a year). What surprised me was when I looked up the wine on their website and found that this wine has 16% Petite Sirah, 2% Merlot and 2% Tannat! That was surprising because quite often, if a wine is a blend, the bottle would state it. In this scenario, I assume that they didn’t have to mention the other varietals blended because the wine is under a general country appellation - Product of US.
Wines that are under Country-wide classified appellations (ie: Product of US, Vin de France) generally have more relaxed laws under which the wine is made and marketed compared to wines with specific classifications (ie: BC VQA, DOC) (learn more about appellations on this post). This leads to my second point that quality control may not be as great for the wine grapes used to make this wine because they can come from numerous vineyards in that country. However, it’s not a dealer break since it’s inexpensive, but the listed appellation is something you should look out for when you’re choosing your wine. Overall, it’s a delicious wine, lovely to enjoy after a hard day’s work.
Spades & Sparrows has made an affordable, approachable Pinot. It carries a pale ruby colour, medium body, soft tannins, and medium finish.
You’ll find it’s quite a fruit-forward wine, with notes of fresh raspberry and cherry and a hint of florals, so it brings a lot of sweetness to the palate (more so than the Okanagan Pinots I’ve had).
I found the texture to be smooth, but a bit flat and lacking body. Again with this wine, it's blended with 4% Syrah. Overall, this is not a bad Pinot, but not the best I’ve tried. It’s a crowd-pleaser because of its simplistic flavour profile and tailored towards people who enjoy table wines. In general, Pinot Noirs are one of the toughest wines to make well - they don't call it the heartbreak grape for nothing.
The Verdict
Now, You're probably all wondering my answer to the question - does Spade & Sparrows live up to the hype? The verdict is that - it does!
It's a great wine for wine enthusiasts and novices to pour a hefty glass and just enjoy it mindlessly, without having to go into the specs. If you enjoy affordable, table wines, definitely try Spades & Sparrows.
It's probably not a surprise that I wouldn’t recommend this wine for sommeliers because their wine lacks complexity. All in all, this is a brand, not a winery, so the quality control of the wine grapes to make Spades & Sparrow wine is likely not as good as wines that have specific classifications for their appellation, but most people who buy brands care about taste more than the specs anyways. It's about the HYPE, so if you love the taste of it, than all the power to you! Their marketing is great - the labels look beautiful and it’s easy to understand what you’ll get from the wine. Plus, the design on the cork is a lovely extra touch. Based on my experience, the wine should be in the $15-20 range, but because the wine is branded by a celebrity, they can charge a bit more. All in all, Spades & Sparrows has produced great fireplace, Netflix, and of course Bachelorette Night wines. They’re fun, approachable, easy-going wines that’ll satisfy a crowd – just like Kaitlyn Bristowe.
Thanks for reading!
With Love, Deanna
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