Alpha Box & Dice is a small winery literally across the Road from Maxwell's. Not only do they produce my all time favourite red, this brand actually started my adventure into wine. AB&D is unique from pretty much every winery out there- down to earth and incredibly groovy.
Last summer, The Happy Motel came to AB&D featuring their 'Korexican' cuisine- weird ey? Unfortunately I missed out on that dinner but the door is a remnant of those dinners.
This is literally a room within the AB&D winery.
The perks of having only 5 wines on tasting is that you get to taste everything they have available. Wightmare is the only white on tasting at the moment. It's supposed to be a dry white but it's not dry in the way I dislike. It's still refreshing and crisp with an 'oily' mouth-feel (as described by the connoisseur).
The Imaginarium is the only Shiraz that I could say I love. As mentioned, it's just not my type of grape. Can't remember what it tastes like but it was definitely worth a purchase!
Not only does the Tarot have a really cool label, this is by far my favourite wine I have ever tried. In the past I thought all wines tasted the same. But this was 'the one' for me. It's super spicy, light but not too light. It's great for easy drinking and suitable for those who aren't a fan of wine. It's 100% Grenache in the current vintage (2011), but I think 2008 had a blend with Tempranillo which was the one that got me into wine.
The Mistress is classed as NV meaning it's an nonvintage wine- a production blend of two or more years. It's 53% Touriga Nacional, 37% Tinta Roriz, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Apart from the last grape, I haven't really had the other before. The Mistress tasted really earthy at first, but then I couldn't get this flowery flavour off my tongue. It reminds me of Jasmine but it's not. It's something pungent, small white petals grown on a wild tree/bush (I think).
Kit & Kaboodle is the only red I don't own of AB&D. It's more full-bodied than the others. 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Shiraz, 18% Grenache, and 12% Touriga Nacional. Looking at the blend, I'm quite surprised I didn't enjoy it more but it just goes to show that what you think you like about wine doesn't always indicate what you will actually enjoy.
If you ever want to start drinking wine, I highly recommend AB&D. Even though I tried the same wines in January, no less than 3 months later I started to pick up on so many new flavours that I didn't sense before. The makers encourage you to just think for yourself because sometimes they won't even tell you what's in the wine!
-C
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