Arbor Mist Tasting Party

This is a pretty controversial post. You cannot buy Arbor Mist at ALDI (at least not at mine). But I think that an Arbor Mist tasting party fits perfectly within the milieu of this blog. GC thinks that talking about groceries not purchased at ALDI violates some unwritten agreement we've made with the reader. As the starter of this blog and the female in the relationship, I win. (High fives all around!)

We drank a lot of Arbor Mist that night - I think we went through nine bottles of "wine" and two bottles of "champagne."

Arbor Mist clearly does one thing well: they choose flavors that seem like they would have to be good.  Who wouldn't want to drink White Pear Pinot Grigio or a Peach Chardonnay? They practically market themselves. (I'm light! I'm fun! It's breezy in Arbor Mist country! Join us!) Unfortunately, they aren't nearly as delicious as they sound. However, having an Arbor Mist wine tasting party is exactly as fun as it sounds. You get to try all of the varieties without committing to drinking an entire bottle or even an entire glass. At about $5 a bottle, you don't want to end up throwing it away (it's no winking owl).

The tasting was relatively orderly. We all started tasting the same wine together, but as people came late or got behind, it devolved into more of a free-for-all. Luckily, we were tallying scores throughout and I've created a handy table to show all the varieties we sampled and how well we did.

Our rating scale was pretty simple:
    3 - Good!
    2 - Fine.
    1 - Not Good
    0 - Unable to Finish Even a Small Glass

Surprisingly, (not surprisingly?) the Strawberry White Zinfandel was the big winner! Most everyone liked it and a few guests even expressed interest in purchasing it for non-themed drinking. The Peach Sparkle Champagne was AWFUL. And, as the second to last to be opened, that says a lot. It was so bad, we wondered if it had gone bad and were hesitant to try AM's second variety of champagne. The Raspberry version was much better and allowed the evening to end on a more celebratory note.

One other important thing to note: Arbor Mist does not taste like wine. All of the varieties had a distinct style, which I now believe is unique to Arbor Mist. The wines seem to have a very small amount of carbonation, perhaps to enhance the 'refreshing' aspect of their brand. All of the varieties are supposed to be served chilled, even the reds.

Out of respect to ALDI, this blog, GC, and all of you, I will not rate these products on the ALDI scale. I will give the idea of hosting or attending an Arbor Mist tasting party two enthusiastic thumbs up.


Stray Thoughts:

• Attendees: I left the first two initials of your name in the table in case you want to refer back to your preferences.
• To the five attendees who made it through all 11 varieties: celebrate your accomplishment! It's not something everyone can do. You deserve a certificate and an @CPJButtons!