Halloween is a holiday steeped in horror and darkness, and what better to explore the darkness with than Apothic Dark. Unsurprisingly, Apothic’s name reminded me of apothecaries, which dispensed medicine, but also contained poisons, like those taken by Romeo in Romeo & Juliet. For better or worse, apothecaries have also been associated with having lots of interesting jars and bottles full of interesting things. So does Apothic Dark work as a cure all for Halloween wine parties, or is it straight poison?
Sight: Deep inky black, with a solid purple body and a firm bright magenta edge.
Smell: Blueberries, mocha, a touch of cedar, and coffee beans jump out. There’s a little hint of a spicy eucalyptus and sandalwood pop, but the predominant smells are dark chocolate, overripe blackberries and blueberries, and baking spices.
Sip: The body gets dense, and a little bit grainy, running a line of texture between powdered sugar and granulated. There’s a certain density that gives it weight, perhaps aided by a subtle sweetness. Flavor wise, there’s a good amount of chocolate, coffee, and blue or blackberry. The fruit flavors a slightly lost, with more notes of smoke, spice, and wood jumping out.
Savor: The ending gets a whack of smoke, but not wood smoke, more the deeper dark roast of an espresso, with an almost gastrique like blueberry note. The ending is heavily tannic, and lasts with the smoky / berry flavors for a while.
Apothic Dark is indeed rather dark, and brooding, and mysterious, and is quite festive for a Halloween party. The odd thing about it, is it seems to lack a certain degree of cohesiveness. It’s sweet, but then it’s more smokey, and then it’s almost fruity, but it never quite comes together and makes a uniform statement. There are some nice things going on here, but they’re lacking a degree of integration. If you’re interested a wine that leans toward the darker side of the fruit spectrum, and has a definite tilt toward chocolate and coffee notes, than Apothic Dark will fit the bill.
Verdict: Coffee, Smoke, Dark Chocolate, Blueberry
Price: $14 MSRP (This bottle was a sample graciously received from Apothic’s PR team, however I’ve seen it at $9.99 – $10.99)
Modesto, California
http://www.apothic.com/home.html
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