Barefoot Sweet Red Blend NV: Ruby-red color; raspberry, strawberry nose; raspberry, cherry, plum, ripe fruits on the palate; soft and smooth;
semi-dry, significantly more sophisticated and less sweet than Barefoot’s Rosa Red Blend (although Sweet Red still has fruity sweetness). This is combo of zin, pinot noir, barbera, grenache, and petite sirah (my guess is Rosa Red has some similar grapes with a bucket of muscat grapes tossed in, although Gallo does not reveal Rosa’s grape ingredients). Ripe and jammy, Sweet Red Blend is wine sophisticated wine drinkers could drink in a pinch. Gallo and Barefoot’s trailblazing winemaker Jen Wall don’t make undrinkable swill; they do make wine tightly targeted toward a market segment. Call this a wine for those moving up from sweet muscato and Barefoot Rosa Red into wines of more character, wines more defined. Barefoot Sweet Red Blend is tasty for what it is, even has hints of diverse grape varieties peeking out from the smooth, newbie-friendly fruitiness. $6-7
Second photo: Barefoot winemaker Jen Wall.
