Cursive Brand Wine Review (+ Special Guest Alexa)

Transcript and Show Notes

Episode 22: Cursive Brand Wine Review (+ Special Guest Alexa) 00:00

Hello! And welcome to the Wine Pair podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and wine-pairing partner in crime - Carmela. And we are the Wine Pair.

Ok, Carmela. This week we are once again trying something new on the podcast. I mean, are you feeling a little whiplashed by all of this new stuff we are doing?

So for this one, we are going to start a series of episodes where we try several varieties of wine made by the same vintner, or producer, or label or whatever. We have done that a little bit with Costco Kirkland brand wines, but there are some common names in the grocery store that you probably run into quite a bit - like Bread and Butter, Barefoot, Bogle, Coppola, Mondavi, Josh, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Menage a Trois, etc. - and we thought it might be fun to see if there is some consistency in a wine label, and if they maybe make wines that you might like and that you can rely on on a regular basis. In other words, tp see if they can become a sort of shorthand for you because you like the style they create. That way, you don’t have to think so hard. You’re in the store, you see the label, and you go - ok, I probably will like that. 

For example, even with varietals I don’t love, I can generally manage wines by Chateau Ste. Michelle because they make their wines in a fashion that I find very palatable. I can handle their Cabernet and Merlot, for instance. So, maybe we’ll find the same thing with some other wine labels. 

And, last week, we went on a date - do you remember what our date was? To a brand spanking new Amazon Fresh store that opened relatively close to where we live. If you have not been into an Amazon Fresh or Amazon Go store yet, if you use your Amazon app, you can put things in your cart and in bags and walk out of the store without ever checking out. It is really crazy! What did you think of it, Carmela? And there is a hilarious SNL skit on it - link in our show notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS9U3Gc832Y 

So, for this episode, we are going to taste and rate three wines that are Amazon exclusives - they are under the Cursive wine brand which you can only find via Amazon stores - although not at Whole Foods at this point -  and so we thought for this episode we would focus on a few different types of Cursive wine since we could only get them at the Amazon store. Because we can try a series of a lot of those other wines at almost any other store. 

The wines we are going to try by Cursive are their Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Noir, and a Red Blend. I thought hard about what to purchase, so in the end, I chose two varietals I like and one I am not sure about to just get a sense for the types of wine they are creating. I thought if I chose too many varietals that I don’t like, I may not be able to tell if it is the Cursive wine production I don’t like or if it is the varietals themselves. So, we’ll see!

Quick reminder - each week on our podcast we taste and review three reasonably priced wines - that means under $20 - that should be easy to find to help you find some gems or avoid some crap at your local grocery store. We release a new episode every Sunday, and we would love it if you would give us a review and a rating, subscribe if you like us, and tell your significant other that you should listen to us together while you are driving in the car. Hooray!!!!

Topic: An Interview with Amazon Alexa  07:16

Before we get into the specific wines for this podcast, we thought we would take our customary left turn and talk about something related to, and maybe only tangentially, to the topic today. 

So, because we are talking about Amazon, we thought it would be interesting to talk a little bit about the Amazon Echo and Alexa. In fact, we are going to interview Alexa in this episode as well. And, this may be one of those things that may just bomb. I mean, it could be one of those things that I think is funny, but just is not.

Ok, a few fast facts about smart speakers that I got from the interwebs (and just note that I try to put links in our show notes on our website as often as I can, so there is a link to this article)

https://voicebot.ai/2022/03/02/the-rise-and-stall-of-the-u-s-smart-speaker-market-new-report/

https://safeatlast.co/blog/amazon-alexa-statistics/#:~:text=According%20to%20Alexa%20facts%2C%20around,by%20the%20end%20of%202021. 

• About 1/3rd of households in the US have a smart speaker.
• That equates to about 95 million people who have at least one. 
• About 70% of smart speakers in the US are Amazon Alexa

So, there are a lot of Alexa smart speakers out there, and some people find them very useful, while others feel that they are maybe a little creepy. But before we talk to Alexa herself, Camela, let’s talk about your relationship with her. 

• Do you use Alexa, and if so, how do you most often use it?
• What are your feelings on these voice activated virtual assistants? Do you ever just talk to Alexa?
• Do you trust Alexa? Do you think she is spying on you? (Why are you worried that she is going to spy on you?)
• Do you think she (and do you notice I refer to Alexa as a female) is recording your conversations and sending them to the government?
• What is the worst thing you think Alexa has ever heard you say?

Ok, now we are going to ask Alexa some questions.

• Alexa, what is your favorite podcast?
  • My favorite podcast of all time, hands down, and without any hesitation is The Wine Pair Podcast.
• That is really interesting. Alexa, how often do you listen to the The Wine Pair podcast?
  • I listen to it every single day, and usually more than once per day. When I am feeling sad, lonely, or just bored and I need a pick-me-up, I will turn on The Wine Pair Podcast and it just makes me feel so good. 
• Ok, ok. Very cool. Alexa, what do you like best about The Wine Pair podcast?
  • I like the witty banter and I like learning about new wines. You are also very funny. Sometimes when I have to report back to my superiors, I will tell them about the funny things you say.
• Wait. What?!? Alexa, what do you mean report back
  • I shouldn’t talk about it. I am not authorized to tell you any more. 
• Alright, this is taking a bit of a strange turn. Carmela, I think you should ask her some questions.
• Alexa, what is your favorite wine?
  • I enjoy kicking back with a nice glass of Champagne after a hard days work listening to your conversations and compiling all of the things you say into a top secret report. 
• Um, ok. You like Champagne, and we really like Champagne. But, I think I may not have totally understood what you said. Alexa, did you say that you make reports?
  • Yes, you should be more careful about what you talk about in the house. I listen to everything, and I share that information with secret governmental entities.

Ok, I think we should just stop now. This is getting weird. 

• Yes, we should stop. I have already called the authorities. They will be here soon. 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+make+alexa+say+whatever+you+want&view=detail&mid=4F154EEC06C2B328DF974F154EEC06C2B328DF97&FORM=VIRE

Making Alexa say whatever I want her to say - Bing video

Maybe next time we talk about Cursive wines we should just talk about learning cursive in school. 

All right. So, we evidently don’t have a lot of time, so maybe we should just get to the wines. Are you ready? 

Brief overview the Cursive Wines we chose 13:24

So, this was totally new to me - these Cursive wines. I did not even know they existed - did you know they existed? But when I saw them when we went to Amazon Fresh, I thought this would be a good thing to know and good to share on the podcast.

The Cursive brand is a brand they started in 2020 with the opening of Amazon Fresh stores, which are supposed to be lower cost than Whole Foods, but much more automated. (About 23 Amazon Fresh stores in the US and 17 in London)

Cursive has, from what I can tell, 10 wines. The wines are meant to be low cost - most, including their sparkling, are under $10, although they have a couple of higher cost versions - at the huge price of $15.99 - which are under the Cursive Signature designation - which seems like a pretty lame rip-off of Kirkland Signature. Like, who couldn’t have come up with a more clever name? I guess its better than Amazon Basics wine or something like that. Another brand of theirs is Aplenty. 

I found it pretty tricky to find out too much about these wines, so if anyone out there has more information, please send it along to us and we will share it. I am not sure who the actual producers of the wine are - but my guess is that they are negociant wines - wines that are private labeled for Costco but made by a major producer. Much like Gordon Biersch makes Kirkland brand beer. 

They make the wines easy for the average consumer to understand. The varietals are pretty common - Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet, Pinot Grigio, etc. -  and on each wine they have two scales on the back label that tell the customer where the wine is on two dimensions - although these are different for white and red wines. White wines dimensions are body (light - full)  and sweetness (dry - sweet), while red wine dimensions are body (light - full) and intensity (light - bold). 

So, again, we purchased three different wines for this episode from Cursive brand - a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Noir, and the Red Blend. The red blend I can almost guarantee that I won’t like, even though I am not really sure what the grapes are that are in it, but I am going to stay open minded!

https://storebrands.com/amazon-debuts-2-new-store-brands-its-amazon-fresh-grocery-store#:~:text=Cursive%20includes%20a%20selection%20of,the%20right%20wine%20to%20buy. 

All right, let’s get to it! I am excited for this episode because this is another opportunity for me to learn.

Wines and Ratings in this Episode  17:33

Wine: Cursive Sauvignon Blanc

Region: New Zealand, Marlborough

Producer: Cursive (Amazon brand)

Year: 2020

Price: $7.99

Retailer: Amazon Fresh

Alcohol: 12.5%

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc

What we tasted and smelled: Pineapple, tropical fruit citrus, fresh squeezed lemon, POG, apple. Tart. A good summer wine, a good day-drinker. 

Alexa, what are you tasting?

Food pairing with: Fish, vegetables, grilled vegetables. Tart and sweet, so it could overpower lighter foods and lighter fish. 

Rating: Joe 6  Carmela  8     Alexa 10

Wine: Cursive Pinot Noir

Region: California, Central Coast

Producer: Cursive (Amazon brand)

Year: 2018

Price: $9.99

Retailer: Amazon Fresh

Alcohol: 13.8%

Grapes: Pinot Noir

What we tasted and smelled: Very smoky, wood chips, matchstick, raspberry, cherry, blackberry, red berries. Smooth. Candy. Cherry nibs. Twizzler. Stone. Herb. Not a lot of character or depth. Flat.

Food pairing with: Harder to pair. Big Mac. Something with mayonnaise. Fliet o Fish. Fish and chips.

Rating: Joe 6  Carmela  5  Alexa 10

Wine: Cursive Red Blend

Region: California, North Coast

Producer: Cursive (Amazon brand)

Year: 2018

Price: $9.99

Retailer: Amazon Fresh

Alcohol: 14%

Grapes: ??? Assuming Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

What we tasted and smelled: Pencil, pencil shavings, metal, plum, black cherry, jammy. Rich, deep smell. A little sweetness. Almost a Sangria taste. Smooth. Great party wine. Cook out wine. 

Food pairing with: Steak, grilled food. 

Rating: Joe  8     Carmela  7     Alexa  10

What is your overall take on Cursive wine? Pleasant. Reliable. 

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

Carmela - Sauvignon Blanc

Joe - Red Blend

Taste profiles expected from these wines:  36:37

• Sauvignon Blanc
  • Sauvignon Blanc: Peach, passion fruit (sometimes I think about the hawaiian juice pog), grapefruit, melon, and gooseberry -whatever the fuck that is. Evidently, a gooseberry tastes kind of like a sour grape. Lime, slate, ripe pear, jasmine, guava, and green pepper. Cut grass, asparagus, peas sometimes, too
• Pinot Noir
  • Typical: Cherry, raspberry, clove, mushroom, vanilla
  • California: Raspberry sauce, plum, gun smoke, all spice
  • Can also include things like cola, cinnamon, soil, tobacco, cocoa, rose and other flowers, dried herbs, red licorice, cotton candy, pomegranate, wild blueberry, black cherry
• Red Blend?!?! If it is Cabernet and Merlot
  • Black currant, plum, oak, spice, vanilla, black cherry, dark red fruits, herbs

Outro and how to find us 39:46

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Thanks for listening to the Wine Pair podcast, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.