Stronghold Mandala White Blend (6)

Stronghold Mandala White Blend 6-Pack
$59.99 $137.00 56% off List Price
2011 Mandala II White Blend
CT link above

Winery website

Horrid stuff. I’m a buyer for a wine shop, the distributor who has all of Maynard’s wines for this state had their trade show a few weeks back & I got to try a number of them. While this wasn’t as bad as the Merkin Chupacabra White, it was poorly made and pretty much no one at the show liked it. The red from this same line’s much better, we bought it & used it in a successful tasting last week. The white’s not worth the money.

Even at only $10/bottle?

Yup. List at the shop for these (it’s line priced with the red) is only $12.99 so you’re not saving much & the quality isn’t there. Plenty of other better white blends have shown up here.

Recent Groupon was 59.99 with free shipping. Guess Woot buyer decided to not get a better deal.

Stay tuned, I will posted some notes on this sometime shortly after lunch (EST).

Damn raccoon stole my pumpkin off the porch again but this time left a bottle of wine in it’s place. Tried it over the weekend with some friends - overall, this would be an easy drinking universal white. Upon first few sips I thought it was reminiscent of a Pinot Gris, it has light fruit characteristics like apricot and peach with a more acidic finish that grabbed the sides of your tongue like a tart apple. Others in the group felt it was closer to an off dry Riesling with a hit of sweetness. I do not think it is a bad wine as others have stated, but don’t expect something lofty and sophisticated. At this price point, I do feel this wine would be well suited to serve at a party because again, it is a refreshing easy drinker and I think it will satisfy a lot of unknown palates. It may not be Malt-O-Meal, but I think I can safely say - Good Stuff Maynard.

I’m guessing you got what we call a one off. I personally tasted this yesterday and it is tasting just fine. And it is defiinitely worth the $10. Thanks.

As a huge Tool fan, it pains me to say this is the WORST white wine I’ve ever had. I got a three bottles of it with three of the red (also not great) and the last bottle I wouldn’t even cook with. Seriously horrible horrible stuff.

Yeah,good party wine.

It seems strange to me that several people who very rarely post have come out to trounce this wine.

Yup. I don’t get it either. The wine is a solid wine and delicious. Great companion to seafood!

Chiming in here… I’d say FunBunny pretty much nailed it.

I had my bottle open at my house 2 Sundays ago when my daughters friends had a playdate (the parents were drinking wine, not the kids), and the bottle was emptied quickly, no complaints. I thought it tasted just fine. Not overly complex; an easy drinking, quaffable white wine. And today, $10 bucks a bottle…

Sounds like a good party to me! Thanks for sharing with a group. Best way to enjoy wines!

Nose: Citrus, lemon, touch of apples.

Color: Light straw

Palate: The nose very much carries through to the palate. Citrus, lemon, grapefruit, apples. Similar to the Roussanne’s I have tried before. The Viognier is not overly present in the nose or the palate, however, it comes through in the mouthfeel adding a nice roundness.

There is some nice acid to the wine and just a touch of sweetness from the viognier. It’s nearly in balance, but does miss the mark a bit there.

All in all, this is definitely a decent everyday sipper, can’t ask too much more from a $10 bottle. I think I prefer this slightly on the colder end. As it warms there is a hint of bitterness that comes through, that could be off-putting to some who are more sensitive it.

Not complex and won’t blow you away, but certainly not plonk as the random strangers here have noted.

Hey North316! Thanks for tasting and posting your positive comments on here along with your thoughts. Glad you enjoyed!

Hey all you Wine Wooters! Just thought I’d jump out let you know that I’m the GM here at Arizona Stronghold Vineyards, so if you have any questions, fire away! I’ve been in the wine industry for 35 years now- working from scrubbing floors and washing tanks all the way to building wineries and running them along with just about every job there is to do in this cool business along the way. Let me know if you have any questions whatsoever.
Mark

One of the descriptions thrown around by my friends was “crowd pleaser”. Soft enough for those with undeveloped palates, but still has a some umph for those with more experience. And I definitely think it is a wine to lure the beginners away from the Barefoot and Flip Flop style wines.

Yup. That’s one of the main reasons why we did this blend- a palatable pleasing wine that isn’t all pretentious and slapped full of oak. All our wines are that way. We want to express the varietal characters without overpowering the wines with ML or oak and yet be able to enjoy them with foods. Easily said, difficult to do.