Recently, I came across a couple of interesting-looking wine bottles at my local wine store. Each had an illustration of flipflops on the label. --- Flipflop wines are new to Utah, which now carries Flipflop Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Moscato and Riesling. Nearing the end of summer, it seemed like the perfect time to try out a pair of Flipflops (I tasted the Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir, but not the Riesling or Moscato.).
The wine is inexpensive: $7.99 per bottle. And, one of the things I found intriguing about this wine is that for every bottle of Flipflop wine sold, Soles4Souls distributes a pair of shoes to someone in need. That was enough reason for me to unscrew a couple caps of Flipflop vino.
The verdict? You get what you pay for. Which, in this case, were wines that had some straightforward appeal, but you won't mistake them for their more expensive cousins.
I preferred the Pinot Grigio over the Pinot Noir. It's a zesty, California Pinot Grigio with some tropical fruit (pineapple and kiwi) flavors and pretty good acidity. It wasn't bad at all with a BLT made with heirloom tomatoes. All-in-all, it's a solid, 8-buck, warm-weather wine.
I suspect Flipflop Pinot Noir spends a fair amount of time in new oak barrels, given the somewhat heavy-handed vanilla flavors. Sort of reminds me of cherry cola. It's probably not surprising that the winery recommends pairing this wine with chocolate chip cookies.