Strawberry wine. It’s not something I drink regularly and probably not anything I’d drink with non-dessert food. But, over the weekend I tasted and compared two different versions from two well-known Hudson Valley wineries, Baldwin Vineyards and Alison Wines & Vineyards.

I’m not going to go into full tasting note mode here…they both look, smell and taste like strawberries, there’s not a whole lot of nuance here. But there are differences certainly.

Both were very sweet and edging on the cloying side of things but not quite. The one from Alison, named Fraise ($18 for 375ml), is the more refined of the two, less raw and more subtle. I think it would shine best with dark chocolate or chocolate cake.

The Baldwin version ($13 for 750ml), on the other hand, is almost rustic in its intense strawberry character with a bit more sweetness. I’d consider drizzling this one over vanilla bean ice cream or pound cake.

They both had a somewhat musty finish that was a little off putting. Because they both had it, I can only assume that is something that happens any time you make wine from strawberries. If anyone else has any experience with Strawberry wines, let me know if you’ve noticed the same.