Tablas Creek 2012 Dianthus Rose

DATE CONSUMED

Friday, December 13, 2013

VINTAGE

2012

WINERY/PRODUCER

Tablas Creek Vineyard

WINE NAME

Dianthus

TYPE OF WINE

Rose

COMPOSITION

60% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, 15% Counoise

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Grown and bottled on the estate

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California (Central Coast)

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.5%

PRICE PAID

$25.72 (wine club member price with sales tax and shipping)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this wine in our March 2013 wine club shipment.  The retail price for this wine is $27, but wine club members get this wine for $21.60 ($25.72 including sales tax and shipping).

BOUQUET

I couldn’t quite obtain much (if any) of a bouquet with this wine.  Perhaps the glass/vessel wasn’t conducive to coaxing the aromas from the wine.  I’ve never quite experienced this with any wine before; even bubbly expresses itself aromatically out of a flute (which isn’t conducive to expressing bouquets).  Weird……….

 

TASTING NOTES

I was almost petrified opening this wine when I saw the alcohol content on the bottle’s label.  I have NEVER seen a rose come anywhere close to having 14.5% alcohol.  And since we’ve been wine club members with Tablas Creek for years, I’ve had several experiences with their rose in the past.  I’ve generally found their rose to be heavy and somewhat leaden.  Generally, I LOVE roses made from Pinot Noir, which are usually light-bodied, lightly-colored, and delicious. 

This Southern-Rhone-styled rose is fairly dark and I assumed it would also be heavy and leaden.  Surprisingly, despite the color and alcohol content, it’s actually quite light and delicious.  As one would expect given its varietal content, there’s an abundance of red, tart fruits like raspberries and strawberries, along with an abundant wallop of spices, both savory and peppery (especially white pepper).  Like any/all good wines, there’s also a wonderful earthiness that showcases Paso’s chalky/clay soils.

This is easily the best rose I’ve ever tasted from Tablas Creek.  It’s funny/weird how previous versions always struck me as being too heavy, but with this (relatively) dark and high-alcohol version, it actually tastes lighter and tastier than other vintages.  If you enjoy Rhone and/or Provence roses, this is one of the best non-Pinot roses I’ve ever had out of California.  Tough to beat!!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

I paired this wine with a stir-fry made from leftover pork loin and sautéed green peppers and onions (done in a kind of Chinese style).  The rose went beautifully with the stir-fry and would also pair gorgeously with my all-time favorite rose companion: grilled salmon steaks.  I would imagine this wine would also pair nicely with just about any pork, chicken, and/or seafood dish (especially scallops).  But if I had another bottle of this beauty, I would definitely pair it with salmon steaks spiced with freshly-cracked sea salt, black pepper, and Herbs de Provence.

AGING POTENTIAL

Like any/all roses, they are made/meant to be drunk young.  But because of the age-friendly varietals used in this blend, I would actually imagine this wine would cellar well for another year or two (or three or four?!?!) and would probably be fine in a refrigerator for a decade or so (if you’re crazy enough to attempt that, I would recommend you seek immediate, intense counseling). 

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

91

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.tablascreek.com/

Tablas Creek 2008 Grenache

DATE CONSUMED

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Tablas Creek Vineyard

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Grenache

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Grown and bottled on the estate

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California (Central Coast)

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.5%

PRICE PAID

$32.00

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this bottle from Tablas Creek’s (TC) wine club in March, 2011.

BOUQUET

This wine has a red-fruited (especially raspberries and strawberries), floral, spicy, herbal bouquet.  I’m also detecting quite a bit of earthiness as a recurring undertone, along with just a hint of a suggestion of a rumor of oak as well.  Can’t wait to taste this wine!

  

TASTING NOTES

Wow, this is one YUMMY wine!!  No doubt partially due to its high alcohol content (15.5%, the result of ripe fruit/grapes), there is a raspberry jam component up front, along with a red cherry and (some slight) plum and strawberry characteristics in the wine’s fruit profile.  In addition to the fruit flavors, there is an abundance of savory spices and black pepper, all supported by zippy acidity and crisp, smooth, supple tannins.

This wine is fairly light-bodied but it packs quite a wallop of complexity and depth-of-flavor.  It is very well-balanced, smooth, silky, and has quite a lingering, delicious finish.  There’s also some subtle oak and Calineuf-du-Pape earthiness running through the wine’s core structure as well.

This is one of the best California Grenaches I’ve tasted in quite a while.  It is deliciously fruity, spicy, earthy, and food-friendly beyond belief. 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this beauty with racks of lamb that were cut into “chops” and seasoned with Kosher salt, a sprinkling of red chili powder, and freshly-ground cumin, grilled to medium-rare perfection on the grill.  This wine paired perfectly with the lamb chops/racks and would equally pair well with just about any other red meat dish (prime rib, pot roast, grilled steaks, meat loaf, etc.). 

Thanks to its light-bodiness, this wine would even pair well with salmon.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking very nicely right now, but thanks to its acidity and tannins and sugar/alcohol content, this wine should age gorgeously for another 5+ years.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.tablascreek.com/

Siduri 2009 Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, November 10, 2013

VINTAGE

2009

WINERY/PRODUCER

Siduri

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.1%

PRICE PAID

$20

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We visited Siduri’s winery/tasting room in October 2011 during one of our sojourns through the Russian River Valley.  If I remember correctly, this wine was on sale, so we bought a couple of bottles as well as a bottle of their Novy Syrah (another one of Siduri’s labels).

BOUQUET

This wine has a classic Pinot Noir bouquet, exhibiting plenty of earth (and forest floor), red fruits, savory herbs, with suggestions/hints of oak as well.  Hopefully the wine will taste as good as it smells.

 

TASTING NOTES

We had never visited Siduri before but I had read several glowing reviews of some of their wines and wanted to give them a try.  Their winery and tasting room is in an industrial park in the Russian River Valley and their entire operation/business model reminds me of Loring Wine Company, another maker of fantastic Pinot Noirs that purchase their grapes from some of the best vineyards/viticulturists in California and Oregon. 

This Pinot is beautifully well-balanced, with smooth, silky tannins, red fruits like Bing cherries and raspberries, along with TONS of earth and savory herbs like star anise, rosemary, and both white and black pepper.  The wine is fairly light-bodied but packs quite a punch and possesses an abundance of depth-of-flavors and complexity, ending with a smooth, refined, lingering finish.  It has the perfect amount of red fruit, spices, tannins, oak, and acidity.  In the background is a sublime undercurrent of forest floor and sage brush, along with whispers and rumors of strawberry and raspberry jam.

This is a fantastic Burgundian-like Pinot Noir.  It has a fantastic spicy, herbal, earthy bouquet and has depth-of-flavor and complexity that most $75+ Pinots would envy.  At $20 a bottle, I am PISSED-OFF that we didn’t buy one or two cases of this gorgeous Pinot.  At $20/bottle, this wine is/was the buy of the year.  Nobody with an ounce of wine experience who would have blind-tasted this wine would have guessed that it cost only $20 a bottle.  I think most winos would guess that this wine cost at least $50 a bottle.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this beauty with a spiced pork loin stew.  It went quite well with the stew, but if we had another bottle (or case) of this wine, I would suggest pairing it with lamb shanks/chops/racks, duck confit, roasted chicken, salmon, a pork roast or chops, prime rib, or even a simply grilled steak.  Thanks to the wine’s complexity and depth-of-flavors, this wine would just about be a perfect match with any/every/all proteins, with the exception of light white fish dishes.  Want a great Pinot to go with that beef, lamb, pork, or chicken dish?  Start with this wine!

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking gorgeously right now and has the “legs” and structure to age beautifully for another ten years or so. 

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD  -  EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://siduri.com/

Caparone 2008 Nebbiolo

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, October 27, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Caparone

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Nebbiolo

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Estate Grown

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

13.2%

PRICE PAID

Caparone prices (actually, used to price) all their wines at $14 a bottle (their wines are now all priced at $16 a bottle; they were priced at $14 a bottle for YEARS and deservedly increased their prices recently).  Because I buy cases and cases of their wine whenever we’re in Paso, they provide a 20% discount for volume buyers, resulting in a net price (including sales tax) of $12.04 a bottle, making their wines one of the best bargains on the planet!

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought a few cases of Caparone’s Zinfandel and Italian varietals on the way back from San Francisco this past May (2013).

BOUQUET

This wine has a very sharp, tart bouquet, exhibiting tons of savory herbs, earth, and red fruits like raspberries and cherries. 

 

TASTING NOTES

First off: this wine is VERY light colored, almost like a dark rose.  But despite the low alcohol level and light color, this wine packs a wallop of flavor.  When I first tasted this wine about six years ago, I had no idea how to interpret it; if I remember correctly, my tasting note on Cellartracker.com started off with something like, “And now for something completely different.”  This is indeed a “different” wine; most Americans who are used to only drinking Cabernets and other typical reds will probably be perplexed by this wine’s uniqueness and complexity. 

As the bouquet suggested, this wine does indeed have a significant tartness, along with prominent tannins.  There is an abundance of red fruits like tart/sour cherries and raspberries, along with acres of savory herbs.  Like all of Caparone’s other wines, this wine reveals incredible earthiness and terrior.  I’ve always believed that Pinot Noir exhibits its terrior (loosely translated as “a sense of place” (taking into account soil, weather (temperatures, rainfall, wind, degrees of slope of the vineyard, etc.)) better than practically any/every other varietal in the world.  But Caparone’s red wines exhibit their terrior just as well as any/every other Pinot on the planet.  In a discussion I had with Dave Caparone years ago (owner and winemaker), most of their vineyards are practically dry-farmed (or close to it; in drought years, they may irrigate their vineyards a few times a year).  I’ve always found dry-farmed wines to be, generally speaking, very earthy and a fantastic reflection of their soil, geography, and topography.  This wine is no exception!

Caparone’s wines are also unfined and unfiltered, which I LOVE.  I believe that fining and filtering wine removes potentially significant flavors and elements.  Due to mostly dry-farming, unfinning and unfiltering, and having planted their vineyards decades ago (the roots of the vines have probably probed dozens and dozens and dozens of feet below the soil’s surface, in search of moisture and extracting incredible amounts of minerals from that practically untouched and incredibly fertile subsoil), Caparone’s wines are always intriguing, always earthy, always complex, always delicious-beyond-belief, and always a great value.  If you’re a typical American and love Paso Zin Fruit Bombs, look elsewhere.  If you truly enjoy interesting, complex, not-your-ordinary Zin and red Italian varietals, Caparone should be at the top of your list of wineries to visit.  I’m rather obsessed with their Zin and Italian varietals.  They’re one of the wine world’s greatest bargains and if you enjoy rustic, earthy, spicy, low alcohol, light-bodied, complexly-flavored, and extraordinarily food-friendly red wines, they’re almost impossible to beat for the price.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

About three or four months ago, we went to my parent’s house and made lamb shanks and pasta (the sauce was pretty light with not much of a tomato presence).  I brought along a bottle of this Nebbiolo thinking it would pair well with the lamb shank sauce, but it really didn’t pair that well.  Because this wine is so tart, earthy, herbaceous, and tannic, it SCREAMS for pasta with a ragu-like tomato sauce.  Arthur made traditional tomato sauce with his garlicky meatballs and spicy sausage and this wine went PREFECTLY with the pasta; the wine’s acidity matched beautifully with the acidity in the tomato sauce.  Because this wine is light-bodied and somewhat Pinot-like, it would also pair well with salmon, duck, and like most red wines, almost any red meat dish.  But I like to pair this wine with pasta and tomato sauces; it’s a match made in culinary heaven!

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking very nicely right now, but because of its acidity and tannins, it should age gorgeously for another 20+ years.  I would LOVE to try this wine in 2025; unfortunately, I don’t have the patience to let my other bottles sit in the cellar for another dozen years.  Sadly, I just don’t have that kind of willpower.  If you have some of these bottles in your cellar and have the willpower and patience to let them age and mature for another dozen years, let me know in 2025 and I’ll make you a deal: bring your 2008 Caparone Nebbiolos over to our house and we’ll make you a home-cooked meal to DIE FOR to pair with your bottle(s) of 2008 Caparone Nebbiolo.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

89

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD – EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

www.caparone.com

Fess Parker 2009 Clone 115 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, October 13, 2013

VINTAGE

2009

WINERY/PRODUCER

Fess Parker

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

Clone 115

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Santa Rita Hills, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.3%

PRICE PAID

$40 (Retail price: $50)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this bottle from Fess’ wine club in June 2011

BOUQUET

This wine has a beautiful floral bouquet, exhibiting red fruit, oak, savory herbs, and black pepper.  I detect a hint of a suggestion of a smidge of a note of that classic, gorgeous Santa Rita Hills (SRH) terrior that is unlike any other wine-growing region in California (if not the world).  If you’ve experienced multiple Pinots from the SRH, the Russian River Valley (RRV) (the two best Pinot regions in California in my (not so humble) opinion), Santa Barbara County, and/or Napa and Sonoma Counties, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  The SRH has an incredibly unique sense of place as it pertains to Pinot Noir, in both bouquet and flavor profile.  Let’s see if the wine tastes like it smells…….

TASTING NOTES

This is indeed a tasty SRH Pinot Noir, whose flavor profile closely follows the wine’s bouquet characteristics.  Some SRH Pinots can be very light bodied and Burgundian, while others can be a bit richer, heavier, darker, and spicier in nature, such as this wine.

Up front is delicious red fruit like sour cherries, raspberries, and boysenberries, along with a touch of black fruit like plums and black cherries.  The second most prominent characteristic is a fantastic quantity of savory herbs and black pepper.  Next up is that wonderful SRH terrior.  No other grape varietal in the world exhibits its sense of place better than Pinot Noir, and the soil, topography, geography, and weather in the SRH is incredibly unique and VERY identifiable for experienced wine drinkers.  I can usually identify a SRH Pinot within nanoseconds of either smelling or tasting the wine because their bouquet and flavor identifiers are ridiculously obvious.

This wine is wonderfully well-balanced.  The fruit, spice, unique earth/soil, creamy oak, tannins, acidity, and finish are all beautifully well-integrated and harmonize together so that all of the wine’s elements result in a delicious, versatile Pinot Noir. 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

After a brutal week at work, Arthur and I needed an easy, simple-to-make Sunday night dinner since the soon-to-begin work week was just hours away.  So I grilled ribeye steaks with my usual ribeye spices (Kosher salt, black pepper, and Herbs de Provence).  This Pinot paired fantastically with the steaks and would just about pair perfectly with any other red meat dish, like lamb, pot roast, prime rib, etc.  Pinot Noir often pairs well with duck, scallops, and salmon, but a Pinot that’s VERY Burgundian would be the one to pair with those dishes.  This Pinot (thanks to its spiciness and medium body) should be paired with serious red meat dishes.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking beautifully right now and should continue to age nicely for another 10+ years. 

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

91

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.fessparker.com/

Barrel 27 2008 Bull By The Horns

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, October 6, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Barrel 27

WINE NAME

Bull By The Horns

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

55% Syrah, 31% Tempranillo, 14% Petite Verdot

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Central Coast (California)

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.8%

PRICE PAID

$34.32 (includes sales tax)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought this bottle at Barrel 27’s tasting room in Paso Robles on the way back from visiting friends in Sacramento on Thanksgiving weekend last year.  I had read several good reviews of Barrel 27 wines and wanted to give them a try.  I can’t determine if Barrel 27 has their own vineyards and sells their wines via their non-winery tasting room in an industrial park off of Paso’s main road (Highway 46, east of the 101 freeway) or if they’re negociants and purchase their grapes from various vintners.

BOUQUET

This wine has a fantastically rich, creamy, spicy bouquet.    There’s tons of black fruit and spices up front (especially black pepper and savory herbs), followed by a slight earthiness.  Can’t wait to taste this Bad Boy!

TASTING NOTES

My previous tasting note covered a slightly unusual/interesting red blend that would have NOT been allowed in Europe (at least in Spain, France, and Italy).  Here we are again with another VERY interesting California blend that would NOT be allowed in many, if not most/all, parts of Europe.  And that’s what I LOVE about California blends; there are no written-in-stone rules and the sky’s the limit.  This blend falls right in line with that last sentiment. 

Who would even think about blending a Rhone varietal (55% Syrah) with Spain’s most famous varietal (31% Tempranillo), along with one of Bordeaux’s famous blending varietals (14% Petite Verdot)?!?!  Certainly not me.  But those divergent varietals work beautifully together, defying any/all expectations and/or preconceptions.

This is a gorgeously rich, creamy, complexly-flavored, slightly oaky, spicy, earthy blend that can stand-up to the best red blends that California has to offer (at least those under $100).  The most prominent flavor characteristics are ripe dark fruits (plums especially), TONS of savory herbs and black pepper (especially rosemary and thyme), creamy oak and soft, sweet, velvety tannins, along with a certain “je ne sais quoi” that I will attribute to terrior (loosely translated as a “sense of place” as it refers to soil, weather, topography, etc.).  Perhaps owing to its 55% Rhone varietal (Syrah), if I were to taste this wine completely blind, I would have guessed that this may/could have been a Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  The wine exhibits that chalky soil essence and dark fruit and spicy characteristic, along with incredible complexity and depth-of-flavors. 

Despite the rather elevated alcohol level, this wine is beautifully well-balanced and offers layer upon layer upon layer of nuanced flavors.  Most red wines at this alcohol level are usually just big, brash Fruit Bombs; not this beauty!  For the price, this is one difficult red blend to beat.  Quite frankly, this is easily one of the best Cali red blends I’ve tasted all year.  If I knew how well it would taste at home (I sometimes doubt my perceptions in tasting rooms on wine trips due to excessive samplings from excessive tasting rooms), we would have bought an entire case of this red beauty.  It truly is that good/delicious!!!

To the guys at Barrel 27: please keep pushing that envelope!  You guys OBVIOUSLY know what the heck you’re doing.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with Arthur’s famous lamb chops covered with a pesto of rosemary, roasted garlic, and parsley.  It was a match made in heaven!!!!  But thanks to the Rhone, Bordeaux, and Spanish grapes used, this wine would just about pair with any/all red meat dishes, especially grilled steaks, lamb shanks and racks, prime rib, and even pot roast and hamburgers.  This wine is SO good it almost doesn’t matter what you would pair it with; the wine will, in essence, be the star of the show/dinner.  But seriously; pair it with a quality red meat dish and you will NOT be disappointed.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking (obviously) fantastically right now and will probably continue to age, mature, develop, and evolve gorgeously for another 10+ years.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

93

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.barrel27-mcpricemyers.com/

2008 Thacher Controlled Chaos

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, September 29, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Thacher

WINE NAME

Controlled Chaos

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

42% Mourvedre, 35% Zinfandel, 23% Grenache

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.7%

PRICE PAID

$35

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought this bottle at the winery’s tasting room in June, 2011.

BOUQUET

The Mourvedre in this blend is mostly responsible for this wine’s meaty bouquet on the nose, along with some peppery spiciness and savory herbs that nicely complement the red fruit and earthy components.

 

TASTING NOTES

One of the best things about American wines is that winemakers and wineries don’t have to follow incredibly strict regional laws/rules/guidelines/regulations as far as what varietals they can/cannot use in their blends like they do throughout most of Europe (especially Italy and France (and extra especially Champagne, Bordeaux, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape)).  In America, anything goes and anything is possible.  You want to blend Pinot Noir with Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc (doesn’t that sound disgusting?), go right ahead (but only if you’re that dumb/stupid)!

 Blending Mourvedre, Zinfandel, and Grenache would NOT be allowed in France but is practically encouraged in America.  And if you’re the adventurous type, you will probably enjoy this blend.

Mourvedre and Grenache make for a CLASSIC match/pair/blend, but adding 35% Zinfandel to the mix makes this wine quite interesting.  The Mourvedre and Grenache exhibit their usual (mostly) red fruit elements, along with savory herbs and black pepper.  Where things get REAL interesting is when the Zin characteristics intermingle/contrast with the Mourvedre and Grenache (especially Zin’s almost all black fruity/jammy characteristics).  Zinfandel doesn’t have the acidity and tannic structure that Mourvedre and Grenache exhibit, so the Zin’s soft, silky tannins play quid-pro-quo with the other varietal’s zippy acidity.  I’m also detecting new American oak, which also adds a creamy, vanilla smoothness to the finish.

This is an extremely American red blend: plenty of red and dark fruit, lots of savory herbs and black pepper, oakiness that contributes to the wine’s creaminess, suggestions of earthiness, all bundled-up in rich, creamy deliciousness.  Despite the elevated alcohol level, the wine maintains its balance and integrity (I’d imagine the jammy Zin is responsible for all that alcohol).  Kind of wish we had this wine on the 4^th of July; that would have been extremely appropriate!!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with our go-to red blend pairing: ribeye steaks well-seasoned with Kosher salt and tons of black pepper, along with Arthur’s famous mushroom medley.  The wine paired beautifully with the steaks and would go well with just about any/every other red meat dish (meatloaf, pot roast, lamb, etc.).  Because this wine is so rich, creamy, and slightly jammy, I would stick to fatty red meats like well-marbled steaks so that the meat’s fattiness can counterbalance the wine’s alcohol.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking quite well right now and thanks to the Mourvedre and Grenache, it should continue to age, mature, and develop for another 10 years or so.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

88

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.thacherwinery.com/