2009 Chateau du Pin Bordeaux

Tonight I am coming to you from Elkhart, Indiana, the RV capital of the world, and nothing says RV like a nice 2009 Bordeaux!  I just came back from a lovely dinner with my Chairman at the Vine here in Elkhart (if you are ever in the area I highly recommend it).  We had the salmon special, grilled with a Tuscan cream sauce, delicious!  And now I'm back at the hotel ready for a glass of wine.  This one the Chateau du Pin Bordeaux from the stellar 2009 vintage that is really starting to drink very well now.

The color is very nice, rich ruby edging toward a deep purple in the center.  The nose is quite nice with rich ripe fruit, blackberries, cherry, plum and cassis that suggests a very fruit forward wine.  The taste is fruit forward but subdued, with cool red fruit up front that transitions to some nice minerality, dusty limestone and dried herbs midpalate that is so typical of a young Bordeaux.  The tannins are rather mellow, but still supportive of a long dry finish that is classic for the Gironde.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a very nice example of a standard Bordeaux from a strong vintage, and it was a pretty good value as well as I recall this one was about $15.  Although I'm having this after dinner, it would pair quite nicely with some lamb chops grilled with sage, or some braised short ribs with some lovely root vegetables that are just coming into season with the autumn weather.  The fruit of the wine really would be a nice foil to the strong and savory flavors of a big meat dish.  Cheers!