2011 Barrister North Coast Red Wine

Well all right, I am back on the interwebs!  Which means I am no longer limited to doing blog posts from my iPhone and instead can do them will full access to spell check and a full range of fonts!  So to celebrate, I've opened up a bottle of 2011 Barrister North Coast red wine that I bought from the Wines Till Sold Out (WTSO) cheapskate even a few weeks ago.  Not they said it was similar to the Orin Swift efforts on the Prisoner, which I like so why not give it a try?

The wine is a lovely deep ruby in the glass the tends toward a nice purple at the center.  The nose is concentrated with fruit, black plum, cherries, cassis with some notes of fresh herbs and forest floor.  The taste is much less fruity than I was expecting, nice flavors of black licorice, coffee that transitions to some black pepper and spice notes midpalate.  The finish is quite nice, with subdued tannins and a smooth, elegant finish that beckons for another sip.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it's a nice wine that does live up to its reputation as the Prisoner's little brother, but at a value price (I think I paid about $18 for this one).  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with some fresh baked pork chops (did I mention that I went in with some friends and bought a pig last week?), baked potato and steamed asparagus, a classic Sunday dinner.  The fruit in the wine makes it an ideal accompaniment for the wonderful flavors of pork.  Salut!