2014 L'Ecole No. 41 Frenchtown Red Wine

Happy Taco Tuesday!  Guess what's for dinner tonight...At any rate, I've decided to open a bottle of wine I bought on my last trip to Walla Walla (can you believe that was two years ago?) and since it's Washington Wine Month (though really, it seems that every other month is Washington Wine Month) I've decided to open a bottle of 2014 L'Ecole No. 41 Frenchtown Red Wine!  So let's see how this one tastes.

The wine is a deep ruby color, comparable to a nice Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, which I'm confident are in this blend somewhere.  The nose is a pleasant combination of leather, red licorice, candy apple and black cherry that exudes a mind fake of sweetness.  The taste is classic Washington Bordeaux style blend with wonderful black cherry, plum and marionberry notes up front that transition to some lovely mineral notes of dusty limestone midpalate.  The tannins are well integrated, leading to a long, smooth and very dry finish that's remarkable for such a value priced wine.

At less than $20, this wine is such a tremendous bargain, it's hard not to rate it highly, so I'm giving this one a solid 8.5.  It would pair well with a wide range of summer dishes, from barbecue to steak to pasta, but tonight I'm enjoying this wine with some panko crusted fish tacos with spicy red cabbage slaw and avacado.  Cheers!