2015 Mark Ryan Winery "The Dissident"

Happy Taco Tuesday!  I bet you'll never guess what's for dinner tonight!  But at least the wine is settled, as I've decided to open a bottle of a wine club shipment from Mark Ryan Winery.  I'll admit to being a more recent convert to these wines (what was it 2012?), but I was hooked once I realized where the wines got their names.  And despite letting me reminisce about my grunge days, they are also terrific wine.  The 2015 Mark Ryan Winery "The Dissident" is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (55%), Merlot (27%), Cabernet Franc (16%) and Petit Verdot (1%) all from some of the best vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington.  So let's see how this one tastes!

The wine is the color and consistency you'd expect from a blend so heavily weighted toward Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  The nose is an earthy rush of smoke, oak and dried herbs intermingled with ripe black fruit, blackberry, cherry and cassis.  The taste is at once a rush of heavy black fruit, blackberry, cherry and a hint of prune that transitions smoothly to some notes of dusty limestone and white pepper midpalate.  The finish is delightful, with nicely polished tannins supporting the long, smooth and voluptuous finish that seems to linger more than a minute.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a great example of the quality of Bordeaux style blends being produced in the Columbia Valley, but I thought this vintage was just below the 2011 vintage that I last reviewed (see here).  And of course I'm enjoying this wine with some chorizo tacos, though it would pair well with anything from steak to salmon to lamb, or just sipping by itself.  Cheers!