Happy Monday! It's been an uneventful start to the week, though it was in the mid-70s today which means I need to grill and enjoy a glass of wine on the patio, and not necessarily in that order. Tonight I've decided to open a bottle of 2015 L'Ecole No. 41 Estate Ferguson, which is officially last year's vintage as I just got a few bottles of the 2016 in my recent wine club shipment. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (56%), Merlot (30%), Cabernet Franc (7%) and Malbec (7%) from the Ferguson Vineyard in Walla Walla. So let's see how this vintage stacks up!
The wine is a deep purple color at the center, with bright garnet along the edges, a testament to the concentrations of Cabernet and Merlot. The nose presents aromas of dusty basalt, with hints of leather, mocha and blueberries throughout. The taste is a rush of black cherry with a bit of tartness that transitions to notes of tobacco, espresso and dark chocolate midpalate. There is quite a bit of minerality in this wine, a testament to the varietals in this Bordeaux style blend. The tannins are refined and well structured, providing for a lingering dry finish that holds the mouth for a minute or more.
Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, it's quite impressive, but just a bit short of the 2014 vintage in my view. In any case this is still a fantastic wine and perfect for a big honkin' steak, which is a good thing since tonight I'm enjoying this wine with a gigantic cowboy cut bone-in ribeye grilled Pittsburgh rare along with some bacon roasted Brussels sprouts and grilled leeks. And no, I could not finish the whole steak but there's always tomorrow! Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment