Happy New Year! It's been a rainy, sleet-filled day here, and now everything seems to have an eighth-inch coating of ice. But things could be worse, we could be dealing with a pandemic, economic depression and deep social and political divisions, oh wait... In any case, to start the new year I've decided to open a bottle of wine that a friend of mine, Robert made. There is no vintage, but he did make a pretty well designed label for his Eclipse wines (maybe this was during the eclipse, what year was that again?) and tonight I've opened a Pinot Noir that he crafted from grapes from Sonoma. So, let's see if he should quit his day job!
The wine is a nice garnet color in the glass, with a lighter color and great clarity, as you might expect from a Pinot Noir. After letting this one breathe for an hour or so, it's really opening up with aromas of black cherry, spice box and a hint of mint. The taste is actually pretty good, with a rush of ripe black fruit up front, cherry, blueberry and plum that transitions to some flavors of caramel and oak midpalate. The tannins are somewhat subdued, for a soft, dry finish with a reprise of mint at the end.
Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, it's actually surprisingly good given that this wine was homemade (my last experience with homemade wine was from my high school friend Nick, who's uncle Vuyo made white wine from grapes he grew on the south side of Chicago, which we affectionately referred to as Vuyo fluid). This wine would pair well with lamb or pasta, but tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic New Year's dinner of king crab legs with drawn butter. Cheers!
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