2012 L'Ecole No. 41 Seven Hills Estate Malbec

Ahh...Sunday evening, time to get my amateur chef hat out and make a kick butt dinner!  And of course with a kick butt dinner you need to have a kick butt bottle of wine, and boy do we have one tonight, the 2012 L'Ecole No. 41 Seven Hills Estate Malbec, made from the fruit of block 34 of the vineyard, which is usually blended to make one of my favorites, the Estate Perigee, but for the 2012 vintage we get the treat of some Malbec on it's own.

The wine is a deep, brooding inky purple in the glass, with some bright ruby along the edges.  The nose is classic Malbec, very earthy, with notes of ripe black fruit overlaid with some tobacco leaf, smoky oak, and some lovely spices.  The taste is a burst of ripe fruit up front, with some plum, blackberry and cherry that smoothly transitions to some wonderful earthy mineral notes midpalate, dusty limestone and basalt.  The finish is again classic, with some lovely peppery spice notes that play perfectly with the fine grained tannins, making for a luscious and very smooth, exceptionally dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, it's really simply fabulous, and keep in mind that I've not been the biggest fan of Malbec, but this one sure is a treat.  Tonight, I've paired it with perhaps the perfect dinner for such an earthy and spicy wine, a nice rare grilled prime sirloin on a bed of baby kale tossed with a bit of aged white balsamic, along with homemade truffle mac & cheese and some steamed asparagus.  This wine is just ideal with the the earthiness of the truffles and the hearty flavors of steak, cheers!

2009 Three Rivers Winery Rivers Red Blend

Another day in March, another Washington wine to review!  Tonight it's the Three Rivers Winery 2009 Rivers Red Blend, a lovely bordeaux style blend and a terrific value to boot.  I remember the first time I went to visit the wonderful wineries of Walla Walla (say that 5 times fast!) and coming in on the old U.S. 12, you first passed Woodward Canyon and L'Ecole No. 41 on the north, and then a half mile up the road you came to Three Rivers on the south side of the road.  My first visit they had just finished their tasting room and it was simply gorgeous, so naturally I picked up a few bottles and continued on my trek.  Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I last went to visit and there was a new superhighway in place of the old U.S. 12, and Three Rivers was off to the side of the old road, what a miscarriage of road construction!

At any rate, back to the wine, that's what you're here for right?  Well, this one has a lovely deep ruby color, with wonderful notes of green grass and ripe red fruit on the nose.  The taste is a lovely combination of black fruit up front, accented with a bit of anise and black pepper, that transitions to some lovely ripe plum with a luscious mouthfeel. The tannins are nicely structured for such a young wine, leading to a long, dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a solid drinking everyday red wine at a spectacular value, I bought a case of this at my local wine merchant for only $13 a bottle!  To me, this is a great house red, perfect for almost any dinner, from rich pasta to grilled steaks and chops.  Tonight I'm enjoying it with a dinner that's a bit off the red wine path, some whole grain penne tossed with some alfredo sauce and fresh asparagus tips, yum!