2012 Dark Horse Wine Big Red Blend 01A

Well, it's time to relax and have a glass of wine as I make dinner.  Tonight I've opened a bottle of 2012 Dark Horse Wine Big Red Blend, an interesting one that I recently picked up at Trader Joe's.  This wine is from a maker in California, but it's a blend of Malbec, Syrah, Tempranillo and Merlot sourced from California, Australia and Argentina.  Let's just hope the whole is greater than the sum of its parts!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass, reminiscent of a nice bold Cabernet.  The nose is anything but, with aromas of red ripe fruit, raspberry, blackberry and currant overlaid with hints of mint and floral notes.  The taste was pleasant, with fruit flavors that were much milder than I was expecting based on the nose.  The fruit gives way to some warm spice notes midpalate, but the finish was unremarkable.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 6.5, it's a nice everyday table wine at a decent price of only $8.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic midweek dinner of leftovers!  I'm having some grilled wine and cheese brats with some potato salad and coleslaw, a nice easy drinking wine to pair with classic fair food.  Cheers!

2008 Cougar Crest Reserve Syrah

Here we are on a Sunday night after Labor Day, the first day of Autumn is rapidly approaching, so to celebrate the waning days of summer I decided to grill some brats and enjoy my Sunday dinner out on the patio, as I fear the days of outdoor dining may soon be at an end for this year.  And so go with the brats, I've opened a bottle of 2008 Cougar Crest Reserve Syrah which I recently bought from Wines Till Sold Out.  Cheers to them, but I've been a fan of Cougar Crest since I visited their tasting room back in 2010 (?) and I really liked the 2007 Reserve Syrah which you can see here.  But back to the here and now, this is a very nice wine that I think I like even better than the '07!

The wine is a deep inky purple color in the glass, with a bit of opacity.  The nose is lovely, with aromas of ripe fruit, plum, blackberries and cherry, with some hints of vanilla, clove and autumn spice.  The taste is just beautiful, with a blast of ripe fruit that easily transitions to some leather, green grass and white pepper notes midpalate.  The soft tannins provide for a supple mouthfeel and a velvety, smooth and absolutely dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a great example of a Walla Walla Syrah and I found it for an absolute bargain price of just $20!  Of course tonight I'm enjoying this with some wine and cheese brats (ironic eh?) with some grilled peppers and onions, a perfect summer summer that pairs so well with this wine.  I wish summer could last a little longer, but even if it can't, I'll have a good reminder when the frost hits and I enjoy another bottle of this wine.  Cheers!

2003 Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino

Here we are at the first Saturday of the month, and of course that means it's Cellar Saturday, that time when I raid the cellar and open a bottle that's been waiting way too long to be enjoyed!  Tonight I've decided to go straight to Tuscany for a nice bottle of the king of Italian wine, Brunello di Montalcino, in this case the 2003 Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino.  There's just something about a mature Brunello, brimming with Sangiovese, a wine that is great by itself or with a broad variety of dishes.

This wine exhibits the bright ruby color that is typical of Brunello.  The nose is classic Brunello, with rich earthy aromas of leather, coffee, smoke and limestone overlaid with just a hint of dried flowers.  The taste is just lovely, it brings be back to my last trip to Tuscany nearly 20 years ago, lovely black fruit notes right up front, plum, blackberry and black currant, that transitions effortlessly to some earthy notes of leather and tobacco midpalate.  The tannins are nicely integrated, providing great structure for the long, dry finish that just has you begging for another sip.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a very nice example of the best that Tuscany has to offer when it comes to wine, and this one was a good value from Wines Till Sold Out for just $25!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a non-traditional pairing of grilled wild Coho salmon with a lemon dill cream sauce along with some oven roasted root vegetables, purple potatoes, orange and purple carrots and golden candy stripe beets.  A wonderful autumn dish that is really accented by the earthy flavors of this wine!