2011 Maison Bleue "Le Midi" Boushey Vineyard Grenache

You know, it's been a while since I reviewed the previous vintage of this wine, so I thought it might be time to try the 2011 Maison Bleue "Le Midi" Boushey Vineyard Grenache (you can see my review of the 2010 vintage here).  I am a fan of Maison Bleue and a big fan of this Grenache, so let's see how I like this one!

The wine is a beautiful bright ruby color in the glass, with great clarity, like looking at a glass of pure gemstone.  The nose is brilliant, with aromas of leather, tart cherry, green herbs and a hint of blackberry.  The taste is just lovely, with a blast of ripe berries, blackberry, raspberry and a bit of plum that transitions effortlessly to some notes of tart cherry and smoke midpalate.  The finish is sublime, with well structured tannins supporting a long, voluptuous and very dry finish, just as you would expect as the varietal fully expresses itself.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, so yes, I am still a very big fan!  This wine would go very well with a variety of hearty winter stews, grilled meats or roasts, but I've decided to take a different path this evening.  Tonight I'm enjoying this wine with some pan seared seas scallops served over a bed of baby arugula dressed in aged white balsamic along with some wild mushroom risotto.  The wine plays such a great foil to the richness of the scallops and the earthiness of the mushrooms, it could not be a better choice tonight.  Cheers!

2013 Seven Hills Ciel du Cheval

Well, I'm off work this week for vacation, so you might see a few more blog posts than normal this week.  Tonight I am enjoying a bottle of 2013 Seven Hills Ciel du Cheval, their 13th vintage of this wonderful red blend from the Ciel du Cheval vineyard on Red Mountain.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (42%), Merlot (30%), Petit Verdot (14%) and Cabernet Franc (14%).  What makes this is bit different is that the wine is blended early and then placed back in the barrel to age another 18 months before release, providing a real taste of the Red Mountain terroir.

The wine is a deep purple in the glass, with highlights of garnet along the edges.  The nose presents aromas of leather, blackberry, black pepper and a hint of smoke.  The taste is surprisingly well developed for such a young wine, with subdued fruit up front that seems to come alive with blackberry jam and caramelized plum, that transition effortlessly to notes of dusty limestone and toasted oak midpalate.  The tannins are a bit chewy given their youth, but still provide a nice base for the long, smooth and exceptionally dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, with much room to develop over the coming decade.  This is a wine that begs to be paired with a nice steak, so I've obliged tonight as I'm enjoying this with a nice rare grilled Angus bone-in ribeye, mashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.  The wine stands up to the steak just fine, but there's something magical about the ripe black fruit combined with mashed sweet potatoes!  Cheers!

2007 Cliff Creek Cellars Syrah

Happy Sunday!  I was looking for a bottle of wine to open for dinner and was surprised to find a bottle from a producer I met at the Portland airport while there on business in April 2014 (you can see that post here: 2009 Cliff Cree Cellars Merlot).  They are an interesting small producer located in Southern Oregon, in the town of Gold Hill.  At the time I really loved the Merlot, but apparently didn't think the Syrah was too bad either, hence I'm enjoying the 2007 Cliff Creek Cellars Syrah with my Sunday dinner!

The wine is a beautiful ruby color in the glass with nice clarity.  The nose presents earthy aromas of leather, musty peat and oak over layers of lush berries and plum with just a hint of smoke.  The taste is quite nice, with some initial ripe black fruit that gives way to some eucalyptus and baking spice midpalate.  The finish is very smooth, with a reprise of some berries intermingled with toasted oak, as the well developed tannins support the long, dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it's very nice, but not as nice as the stellar Merlot (I really need to find that other bottle I brought back!).  This wine would be good with a variety of rustic winter dishes, but tonight I'm pairing it with a classic holiday Sunday dinner or roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and classic green bean casserole.  Cheers!