This is a delightful wine, clean, refreshing, great with food. It is aromatic of lime citrus, peach, and stony minerality. The palate is briskly acidic for excellent tension, medium body, a dry style with very nice citrus, stone fruit, excellent minerality. It is beautifully balanced, moderately complex, with a medium length of finish. A spätlese trocken, it is only 12.0% alcohol, despite being pretty much bone dry. We bought it at auction for $35. We paired it with a seasoned pork tenderloin, cooked outdoors on the grill on medium heat for about 20 minutes, with sides of baked apples, picked just days ago nearby in Michigan, sauerkraut, and pinto beans. The pairing is a good example of the versatility of Riesling. It does well with all the usual white wine pairings, but also pairs wonderfully with some meats such as this pork dish.
The clay and limestone soils of Fronsac are well suited to Merlot. The wines are rounder and fleshier than Cabernet-based blends. For many consumers, they are more approachable when young. This particular bottle is a 2001 vintage, which means it had 13 years of aging when we opened it a few weeks ago. I think it is just at its peak of enjoyment right about now, but probably won't get any better. I have one more bottle, so we'll find a nice occasion to open it pretty soon.
Here are my notes from the evening we opened it. It's a beautiful, lovely, elegant wine with both power and finesse. It is aromatic of dark fruit, cedar, and herbs. The bottle had thrown quite a bit of sediment, but the wine was silky smooth, medium in body, with great freshness. Red and dark berries, cherry, and savory herbs comprised the flavor profile. It is beautifully balanced, moderately complex, and had good length. At 13.0% alcohol, we could enjoy a couple of glasses without feeling tired afterward. What a nice wine it is.
Mary was in the mood for a nice steak, so even on a regular Wednesday evening, we grilled a couple of cuts of filet mignon to a nice medium with garlic mashed potatoes and a crunchy green salad. Here's a little tip. Merlot is especially well suited for pairing with lean cuts of meat. Although a Cabernet-based wine or Syrah would certainly not be a mistake, they are especially good with more marbled cuts like a ribeye.
Spanish winemakers are trying to decide the best way to grow and vinify their grapes and to satisfy a global market, so they're in a bit of a state of flux at the moment. Some producers follow the traditional path and others, like this one, produce a bold, ripe style. For fans of the style, that's fine, but for us, very ripe, high alcohol wines don't have the distinctiveness and elegance of wines with better balance. To us, they lose the uniqueness of the grape variety and the place where they are grown. They taste like just another big red wine. At 14.5% alcohol, it's hard to finish the bottle between the two of us without feeling sluggish and tired. Plus, all the oak barrel influence and very heavy, modern bottle packaging makes it expensive. This wine cost $65, a lesson learned.
I wrote that it was aromatic and flavored of chocolate, oak, and ripe, black plum, not distinct, drinkable but glad to get it out of the inventory. It is an example of why we have very little Spanish red wine in our collection nowadays. I know there are wonderful wines still available from Spain and we're on the lookout for them, but shop carefully and buyer beware.
On the bright side, dinner that evening was a Cuban dish called picadillo, which was sensational! It is ground meat, seasoned with lots of garlic, herbs, cumin, peppers, onions, olives, and raisins, served with white rice and black beans. We must post a blog note about picadillo. Mary says it's easy and it is definitely delicious.
Cheers!
Brian♥Mary
