Great Recent Wine Choices?

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Argentina @Jake V - I’ll have to try that - that region is putting out some spectacular wines, great land, tons of French investment, I think some great local wine knowledge.
Chile and Peru make pretty good Malbec as well. I’ve been to the Tacama winery in Ica, Peru and they have a great Malbec. Of course you have to take a break from the Pisco.
 
I’ve never had a single grape Tannat @Jake V - I’m sure I’ve had it blended in a South American wine - so I had to look it up - sounds almost diametrically opposed to a Malbec - one soft, round, big fruit, the other tannic, hard, less depth in fruit. It almost sounds like the role Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon play in a Bordeaux style blend.

Interesting.

Argentine Malbec is pretty much all I drink, which is fitting considering I regularly do Parrillas. I did try a Tanat (Uruguay) the other day which was interesting. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the Malbecs.
 
I’ve never had a single grape Tannat @Jake V - I’m sure I’ve had it blended in a South American wine - so I had to look it up - sounds almost diametrically opposed to a Malbec - one soft, round, big fruit, the other tannic, hard, less depth in fruit. It almost sounds like the role Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon play in a Bordeaux
I’ve never had a single grape Tannat @Jake V - I’m sure I’ve had it blended in a South American wine - so I had to look it up - sounds almost diametrically opposed to a Malbec - one soft, round, big fruit, the other tannic, hard, less depth in fruit. It almost sounds like the role Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon play in a Bordeaux style blend.

Interesting.

It came back to me. I only had a glass, but it was Garzon. Next time I will have to stick with it and get a bottle.
 
This was my latest pull. A gift at a corporate event, can’t tell you which one, I often leave the bottle or give it to one of my team if it’s a flight, but this one made the cut and came home. Peju Winery.

I’ll probably offend someone who loves this wine. Anything wrong with it? Nope. Big, fruit forward, fruit bomb, drink now and don’t wait type of experience. Tasted good. Nothing bad on the palette. But, nothing interesting either. No character. No terroir. Just adult grape juice.

Yep. We still finished it, we had this with some ground mule deer from Montana, cooked with some fresh garlic (not jarlick), grilled onions, roasted vegetables, and sautéed spinach, all lathered over a baked potato. Simple ma’s fare, and that part was delicious. It made the wine better.

Anyone had Peju before and wanna fight about it?

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I generally only drink wine on special occasions, usually with dinner or dessert. I try to have a date night once a week. My most recent one was a candlelight string quartet performance with wine and a delicious prime rib dinner in Seattle. The Maria's Cab Sav is a delicious wine that is supposedly given a 94 point rating. I would agree!
 

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Looks worth a shot - will go on the list

I generally only drink wine on special occasions, usually with dinner or dessert. I try to have a date night once a week. My most recent one was a candlelight string quartet performance with wine and a delicious prime rib dinner in Seattle. The Maria's Cab Sav is a delicious wine that is supposedly given a 94 point rating. I would agree!
 
I’ve heard this is excellent - I’ve got to acquire some @First_Focal_Plane

Tonight I put one of these in the salt - 25 years old, like an old Kudu bull, it deserved to die an honorable death. Ch. Branaire Ducru, Saint Julien, 2001, great vintage, Raspberries up front, flint, and then currants on the finish, absolutely spectacular, what @Jason Vincent would call “Proper”.

I paired it with a scratch dish: “Proper Pheasant meets Spicy Peasant” - @Tony Caggiano is a much better cook, but I can hold my own.

Pounded pheasant breast with salt and pepper, sautéed in light oil, a touch of butter, Grand Marnier, and a fresh squeeze of blood orange - sliced and tossed with some crumbled chorizo boar sausage from Paso Robles, add a spoon of fresh roasted salsa, dropped into some freshly cooked Tagliatelle noodles, pecorino cheese to taste.

Did a ‘home and away’ with a friend, he bartered Iowa pheasant breasts for my Montana mule deer summer sausage - good trade.

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@Jeff Forrester - I look forward to that too!

My wine drinking is just coming back online, as last Sunday we went a tad big, my son and now daughter-in-law’s wedding, held at Justin Winery in Paso Robles, California. My wife helped to turn the barrel chai in to a spectacular venue, with cocktails in the caves and dancing among the barrels, spectacular food from their Michelin star chef, and we lined up a wide array of their wines and all were enjoyed, a hefty dose of their flagship Isosceles Reserve in particular.

@Tony Caggiano let Charlene dance like crazy but was held back with a bad wheel.

I’m just starting to crack some of the excess, their Right Angle Bordeaux blend is excellent.



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What a special day!
 
@Sean Molina

My experience set is not as deep as in other places, but here is what I see:

Great region, and no longer a sleeper - it’s on the map.

Really strong GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre) territory, the Cab Franc has some work ahead to match its cousin to the North. It has the soil to deliver this “Rhône Promise” well from what I’ve read, and is different than Paso - Paso milder, Walla Walla has more extremes - SO first a shorter growing cycle, next the vines have to work harder - so I think the wines that I’ve tasted (few, but it will be fun to work on this) have depth, but it’s different depth. Contrasting it to Paso, for a Rhône to Rhône set up, is almost not reasonable. When Paso does ok, not great, the wines have that burnt sugar back taste - when they get it great, that’s in balance. Those from Walla Walla have great “tone”, the spicy portion of a GSM is a standout, and my guess is that’s the above factors. I recently tried a L’Ecole No. 41 and was very impressed. I think, don’t know, the Mouvedre was higher in their blend, thus some good spicy flavor tones, my preference, and it was as good as anything that could be put on the bar to beat it.

So with limited knowledge, I’d say it’s a great spot. In an era where we all drink earlier, versus sleep the wine, and when Pinot gets boring on occasion, this should be in the repertoire for certain.

@Godfather

Any thoughts on Walla Walla wine?
 
@Sean Molina

My experience set is not as deep as in other places, but here is what I see:

Great region, and no longer a sleeper - it’s on the map.

Really strong GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre) territory, the Cab Franc has some work ahead to match its cousin to the North. It has the soil to deliver this “Rhône Promise” well from what I’ve read, and is different than Paso - Paso milder, Walla Walla has more extremes - SO first a shorter growing cycle, next the vines have to work harder - so I think the wines that I’ve tasted (few, but it will be fun to work on this) have depth, but it’s different depth. Contrasting it to Paso, for a Rhône to Rhône set up, is almost not reasonable. When Paso does ok, not great, the wines have that burnt sugar back taste - when they get it great, that’s in balance. Those from Walla Walla have great “tone”, the spicy portion of a GSM is a standout, and my guess is that’s the above factors. I recently tried a L’Ecole No. 41 and was very impressed. I think, don’t know, the Mouvedre was higher in their blend, thus some good spicy flavor tones, my preference, and it was as good as anything that could be put on the bar to beat it.

So with limited knowledge, I’d say it’s a great spot. In an era where we all drink earlier, versus sleep the wine, and when Pinot gets boring on occasion, this should be in the repertoire for certain.

Good stuff!

2016 was a good year for The Rocks District. I found the environment for the vines under the rocks, which produce "the funk, pretty interesting.

Outside of the quality of wine, the culture around wine was very different than the Napa culture. Less sun hats, and a more casual experience built around the wine making, rather than the charcuterie board.
 
Sounds like my type of place.

Good stuff!

2016 was a good year for The Rocks District. I found the environment for the vines under the rocks, which produce "the funk, pretty interesting.

Outside of the quality of wine, the culture around wine was very different than the Napa culture. Less sun hats, and a more casual experience built around the wine making, rather than the charcuterie board.
 
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