Wine Reviews: Australian Riesling from Barossa Valley

It's wine wednesday! And what better way to celebrate than with a wine review! This time I had the opportunity to taste a Riesling from an unexpected area - Australia! More specifically, from Barossa Valley in the southern region of Australia.

Photo Source.

Are you as surprised as I am that I picked up a Riesling from Australia?! Honestly, I have always been a huge advocate for Riesling. Too many of us assume that all forms of Riesling are sweetness bombs. While some are pretty sweet, there are tons of Riesling styles made in Germany and the U.S. that have great acidity and fruit flavors without the overwhelming sweetness. Plus, some even argue that Riesling is one of the best food pairing wines. But my passion for German Rieslings aside, I did not know that they made decedent Riesling in Australia! 

After I heard about Australian Rieslings, I have been looking for them for a while - they are surprisingly hard to find. But when I moved to my new apartment and stopped in what is now my neighborhood wine shop, I found one! It is made by Chateau Tanunda in Barossa Valley.

Barossa Valley is located in South Australia, around the city of Adelaide. Barossa Valley, along with Coonawarra, are two of the best wine growing regions in the whole country. The wine making style in Barossa Valley has been heavily influenced by the British.

Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Riesling 2010

Where it's From?  Barossa Valley region of South Australia.

Grapes?  100% Riesling.

Winemaker Notes.  The wine has a subtle yellow color with delicate aromas of lime blossom and citrus fruit. The flavor features lemon, lime, passion fruit and a juicy finish. The finish has a touch of minerality and refreshing acidity. Forty percent of this wine comes from old vines planted on the Château Tanunda Estate in the 1920s.

My Thoughts.  Every time I try a Riesling like this, I wonder when Americans will understand the versatility of this grape! It's delicious. Especially when it is made in this dry and refreshing style. I could not agree with the winemaker's notes more - I loved the minerality, acidity, and bright citrus flavors. I look forward to more delicious Rieslings out of Australia.

Cheers!

Skunked Beer: How to Tell and What to do about it?

There’s a Skunk in Your Beer!?

That’s right folks, time for another article about beer! Today’s topic is one that has caused quite a bit of conversation among beer drinkers all around the world. What causes a beer to be “skunked?" A beer that has been skunked is one that is flawed and usually rendered undrinkable due to a chemical reaction caused by both natural and artificial light sources. When a beer is skunked it tends to take on the scent of a skunk and can taste almost rubbery. Needless to say, one should never be stuck with a skunked beer. This post will offer some tips on how to avoid this rotten reaction.

It may be surprisingly to learn that light, not just heat, is the primary cause of skunked beer. When light reacts with the hops compounds (a primary ingredient in almost all commercial beers), it provides the energy necessary to boost the sulfuric compounds present in beer. These sulfuric compounds often have strong, almost offensive odors (think the smell of gas). 

So what are our friends in the beer industry doing to protect us from skunked beer? The answer lies in --- packaging!  Every vessel that a beer can go in plays an important role in whether or not the beer is susceptible to skunking. However, some examples of packaging are better than others at protecting beer - let's consider the following:

Metal Containers

The best packaging for beer may not come as a surprise. Metal containers, such as kegs and beer cans, are the best packaging to protect your beer from that, oh so dangerous, blue light. The metal surface prevents light from reaching the beer and keeps your beer unskunked.  

Colored Glass Bottles

If you are not drinking from a keg or a can, your next best option is a brown bottle. If exposed to light long enough the brown bottle does not stand a chance, but for the most part it does a very good job of keeping your beer fresh. Just don’t leave your beer out in the sun for too long. Following brown bottles is green bottles. Unlike brown bottlers, green bottles are rather lousy at protecting your beer. Beers in green bottles tend to get skunked very quickly after being exposed to direct light sources.

Clear Glass Bottles

Lastly, clear bottles are the worst at protecting your beer from the light. A very famous beer company puts their beer in clear bottles, and by the time you are ready to drink one of those bad boys, there is a high probability it is already pre-skunked. I am not going to say which brewery ... but let’s just say they use a lot of beaches in their advertising and recommend that you jam limes into the bottle. (Perhaps in order to hide the skunky smell).

As mentioned above, one of the more popular misconceptions when it comes to skunked beers is that it is triggered by a change in temperature. For example, if you take a beer out of a fridge and let it get to room temperature, it will increase the odds of it becoming skunked. Luckily, this is not true! The primary way that a beer will get skunked is light. When it comes to temperature, beer may also become skunked if you go from one extreme to another. So if you taker your beer in the cooler, to the inside of your car, on a 95 degree day, then you might see some negative effects on your bottle of beer.

To surmise, the amount of light your beer is exposed to plays a very important role in whether or not it is at risk to skunking. Also remember, moving your beer from a cold environment to a warm environment, for the most part, will not have that much of a negative impact on your beer. Now get out there, keep your beer out of the sun, and use remember these tips to enjoy skunk free beer!

Cheers!

Santorini Wines: A Day (or Two or Three) at Boutari

“Paul Theroux said, ‘travel is glamorous only in retrospect.’

Clearly Theroux never visited Santorini. I would like to introduce my latest guest blogger, and beautiful friend, Victoria. She just returned from a trip to Santorini, Greece and I am beyond excited to hear about her visit this beautiful island and her thoughts on the local wine.”

— Kelley

Introduction to Santorini

I’m thrilled to write my first guest post as a member of the Molly Pitcher Club! My husband and I honeymooned this past May on the stunningly beautiful island of Santorini, in the Greek Cyclades. I highly recommend visiting this top world destination, and we fortunately chose to spend a week in what turned out to be our favorite place ever. Since this is not a review of Santorini, I won’t go into more detail, but anyway words can barely do justice to this magical and relaxing island.

Santorini, also known as Thira and located in the Aegean Sea, is famous for its wines, so we decided to check out as many of the wineries as possible – for science! I toted a pen and notebook along with my sunhat and shades in order to document what we learned about the island’s wine. We rented a little Yaris, so it was easy to drive along the winding roads and identify where to find wine. Santorini’s “wine trails” are well marked by maroon signs pointing toward the island’s many wineries, and the island itself is completely covered by vineyards, visible as you stand on the top of the cliffs surrounding the caldera and gaze over the small island toward its black sand beaches.

Our current Fodor guidebook only mentioned one winery, which features a wine museum located in an underground cave. We planned on visiting there, but it wouldn’t be our first stop because local tourist brochures provided by our hotel named several wineries on the roads between our hotel and the wine museum. The closest winery to our hotel in Akrotiri was Boutari Winery, located in Megalochori, so we made that our first stop of the day.

It was our last stop of the day, too – and you’re about to find out why.

Upon entering Boutari’s classy tasting room, we were greeted by George, a young chemist from Athens with relatives in Santorini who is working at Boutari for the season. We immediately took a liking to George, whose easygoing nature, smile, and wit made us feel like we were about to have a good time. And we did! For tasting, we elected to go with the Santorini wines – normally 6 wines, but George threw in a seventh, all of which I describe below.

George (left) led us through Boutari's wines.

For some quick background, we learned that Boutari has been a “Wine & Spirits Magazine” Winery of the Year for 16 years and is ranked amongst the top three wineries of the world. Boutari was established in 1979 in Naoussa, on the mainland of Greece in Macedonia, and the Santorini location opened in 1989, where it is a gem among the many wineries. However, none of our guidebooks or brochures really called out Boutari as a top winery – all seem to be treated equally by the local adverts. It lives up to its international reputation, though; the wines were excellent.

We learned from George that Santorini is where the Greek wine harvest begins each year. Because of the island’s warm volcanic climate, the sugar levels reach the appropriate point in August, when Santorini wine grapes are harvested. In the rest of Greece, this happens in September. Also, visitors to Santorini will notice that the vineyards appear to be full of small, squat bushes instead of the grapevines they’re used to seeing back home. That’s because on Santorini the vines are bundled as if made into wreaths low on the ground, to escape the heat and wind, and to absorb as much humidity as possible from the soil.

A typical view of Santorini, with vineyards.

Santorini Wines

We started out with the aptly named Santorini, a dry white wine made from 100% Assyrtiko grapes. The Assyrtiko grape is interesting in that it smells flowery, but tastes citrusy. Because of the soil mix, this wine features big acid and big sugar, not one or the other. Assyrtiko is a famous Greek grape not unique to Santorini, but grows best there, and the grapes for this particular wine come from the Santorini mountaintop rather than the coast. This wine goes straight from fermentation to the bottle. This was a really good wine.

Next, we moved to Kallisti, or “the most beautiful woman,” also a prior name of the island. This white has exactly the same composition as the Santorini, 100% Assyrtiko, but its grapes are grown on the coast near Akrotiri. Therefore, it goes well with fresh fish! The soil by the coast is a bit more volcanic, lending to more minerals and salt in this more balanced wine, which was also not aged before bottling.

Then came Selladia, named after the Boutari vineyard in Akrotiri. It is 30% Assyrtiko, 30% Athiri, and 40% Aidani, giving a flowery, powerful aroma to this very soft white wine. This wine tasted almost like water, and has been dubbed the “female wine” by the male staff of Boutari. You could drink it all day long – at 13% alcohol, it resides on the low end of the alcohol content range of Santorini wines, which reach as high as 17%. It was my husband’s favorite wine (so far).

Our true favorite wine of the trip, the one we bought to take home, was the Nykteri, which means “something done during the night.” This name comes because the grapes are harvested at night and pressed the next day. This aged, dry white wine is the most traditional Santorini wine, along with Vinsanto. Nykteri is at least 75% Assyrtiko, with the rest of the composition coming from Athiri and Aidani grapes. This was the best wine at Boutari, with the best body and a very complex after taste, which did not allow us to distinguish the flavors. It has a strong flavor and tastes best very cold. It is no surprise this was our favorite, as we love weird, strong wines. However, Nykteri is not too strong to enjoy on a hot day with some fresh soil.

Next we sampled the Kallisti Reserve, which unlike the Kallisti, is aged 8 months in the barrel and 7 months in the bottle. This dry wine is also 100% Assyrtiko but this time has the flavor of the oak barrel, vanilla, smoke, and jasmine. It pairs well with meat dishes, unlike most of the others which go better with fish, which made this a popular wine among the island’s poorer population in the olden days. Supposedly, this is one of the best of Boutari’s wines, “a red wine with the wrong color.”

The next wine was “a white wine with the wrong color,” the Vinsanto. This classic Santorini wine was a close second for our favorite. (We were lucky enough to take this home too, as a gift.) This white wine looks red – actually a dark amber-orange – due to drying these late-harvested grapes in the sun for a few weeks. It’s made up of mostly Assyrtiko, supplemented by other local white varieties such as Aidani and Athiri. This excellent wine is sweet like honey, but is apparently the least sweet Vinsanto on the island. Surprisingly, it is so good that it’s actually a sweet wine that I love. The pigs are flying, people. The cows have come home.

Lastly, we tried Ampeliastos, our first and only Santorini red wine, which consists of 100% Mandilaria grapes, bottle aged 5 years. It has cherry notes and tastes thickly of chocolate, has a very dark color, and goes well as a topping on chocolate desserts or vanilla ice cream. Yum!

For more information on these wines, visit Boutari’s website.

Boutari's Santorini wines.

The Beauty of the Island

Boutari’s Santorini wines made a white wine girl out of this red wine girl. There was nothing better than these wines on a warm, breezy day on the island! On our designated second day of wine touring, we decided just to go back to Boutari instead of a new winery. George enthusiastically led us through several of Boutari’s Greek mainland wines, which were excellent but are not the topic of this post. He invited us to visit him again on the day before we departed for home, so we went back a third time and just enjoyed an espresso and a great talk between good friends before sadly retreating to the States. All of Boutari’s staff, not only George, was friendly, knowledgeable, and generous, the indoor setting was gorgeous, and the wines were out of this world. I insist that you visit Santorini and this winery… but if you are able to find any Boutari wines in the States, comment on this post, and enjoy!

If you travel to Santorini: extra tips!

• We went to Koutsoyannopoulos Winery, home of the wine museum. It was worth the trip, as it was neither far away nor expensive, but the Volcan wines were not as good as those at Boutari, at least according to our inexperienced tongues. It was also a far less personable experience – the staff were nice, but robotic. This place is very touristy, but the authentic 19th-century winemaking elements make up for the creepy animatronics in the museum. We did learn a lot about winemaking specific to Santorini, knowledge of which I’ve incorporated throughout this blog post. I think it is a shame that this was the only winery included in the Fodor guidebook, though it is an easy target for tourists. Boutari is just as tourist-friendly, but not cheesy.

• Directly after our second tasting at Boutari, we visited Santo Wines, a co-op. Here, we tasted 12 very full glasses of Santorini wines amongst a large crowd as well as two weddings. Our waiter was friendly, and the caldera view can’t be beat. I recommend a visit here, but once again, neither the wines nor the overall atmosphere beat out Boutari.

• The free 15-minute film about Santorini that Boutari will offer to show you in their cool auditorium is neither visually stunning nor educational – as they will admit.  Skip it and try more wine instead.

• Be sure while you are at a Santorini winery to try the local signature food, tomato paste with capers, which pairs very well with the wines. Boutari provided this as well as dry bread to accompany the tastings, which were very reasonably priced (a few Euro covered both of us).

• Don’t go on a wine tour if you have a rental car, unless you are very short on time – they are expensive, and the experience is far less personable. It is easy enough to find your way from winery to winery on your own, and you could have a more one-on-one relationship with the wine connoisseur behind the counter if you are by yourself or with a friend, rather than a large group.

• Buy wine at the supermarkets to enjoy poolside at your hotel. This is a very affordable way to enjoy Santorini wine – but check the label to see where your wine is coming from if this matters to you. Boutari does not sell its Santorini wines on the island except for in its winery. However, we were able to find a Boutari demi sec rosé (from the mainland) for about 6 Euro that we enjoyed very much, as well as some local bottles from Santo Wines.

A previous Molly Pitcher Club post taught me about the famous Greek retsina wine, a white or rosé made with pine resin. I’ve tried it back in the states from a Greek winery in Virginia, and we had plenty of it in Athens prior to hitting the islands. However, it’s not produced on Santorini, so it was not found among the wines we tried at Boutari.

Cheers!

Food and Wine Pairings: Sally's Cake Batter Blondies and Moscato D'Asti

What better way to follow a post on beer than with a post on dessert - dessert and wine pairings to be exact! With that statement, I guess I may finally know what it's like to be a politician. Why? Because by posting on food and wine pairings (especially a dessert pairing), I swear I am contradicting an earlier posting where I decidedly disapproved of dessert pairings. 

If I did, I now stand corrected. I have recently attended a couple food and wine pairings that have forced me to reevaluate my stance on dessert pairings. 

Sally's Cake Batter Blondies

Recently, one of my sorority sisters and fellow blogger posted a recipe for Sally's Cake Batter Blondies, check out her full and the recipe here. Frankly, the minute I heard "cake batter," I was sold. But, then again, I was a bit weary. Honestly, cake batter based blondies are not my forte. I usually tend to add too much milk, resulting in a weird cake-brownie cross. But this recipe seemed so delicious (and easy) I had to give them a try. 

The result: buttery deliciousness. Seriously. This dessert was so decadent, I am almost afraid I am losing my sweet tooth. (Not quite!) So after tasting this delicious dessert, my first thought was - what wine would pair well with this? 

Mia Dolcea Moscato D'Asti

Where it's From?  Moscato D'Asti is easy to remember where it's from because has it's origin in the name! This wine was produced in Asti, which is part of the Piedmont wine region of northwestern Italy.

Grapes?  Moscato, also known as the Muscat grape.

My Thoughts.  Who would have thought that I would be advocating for Moscato on the blog. Moscato is very trendy right now, but it also makes a delicious dessert wine. I like it because it usually has some effervescence, or is even frizzante in style, which definitely livens up any dessert. Plus, it typically has a perfume like aroma of orange blossom, honeysuckle, citrus, and honeyed apricots that is definitely addicting. The Mia Dolcea Moscato was light and refreshing, with a juicy peach or apricot aroma that finished with a sweet honey flavor. The finish was definitely complimented by the buttery sweetness from the blondie. Together, the two made a truly decadent dessert that is worth repeating.

Looking forward to your comments on Moscato or wine and dessert pairings!

Cheers!

Beer 101: The Perfect Pour

“While wine will always have my heart, I have to give a tip of the hat to America’s favorite fermented drink - beer! I am excited to introduce one of our first posts on beer from our newest guest blogger Anthony!”

— Kelley

Photo Source.

Howdy wine nerds! Now don't be alarmed. I'm not here as a beer fanatic hacker to commandeer the wine blog and only talk about fine brews. Some people may think beer is not the most exciting topic, but I could not disagree more. To me, beer is just as versatile and steeped in history as its grape-based counterpart. And through a series of blog posts, I will try and make beer believers out of everyone who happens to stumble across this website (if you're not already).

I will sum up what my personal story is rather quickly. My name is Anthony. I work at a liquor store in northern New Jersey. I love beer. Don’t get me wrong - I like nothing more than drinking a fine wine every now and then, as well as drinking nice scotches and bourbons, but when push comes to shove I am a beer guy through and through. Then one day after work, Kelley and I were discussing the alcohol industry and when she suggested I guest post, I was happy to step up. But let's get to the more important part of this post… the beer.

So where do we start when talking about beer? I like the idea of starting at the very beginning. When I say beginning, I am not talking about the history of beer or how beer is made, but the beginning of a beer-drinking night. And every beer-drinking night starts with one important thing every beer drinker should know - how to fully execute a perfect pour.

For the most part, a bottle or can of beer does not come with a set of detailed directions like a T.V. dinner might. It may be surprising to the beer-drinking novice to think that there are very specific ways to pour a beer - but do not let that get to you too much because no matter how you pour a beer it is still going to taste delicious. This article is meant to share the “proper” way to pour out a beer so that you can get maximum enjoyment out of your beer purchase.

Before we even start thinking about pouring the beer, we want to get it to the proper temperature. This may come as a surprise to you, but a beer does not need to be as cold as the Rocky Mountains for it to taste its best. In fact, most beers should not be that cold at all, and many beer styles have different temperatures that they should be drunk at to enjoy properly. For example: IPA’s (India Pale Ales) should be served at 45-50 °F and a stout or porter should be served at around 50-55°F. Beer reference guides can easily be found on the internet super highway just in case you want to get your beer at the correct temperature.

Once the beer is at the correct temperature, you can now uncork/open it and prepare for that elusive perfect pour. When it comes to pouring beer, I prefer what beer expert Randy Mosher has to say on the matter: “Pour the beer right down the middle of the glass, wait for the foam to settle, and if needed, pour a little more.” There is no need to dribble beer down the side of a tilted glass like a wimp, Pour it down the middle of the glass with some vigor. It may take a little time to fill the glass, but just be patient because the beer will be fantastic in the end. Hold on a second though, do not forget that every beer has a certain glass that will accentuate the beer’s particular style. It may be helpful to do some research as to what kind of vessel will work with different beers. It is not a necessity, but boy would you look like a true beer nerd if you were drinking an imperial stout out of its proper glass (a snifter glass!).

The last step in this process is the greatest step of all, and that is to enjoy the beer. Kick back and relax because you have followed all of the proper steps when it comes to the perfect pour, and you are now ready to get the most out of your beer drinking experience.

Have specific questions on beer for Anthony? Leave a comment below! Otherwise, stay tuned for more awesome posts on beer!

The Noble Grape Challenge: Pinot Noir and Grenache

Hey there wine nerds! I can't believe it it took me this long to post about my next challenge, but Philadelphia Wine Week really got the best of me. It was a great event and I hope to see it expand next year! Stay tuned for a full post on the topic! But for this post, something a litte different...

Recently, I discussed the fermentation process and the important role it plays in determining the flavor of a wine. But, most wine writers will agree that the majority of a wine's character is determined in the vineyard, specifically with the grapes. Learning about all the grapes used in winemaking is a tedious mission - there are thousands of grape varietals! However, if you are buying wine in a store in the United States, you will see certain varietals more often than others. These are known as the noble grapes.

What makes a grape noble?

I wish I had some intricate story about on ancient nobles in France only drank these certain grapes and blah, blah, blah. But, it is really as simple as - these 18 varietals are most widely grown and also know as the international varietals. Check out the full list below:

“Pinot Noir, Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Temperanillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec”

— Red Varietals, (light to full bodied)

“Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Moscato, Gewurztraminer, Semillion, Viognier, Chardonnay”

— White Varietals (light to full bodied)

Pinot Noir.

The purpose of this series is to provide an overview on these noble grapes and what makes them so special. To start, I wanted to discuss two red grapes known for producing light-bodied wines. First, the notoriously difficult to cultivate - Pinot Noir! I have discussed Pinot Noir on the blog previously in a few posts. I introduced the grape in a Grape Tales feature and posted an interesting comparison of Pinot Grigio vs. Pinot Noir. But being the noble (and delicious) grape that it is, Pinot Noir definitely deserves some additional discussion here!

Pinot Noir performs best in cool climates (think Oregon). The traditional home of Pinot Noir is Burgundy, France. Fun fact to remember, Red Burgundy is almost always made with Pinot Noir. So if you are looking for a Pinot Noir from France, start with Red Burgundy. It is also grown in Champagne, France. Wine made from Pinot Noir is known for bright red fruit flavors, like cherry, raspberry and strawberry. The level of earth and other savory flavors will depend on where the wine is from. Plus, it usually has medium-high acidity but low tannin.

Grenache.

Delicious!

While Pinot Noir is well-known and deliciously complex, Grenache is a wonderful grape that is sometimes underappreciated in the United States. Grenache is known for ripening later in the growing season and actually loves hot and dry climates. Therefore, you will most likely see it in wines from Spain, Southern France, including Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Want to hear one of the most hilarious, yet wildly accurate descriptions of Grenache ever, it's an "old world wine with California cleavage." (I swear, hilariously accurate). For more awesome commentary like this, check out books by Jay McInerney or Mark Oldman. But seriously, when it comes to flavor, Grenache for its subtle berry flavors and high alcohol content. While these wines are high in alcohol, the commonly lack acid and tanning, which makes Grenache a highly preferable blending grape. In fact, it plays a major role in one of my favorite red blends... ever! The Grenache-Syrah-Mouvedre blend of course! (GSM for short) This blend is traditionally associated with the Rhone Valley, but you can also find this blend in Australia.

Not a bad start for two awesome noble red grapes. Looking forward to your comments on your favorite Pinot Noir or Grenache based wines!

Cheers!

Wine School Challenge with the NYTimes

I am a big fan of the NYTimes Dining and Wine section and Eric Asimov. Maybe, it is because they provide in depth reviews and discussions on wine across many different countries. Maybe, it is because I was regularly reading the Times when I became a serious wine nerd. Either way, the NYTimes has an awesome new monthly column that you should consider following, the theme = Wine School!

You may be thinking, why would I follow a NYTimes column when there are hundreds, if not thousands, of wine classes available in my city? Well, am excited about this column for two main reasons: (1) it indicates the start of a potential wine culture movement, and (2) it focuses on the wine beyond a mere tasting.

In the old days, wine was an elitist drink. Sommeliers would use lofty terms to describe a wine and restaurant wine lists were dominated by old world wines, primarily from Burgundy and Bordeaux. However, with this new column (and other blogs, like mine!) I am hopeful that there is a growing wine movement of examining wine from the "normal person's" perspective. This "normal" perspective focuses on making wine more approachable, rather than building barriers with complex wine terms and snotty commentary. By approaching wine as fun drink and explaining the complexities in a straight forward way, I hope that wine will becoming less intimidating for new wine drinkers everywhere. So I recommend checking out Eric's original column describing his "Wine School" here (Subscription may be required), and follow along with my commentary monthly here on the blog!

To start the Wine School off, the NYTimes chose Bordeaux - and I was truly skeptical!

I was skeptical of Bordeaux because the wines are usually very expensive if you want to find a quality wine. I thought, "c'mon Eric, I thought this Wine School was supposed to make wine more approachable, not scare people away!" But, I went into the experiment with an open mind and figured, let's get one of the most difficult regions out of the way first.

The Wine School set up is simply this: Eric chooses a wine region and recommends a few labels that are classic styles from that region, you taste at home and we all discuss online. The suggested wines were all from the Haut-Médoc region of Bordeaux, specifically the 2009 vintage. Skepticism reared its ugly head again because I had difficulty finding any of the labels that were suggested. But I figured if I picked up something from the same vintage and region, I would get the general idea. So check out my notes on the wine I found below:

Cheateau Greysac 2009

Where it's From?  Médoc Appellation, Bordeaux, France.

Grapes?  50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot.

My Thoughts.  So I'll admit, I cheated with this tasting. The purpose of the NYTimes Wine School is to finish your tasting before Eric posts his thoughts on the column. I bought the bottle with plenty of time, but procrastinated because I wanted to pair it with the perfect meal. Needless to say, I don't eat red meat that often (what I would consider a great pairing with Bordeaux) so I actually tasted this wine without food - after I read some of Eric's comments as well. 

No worries - the wine was still delicious, but did not overwhelmingly wow me considering I spent $20 on it. It was definitely old world style, very subtle. I picked up flavors of cherry, light pepper and mild tannin. I let the wine decant for 30 minutes before I drank it, which definitely help round out the flavors. But, I really wished I had some food with this wine, I think it would have gave the subtle flavors that complexity boost I was looking for.

Overall, I could not agree with Eric's conclusions more, Bordeaux is great - but just not a regular player on my drinking list. The main reason, you have to spend decent money to get quality. So the next time you are out and willing to spend some extra money on wine, the Bordeaux 2009 vintage is a worthwhile venture.

This month, the Wine School is tasting Beaujolais! Look forward to my review soon!

Cheers!