Well, it's an interesting evening here in Steelville weather-wise. As I carried in wood through snow flurries, realized I could hear peepers. March's lion seems to still be in full throttle around here! I sure hope those little froggies don't feeze their peepers off tonight.
I realized after Tuesday's post that I should probably give you a description of the 'Red Blend' from Alamos that I was sampling and stamping!
To start, here is the marketing spiel:
Alamos Red Blend has dark berry fruit flavors, integrated with brown spice and vanilla oak characters that form a plush mouthfeel. The Tempranillo and Syrah grapes contribute bold, spicy flavors of blackberry and black pepper which marry well with the juicy dark cherry flavors of Bonarda and the deep plum flavors of the Malbec base. The addition of Cabernet Franc helps to balance the blend, as it melds with notes of warm brown spice to create a long, supple finish.
My thoughts: I definitely got the plum a cherry from this wine, but didn't get the black pepper at all. Even after leaving it open overnight. Vanilla also came across in the palate to me. The wine was super soft with very little acidity. Clyde thought it came across sweet, but I thought that was just a function of the low acidity.
We ate chicken drummies and a vinegar slaw for dinner, and this was a 'meh' pairing. Not terrible, but I wasn't really impressed either. And don't give me the 'What did you expect? You should only drink white wine with chicken!'. This was charcoal grilled/smokey chicken with lots of dark meat on it, so it should have gone great with a low tannin wine. The sweet vinegar slaw actually fared a bit better with the wine.
But then tonight, I made a big leafy salad with leftover smoked turkey on top. I added a few dried cranberries to the salad and a balsamic vinegar & olive oil dressing. Oh la la! Left-over wine pairing perfection!
All of a sudden I noted lots of brighter fruity notes, and I wasn't bothered by the flabby mouthfeel of the wine anymore.
So lesson here: wines with low acidity probably need a food with some acidity in it to brighten their flavors.
This cost $13 at a local liquor store, which was not too bad a price. After a search online though I found one for $9, which is actually a great value. I might buy it again for $9 and if I knew I was eating dried cranberries with it!
Happy Trills,
Katie