THE WOLFTRAP, BLEND - $10

The Wolftrap - 2010, Boekenhoutskloof Franschhoek, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa


People say different things about reading the "legs" of the wine when you swirl your glass. Some say that the definition of the legs will indicate the amount of alcohol, others say it'll offer a preview of the body of the wine. The most common feeling is that smell and taste are the only ways to judge a wine.  I think I'll have to agree with all three. When I swirled my ruby glass of The Wolftrap, what I saw was a sheeting, and then slowly, after a moment, extremely defined legs began to form indicating higher alcohol content (14.5%).  However, I wasn't swirling the wine so I could look at the legs, but rather I was trying to get a better look at the color - while the color density itself seems rather light, upon closer inspection it would almost appear as if there was a shadow looming at the core of the glass. Not an unfiltered cloud, mind you, just a sort of mysterious shadow that's there when you look at it, but then when you try to get a better look, it vanishes.


I suppose that's to be expected. I was looking for an affordable yet interesting bottle, and when I found this Syrah, Mourvedre, Viognier blend, I couldn't help but feel a little excited. Syrah and Mourvedre are commonly blended in Southern Rhone, as Syrah and Viognier are commonly blended in Northern Rhone, but seldom does one see the three blended together. This wine was either going to be a flop, or fantastic - which is always the case when you're on the hunt for something alluring and unusual, at a reasonable price.


On the nose: A gentle note of cascading flower petal aromas swirl like something there, but not there. It was as if the bouquet itself was making tight, invisible laps around the inside of my glass, similar to a dusty pack of horses rounding a track until finally one pulls ahead as the rest fall in behind in order of strength and voracity. At first you can pick up the black cherry, but then when you close your eyes and allow the bouquet to infiltrate your senses you begin to pick up notes of eucalyptus, butter, and spicy hints of cedar. Just when you think that's all there is to it, you'll be able to pick up glimmers of vanilla bean that glisten in short flashes like light dancing on windblown water.


The first sip: Soft and silky on the palate, the mouth feel of the wine is so light that it almost feels like drinking an idea of cassis. A lucid mist of currant rolls around your tongue with a heavy vapor that dissipates into a dryness that holds like a memory, the way a line in the sand is left when waves roll back from the shore. Speckles of black pepper come to life just before the finish and evolve into a tobacco flavor that reminds me of how the inside of a wooden cigar box smells.


The finish: Creamy and light; a lingering spice hangs like a distant neon sign glowing in the dark with a gentle heat that looks hotter than it is. A tobacco after breath hovers dryly as the tannins lightly coat your palate, offering the suggestion of a chocolate covered Bing cherry.


This medium bodied wine is the perfect weight for summer evenings and lighter, hot weather cuisine. The 65% portion of Syrah is ironed out by the 32% of Mourvedre, softening the round edges and buffing them until smooth. 3% of Viognier added is like the shammy that brings out the shine of a balloon filled with helium creating a wonderfully light and flavorful wine that has tannic structure and complex fruit, but yet remains low in acidity.


PAIRING: 
Buttery and creamy sauces are going to be a natural match, along with chilled lobster. But don't be afraid to put this wine beside grilled chicken, pork or lamb chops. Pasta salad with olive oil, ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and a dash of oregano; or even traditional caprese. For dessert, fresh fruit of any kind with a dollop of creme fraiche, or real whipped cream; black forrest cake; creme brulee.

CHARLES & CHARLES, Cab. / Syrah blend - $10.99

CHARLES & CHARLES, 2009 - Charles Smith Wines - Walla Walla, Washington.

Let's face it, not many people go out to buy a bottle of wine so they can store it away in a cellar and let it age. If you're anything like me, you buy a bottle of wine with the intention of drinking it inside of a few days. Actually, a bottle usually doesn't last that long with me. I'll have the cork wrestled out, or the cap wrenched off, within a few hours of leaving the store - but that's me.

Personally, I believe that  a good wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good.  In my opinion, a good wine is the wine you like; and while there's usually a huge difference between a $4 bottle and a $10 bottle, there often isn't as much difference as you might think between a $10 bottle and a $20 bottle - if you choose the right one, that is. And Charles & Charles ($9.99) is one of the right ones. This is a big red - deep and bold - one that lets you sit back and think about it.

Color: Rich and dark, deep, deep purple with a thick and dense quality that, when considering the legs, could be called syrupy.

On the nose: You'll quickly be able to pick out dark cherry, current and black pepper. Really get in there and let that jammy vapor linger inside your senses. Depending on the person, somewhere between 75 and 90 percent of what we taste is actually coming from our sense of smell. Don't try to smell it the way you would smell milk to see if it's sour, imagine the bouquet is its own thing and you're trying to see something completely invisible, until you close your eyes. Get your nose in there and draw the bouquet gently and slowly - don't be greedy - it's as if you're trying to coax something otherwise shy into revealing its true self. Then, and only then, will you be able to pick up these amazing subtle notes of brown sugar, and dark chocolate, mild tobacco and baking spices.

The first sip: Take a big one and don't be delicate here, because the moment the wine enters your mouth you'll be overwhelmed with blackberry preserves, ripe black plum, and you'll have to fight the urge to chew and really sink your teeth in. Hold the wine for a moment and feel it surrounding your tongue and layering the inside of your mouth.

This wine is 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Syrah. All that jammy, ripe fruit is coming from the Syrah, but those darker flavors are coming from the Cabernet. Right in the middle of your tongue you're going to start tasting the Cabernet pushing its way through. It'll show its self in the form of a dusty, earthy faint mushroom quality that will quickly be enhanced by a hint of coffee. You'll start to feel the tannic acid coming in as it coats the inside of your cheeks with a wonderful, bitter tackiness that will wash itself away when you swallow.

The Finish: On the back of your tongue as you swallow the wine you'll pick up the flavor of dark chocolate, along with that soft sting that's always anticipated after eating a dark piece of chocolate, but it doesn't really go away. The sensation lingers with the delicate simmer of a mild chili pepper as the wine goes down. Instantly, you exhale a plume of ripe cherry and chocolate that will drive you towards a moment of silence, and then another obsessive sip.

PAIRING:

Barbecued anything for this wine. Also, think about a rich burger. This is a wine that's made for ground beef and a fun, casual setting. Roasted chicken, grilled pork tenderloin, or even ... pizza. (Any wine that goes with pizza is okay by me.)  While this is an easy-going wine, I wouldn't try to pair it to anything mild, so fish would be out, unless you're talking something like blackened salmon. As for CHEESE: Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor goat cheese would be a natural match. Also, a mild blue cheese topped with a fruit preserve.

TRES OJOS, Old Vine Granacha, $8.95

Tres Ojos, 2007 Old Vine Garnacha - Bodega San Gregorio - Calatayud, Spain.

The other day I walked into a wine store, one that I have walked past several times but never entered. From the outside it looks pretentious and intimidating; the sort of place where snobs gather for expensive tasting classes to learn how to discuss the abstract details of one of those bottles of  Chateau du Blah-Blah.

I wandered the bottles until the clerk eventually offered me a recommendation, prompting me to explain that I was only looking. I had already spent my weekly wine allowance on a rather uninspiring bottle of bordeaux, for which I had had high hopes.

Finding a great bottle - a hidden gem - for under $10 (including tax) is sometimes like panning for gold, especially in a small independent wine shop that isn't going to get great deals because buying in huge quantities isn't always possible. Sometimes you need a prospector who knows the lay of the land to aim you in the right direction, so I asked the clerk what he would buy if he only had a ten dollar bill in his pocket, and he took me right to the Tres Ojos old vine garnacha, for $8.95

Now, an old vine anything for under $20 in my book is usually a waste of time and money, but he told me that while he himself hadn't tried it, the owner of the store instructed him to take anyone on a budget to this bottle, saying that it was the best bottle he had ever had for the buck.

No truer words have ever been spoken.

Color: A rich, dark garnet color coats the inside of the glass, allowing through little glints of distant light refracting up the glasses stem, releasing a mysterious glimmer, the way a gem only hints at its own sparkle.

A quick swirl to release the bouquet leaves a high tide mark where the syrupy juice holds for a moment before forming into tightly defined, sticky drips.  As the legs very slowly make their decent, they offer an idea as to the wine's concentration, the same way that a simple wink allows another person to infer an unsaid truth.

On the nose: I think of milk chocolate cherry cordials, the kind that dribble into an anticipated sticky mess the moment you bite.  The cherry notes are only muted by the spice - nutmeg I think - and bringing up the rear is a soft layer of mineral.  This is a big, jammy nose, with lots to find if you're so incline to keep the glass to your face like an oxygen mask.

The first sip: Red, hard candy, like the flavor of a cherry Jolly Rancher, but without the sugary sweet.  As the wine falls across your palate and warms, it releases all of these flavors - layering one after the next - from cassis to clove, to tobacco, then cinnamon and pepper.

The spices come alive as the tannins kick in. A walnut bitter coats your tongue like an electric blanket and warms all your senses. The mouth feel of the juice itself is quite silky, and as you're realizing this your cheeks become coated with the bitter tackiness of the tannins - and then your gums.

Don't be afraid of this creeping tannic sensation. For a moment you think it's going to be a bit too much, but like dripping candle wax onto your hand, you quickly begin to enjoy defying the sting.

The finish: As the wine reaches the back of your throat and starts to fall, there's the feeling of a cartoon fuse sizzling towards a skyrocket. Just out of sight the fuse catches up with the wine and there's an explosion of heat that falls with a warming sensation down the back of your throat, complete with the sting of  juicy firework flares cascading into darkness.

The lingering tannins cling to your gums and your cheeks, and make your tongue feel like sandpaper, but it all licks away clean and you instantly want another sip of the bold, jammy beast.

Tres Ojos is 100% Garnacha from 40 - 50 year old non-irrigated vines.

The older the vine, the less fruit it produces, but the fruit it does produce is more concentrated. Another factor in the concentration of the juice is lack of water. When the vine has to work to nourish the fruit, you taste more of the surrounding soil and less of the water.

Pairing:

You might think I'm crazy: eggs. An egg salad sandwich for lunch with a glass of Tres Ojos would be decadent. I'll also suggest the obvious: a rich, hearty beef stew; mushroom risotto; a grilled steak burrito with lots of guacamole and salsa. For something lighter, consider a salad with tomatoes, feta and mandarin orange slices dressed with olive oil and sea salt.  Cheeses: Maytag blue cheese - an Iowa blue that you can probably find at any Whole Foods. Dessert: Black forrest cake; freshly sliced mango; butter pecan ice cream.