Decant Stop Tasting Wine Blog

I actually got this wine by mistake, thinking it was a wine that was recommended to me, but my memory failed me.  Even if I had read the label  a little I would have passed on it because I typically don’t buy non-vintage wines.  In the end, I wasn’t sorry I bought it though.

When I first opened it I thought the nose was pretty intense, and not really in a good way.  It was like a strange mix of sweet flowery dirty laundry.  On first pour it was murky, which I hoped wasn’t an indication that it had soured.  The taste was pretty intense and confusing.  Certainly had a taste of grapes and maybe cranberry, but mixed with tobacco and dirt.  I swirled it for a good while, like maybe a full 5 minutes and the 2nd taste was improved and the wine had become clearer.  Basically, the funk was wearing off.  I decided to put it in the decanter and let it sit for a while.  About 45 minutes later Rika came home and we tried it together.  At this point it was surprising how much it had improved.  Obviously I was unfamiliar with NV wines, and later found out this is typical of them.  The longer it sat the better it got, but after an hour it was good enough that we just drank it all up.  Not to say this was a great wine, but it sure did set itself apart.  If you try this, pair it with something like BBQ or steak – something bold… this wine can take it.

A note about this wine – while it claims to be a California wine, both on the bottle and on the winery’s web site, some research revealed that it might actually be imported in bulk from either Argentina or Chile by the California winery. 

Rating:  78