Who doesn’t love Red Wine, when it comes to pairing deliciously full red wine with the perfect foods? Raise your hands, everyone.
2012 Trivento Amade Sur ~ 70% Malbec, 18% Bonarda, 12% Syrah ~ Mendoza, Argentina
This red wine called Trivento Amado Sur is translated literally into “South Love.” About 6,214 miles away from their native land of France, grapes from the Old World encountered generous sunshine and laborious hands at the foot of the Andes. In Mendoza, these grapes displayed their full potential, becoming the most cherished varieties of their new home, Argentina. For years and years… Argentina thought they had a lot of Merlot. But, with investigations, it turned out to Malbec, and had become their national treasure. I love Malbec, first introduced to it while at Belvedere Winery, early in my wine career, through our Grove Street brand. This wine brings me back to the days that I first tast3ed Malbec and had a “wow” moment.
APPEAL: Dark ruby color… inky and brooding.
NOSE: Dark, juicy cherries and mocha
PALATE: Blackberries and young tannins
PAIRING: This a great wine for beef steak with marbled fat, like Wagyu beef. This is a kind of beef which is intensely marbled with a softer fat. It has higher percentages of monounsaturated fats (omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids) and is lower in cholesterol, for the health conscious among us.
OVERALL: Highly recommended. This is a very delicious red wine, perfect for those BBQs. We enjoyed it with a pasta dish, where the sauces was filled with ground beef, garlic and onions included. The acid of the tomato-based sauce, along with the beef, had both food and wine seamlessly integrating.
2013 Trivento Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ~ Mendoza, Argentina
Another delicious red wine, Trivento takes its name from three Argentinian winds: Polar, Zonda, and Sudesta. The God of the Winds EOLO summons the winds erratically, which makes Mendoza such a distinctive winegrowing region. This can be said because any I loved the rich colors of this wine. The tannins were tight and I knew it would take time for it to “open up.” So, I went about my business, trying to get to the bottom of my desk as I sipped this wine for about a half hour. Honestly, I poured it into a huge, Bordeaux glass, because I knew that the wine would deserve something so grand.
I was right… As it sat in my glass, each sip got better and better as the tannins dissipated.
APPEAL: Dark garnet red, and nearly opaque.
NOSE: Bing cherries and red bell pepper aromas, a touch of mocha and lightly French roasted coffee beans. Aged in French oak, this wine offers sweet tight tannins, that quickly soften into delicious blackberry flavors.
PALATE: Blackberries and young tannins, rich, ripe, but still tight until it aerates.
PAIRING: This a great red wine for Prime Rib… dripping with juices. It deserves something elegant. I can also see it pairing well with a french onion soup, dripping with Gruyere cheese.
OVERALL: Very Highly recommended. This is another very delicious red wine, perfect for those elegant dinner parties, when Prime Rib is the adjoining star. We enjoyed it with a friend… sipping and chatting about what to do with the zucchini she brought. Zucchini bread (sip, sip, sip) or grilled… sip, sip, sip. We have enough to to both.
Another favorite came back around again, like a great old friend does… Welcoming and great moments.
2012 Carmenere ~ Casillero del Diablo, Chile
I love a great story, most especially one that delivers a bit of karma in the process. I have written: Deliciously Naughty Wines: Casillero del Diablo from Concha y Toro
Don Melchor de Concha y Toro, and eminent Chilean Statesman, entrepreneur, and vineyard owner, discovered that his most treasured wines had been pilfered from the “Casillero” (cellar) beneath his ancestral home. To discourage further theft, the enterprising Don spread the rumor that his deepest, darkest cellars were haunted by the devil. Thus was born the Legend of Casillero del Diablo… (from marketing materials).
The wines, I continue to love them. If you’re not familiar, this winery has become Chile’s best selling one worldwide, through the Concha y Toro Wine Company. They talk about these wines being stored in hell and made in heaven… I love a good romance novel.
It all begins in the vineyards, with the sun pouring down its warming rays. Cool breezes caress the vines, that sweep across the landscape… The fleshy grape clusters are spied by the viticulturist, as they abundantly hang low and ready. This arouses harvest’s exact moment of contact. It’s love at first sight…
Plucked from its youth and put into service, life morphed for Carmenere into a full-bodied vixen. [To be continued with the next vintage of this red wine…]
APPEAL: Beautiful dark red, and opaque.
NOSE: Ripe plums, dark chocolate and vanilla.
PALATE: Dark summer stone fruit… Bing cherries and perfectly rip plums, with layers of black berries… Marion, Bramble, and elderberries.
PAIRING: This a great red wine for grilling ribs, but this time I’m make them pork ribs with a spicy sauce, rather than beef ribs. For vegetarians, think grilled eggplant. A good beefy vegetable can make this wine come alive as a perfect food and wine complement.
OVERALL: Highly recommended. This is another very delicious red wine, that allows you to enjoy the great outdoors with a perfect wine partner.
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