Wines with dinner: Murray’s Place
Wine #1 served with appetizers
Deep mahogany fading to orange brick at the edge. Beautiful nose of mushroomy forest floor, strawberries, raspberries and a hint of plum. This graceful and elegant wine shows great balance with solid acidity, silky, sweet tannins, and subdued fruit of tart cherry. Medium to long finish of acidic fruit. Nice match with mushrooms stuffed with spicy Italian sausage and tomato sauce.
Wine #2 served with dinner
Deep golden yellow all the way to the edge. Luscious nose of mango, melon, and a hint of petrol. Great midpalate feel of tongue tingling acidity and fruit, especially lemon and melon, with some petrol. Long finish of tropical fruit and acidity. You can practically feel the warm tropical breeze and see the palm trees as you sip this wine. This nicely balanced wine does it all as it graciously matches our pan-fried walleye but could also be sipped all night.
Original tasting note (when purchased): Slatey, floral, and fruit character of this wine balances out its crisp acidity and hint of sweetness. Light bodied.
Wine #3 served with dessert
Deep caramel gold to the edge. Rich nose of caramel, burnt butter, casava melon, and honeyed apricot. Rich, sweet wine with vibrant acidity balancing out the luscious candied apricot, peach and slightly singed caramel. Long finish of luscious fruit and acidity. Nice match with our dark chocolate dipped fruit (strawberry, pineapple, and melon) fondue.
Wines revealed:
Wine #1 La Cour Pavillon, 1989, Grand vin de bordeaux, Medoc, 12% abv ($9.25 $CAN at release in 1974) Impression: Very good food-friendly wine that aged well, but is probably at or just past peak and will start declining soon as the fruit is just starting to fade from the taste profile.
Wine #2 Piersporter Treppcher, Riesling Kabinett 1996, Mosel, Schmitt Shenk, 7 % abv. ($24.95 $CAN for magnum at release) Impression: wonderful wine with layers of flavor, one of the oldest and best kabinetts I have ever tasted.
Wine #3 Vidal Ice wine 1994, Magnotta (Ontario), ($24.95 $CAN for 375 ml at release) Impression: Probably the best vidal (I prefer riesling) ice wine I have tasted and proof positive of the aging potential of ice wines.