by Jon Peterson » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:56 pm
I opened this last night for my birthday dinner of Korean Bul Kogi. I was impressed with the color, more so than with any other wine I've had in recent memory: very bright, sparkling, deep reds and purples that suggested fresh squeezed berries. (The web site says 'opaque' which is quite the opposite of what I saw.) The wine filled the mouth and was quite fruit forward and jamy. Black currants and cassis are predominant. Acidity balanced out the fruit very nicely with just a slight hint of sweetness that brought out the sugar in the beef marinade. The 14.5% alcohol was a little high for me and caused me to cool the bottle for 15 minutes or so (it could have been the warm temps at dinner time, too). This was an agreeable wine, easy to drink yet with a full flavor - 90% Shiraz, 10% merlot and 10 months in used oak, which seems perfect to my tastes. Around $18 here in DC if I recall.