Dinner tonight was one of our staples: grilled flank steak with chimichurri. But since I was fresh out of Malbec, I punted and went with a wine we picked up on our trip to Paso Robles last spring. The 2006 Vina Robles Suendero, Paso Robles is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Petit Verdot. Lord knows why, but I've always had a fascination with wines with a high percentage of Petit Verdot - clearly the red-headed stepchild of the Bordeaux grape family. (One of my favorites that fits this mold is the von Strasser Reserve, but that's another wine for a slightly more special occasion.) Anyway, back to the Suendero. It opens up with a lot of sweet raspberry and cherry fruit in the nose and on the palate and a good dollop of vanilla oak. This is aged in an unspecified amount of French and American oak. But as it opens up in the glass, it takes on a lot more weight and flavors of earth, iron and mineral start to come to the forefront - clearly the Petit Verdot asserting itself. Despite the high concentration of Petit Verdot, the wine isn't terribly tannic. I think it's great for current consumption so long as you have something well-marbled on your plate.
Friday, July 30, 2010
2006 Vina Robles Suendero
Dinner tonight was one of our staples: grilled flank steak with chimichurri. But since I was fresh out of Malbec, I punted and went with a wine we picked up on our trip to Paso Robles last spring. The 2006 Vina Robles Suendero, Paso Robles is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Petit Verdot. Lord knows why, but I've always had a fascination with wines with a high percentage of Petit Verdot - clearly the red-headed stepchild of the Bordeaux grape family. (One of my favorites that fits this mold is the von Strasser Reserve, but that's another wine for a slightly more special occasion.) Anyway, back to the Suendero. It opens up with a lot of sweet raspberry and cherry fruit in the nose and on the palate and a good dollop of vanilla oak. This is aged in an unspecified amount of French and American oak. But as it opens up in the glass, it takes on a lot more weight and flavors of earth, iron and mineral start to come to the forefront - clearly the Petit Verdot asserting itself. Despite the high concentration of Petit Verdot, the wine isn't terribly tannic. I think it's great for current consumption so long as you have something well-marbled on your plate.
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