April 2012 – Deep Red Cellar

I had no intention of stumbling on yet another great bottle of wine so soon after my infatuation with the Priorat red but tonight’s dinner wine has basically forced me to write about it.

The first sip flowed down with an over-whemingly refreshing zip that left me…..well, it simply left me stunned. I hadn’t expected such a beautiful wine for a weekday meal.

This time it was a white – 2011 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. I found this wine at a Whole Foods that opened today in my town (a direct gift from God!). As I eyed the wine aisle for something that struck me this white jumped out because it was from New Zealand, Marlborough specifically, and Kim Crawford to be exact. I knew I had heard of this winery for producing superb Sauvignon Blanc but had yet to try it.

You may or may not know that New Zealand is known for it’s Sauvignon Blanc and Marlborough, on the South Island, boasts growing about 85% of all the acres of Sauvignon Blanc for the country. The Sauvignon Blanc of New Zealand is generally of supreme quality and is distinct in that it exhibits combinations of tropical fruit, stone fruit, and grassiness to name a few. Kim Crawford was no exception bursting with tropical fruit, especially passion fruit, citrus, fresh cut grass and delicious ripe stone fruit.

All I know is my first sip unexpectedly had me saying “Wow, that is absolutely delicious!”

photo by Joe V. Overstreet

I just got off medication that required 10 days of abstinence from wine – wow was that hard! I don’t practice lent but if I did, I now know I wouldn’t give up wine. To add salt to the wound, my birthday occurred during those 10 days!

This weekend celebrated the end of my meds! I’m sure almost any wine would’ve tasted good but the wine I drank seemed utterly exquisite. I have a hunch that even if it wasn’t my first time to sip vino after “doctor’s orders” that this wine still would’ve settled me into a dreamy state of mind.

So stop babbling and give you the dirt, right? The wine was “Black Slate” Porrera Vi de la Vila, Priorat D.O.Q., 2008. This wine hails from the famous Priorat region in Spain known for it’s unique llicorella soil, a dark brown slate with quarzite adding a “mineral-laden essence”* to the wine. The wine is a blend of 60% garnacha (grenache) and 40% carinena with dark fruit, spice, mineral and chocolate flavors. It has a bit of smokiness due to aging 12 months in French oak and finishes smooth like a sultry women in a long, glitzing evening gown. I especially noticed the wine taking on black cherry flavors as I finished it with a slice of dark chocolate birthday cake that had somehow managed to still be available for consumption.

I purchased this wine on a whim, at first, getting sucked in by the “cool” label. I hate to admit it but I’m a sucker for good marketing and artsy labels. Secondly, I was drawn to it because it came from Priorat which is well known for outstanding wine. I’m happy to say not only did this wine not disappoint but at the reasonable price of about $17 a bottle, it will probably be purchased by the case the next time I’m in the store who so wisely chose to stock this remarkable wine.

*Source: The World Atlas of Wine, sixth edition, Octopus Publishing group, Ltd., London UK 2007

Month: April 2012

Wow, That Is Absolutely Delicious!

A beautiful Spanish red!