January Wine Round-Up: The Work Chapter Closes as Does the Wine Fridge
It was the last week of my former position and I found myself with more than 30 bottles left in the wine fridge in my office. I thought a fitting tribute to end the company #hashtagged (i.e. Dallas Wine Chick provided) happy hours would be to open them all. We took the bottles out and let the tasting and celebration begin. The bottles were from all regions, price points, varietals and truly could be categorized as one extreme to the other (superhero good or downright evil).
Here were the notable half that we tasted. For this last tasting, and because many of these folks have been part of my Wine Wednesdays/Thirsty Thursdays over the last three years, I captured the crowd favorites (often with a special shout out for my own personal favorites):
Rose
2014 M. Chapoutier Les Vignes de Bila Haut Pays D’Oc – such a nice balanced minerality with watermelon, raspberry, strawberry, herbs and plum.
2014 A Rose Alpha – another great balanced rose with floral notes, strawberry and black cherry.
Whites
2014 Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo Reserva Chardonnay —a nice budget-oriented, poolside chardonnay with tropical and vanilla notes.
2013 Olema Chardonnay – notes of apple, citrus and toast. This is a chardonnay that might convert non-chardonnay drinkers. Balanced and delicious.
2014 M. Chapoutier Les Vignes de Bila-Haut Cotes du Roussillon Villages – lemongrass, grapefruit and a saline minerality that makes this a balanced and delicious everyday drinking wine.
2013 Kir-Yianni Paranga — Grapefruit and peaches with a hint of sweetness but a nice crispness.
Reds
2012 Matchbook Tinto Rey — a very well balanced Tempranillo with notes of blueberry pie, leather, currant, chocolate and pepper.
2012 Matchbook The Arsonist Red Blend — chocolate, caramel, blackberry, smoke and mocha notes make this wine beg for a meat pairing.
2011 Bodegas Cepa 21 Ribera del Duera — blackberry, currant, earth and candied fruits. This was a delicious wine.
2014 Bodegas Cepa 21 Hito — notes of black cherry cola, licorice, flowers and balsamic vinegar. This was another one of my overall favorites.
2011 Emilio Moro Malleolus — a delicious and powerful red wine. Another favorite. Big notes of licorice, mocha, chocolate, blackberry pie and cassis with a fantastic balance and complexity.
2012 Cecchi Chianti Classico – big notes of earth, dried flowers, leather, black cherry, cinnamon and a delicious match to great antipasto.
2013 Cecchi Sangiovese di Toscana — earthy, red fruit, and smoke. This is a perfect match to any hearty Italian food.
2013 HandCraft Pinot Noir — raspberry, black cherry, mocha, cherry cola, vanilla and oak. This was a nicely structured wine at a great price.
January Wine Round-Up
2012 Parducci True Grit Reserve Red — plum, dark cherry, leather, spice and blueberry This was a great everyday drinking wine.
And a special shout out to the 2011 Concha y Toro “Don Melchior” Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto which was the perfect special occasion wine. It was elegant and rich with notes of raspberry, mocha, dark chocolate, cassis, pepper and licorice. I adored every drop of this wine.
