Posts Tagged ‘ruby red color’
Varietal: Mencia
Region: Spain
Cost: $21
Deep ruby color with aromas of blueberry, violet, and woods. Flavors of cherry and cassis pair with chicken, pork, salmon, and other meats. Pairs well with Spanish flavors and foods.
Recommendations: I had never heard of the Mencia varietal until the International Wine of the Month Club sent me this one to try, but as with most wine, I was open minded and reminded myself that I do in fact like Spanish wines. I loved the deep red color of the wine in the glass, but I didn’t get any blueberry on the nose myself, with the alcohol overpowering the aromas even after allowing it to open up a bit.
Pairing the wine with a steak dinner helped to cut the flavor of alcohol as well (it was 14%/vol), but after dinner with nothing to balance it, the alcohol flavor and aroma was rather overwhelming. It wasn’t until much later as I was finishing off my final glass of the wine that I started to get some of the cherry flavors coming through.
I’m having a hard time recommending this wine because it took so long for the wine to open up enough for the actual flavors to come through. If you do have this wine, decanting and letting it open for at least 20 to 30 minutes is the best advice I can give. Drinking this wine with anything other than boldly flavored food is probably going to result in the wine overpowering the meal.
Hopefully this wine isn’t indicative of the Mencia varietal, and I would certainly give another bottle of Mencia a try as the description of it sounds good, but the Pazo de Arribi Bierzo just fell short for me.
Varietal: Chianti/Sangiovese
Region: Italy
Cost: $29
Ruby red in color with aromas of red berries. Smooth on the palate with a medium body, and great tannins on the end. Flavors of cherry and a bit of spice.
Recommendations: My wife, parents, and some extended family went to lunch in San Francisco at Tony’s Pizzeria Napoletana, and it soon fell to me to select wine for our meal. Wanting something a bit more dry to pair with the brick oven pizza, I quickly moved to the Sangiovese section of the wine menu.
I was a bit hesitant about selecting a wine from a TV show, but given that it’s an estate wine from Tuscany, I was hopeful that it would deliver. It did.
At $29 in the restaurant (about $15 in stores), it’s a great value for a chianti, especially one that will pair so well with pasta or pizza. Nice ruby coloring with aromas of red berries and flavors of cherry and spice with a great tannic finish make this a great wine to keep on hand.
If you’ve seen this and have been hesitant about picking it up because of the Iron Chef affiliation, go ahead and grab it. It’s worth it.
