Birthday Wine

I had a birthday last week, and when you get to my age, you don’t talk about them a lot.  You do, however, talk about some of the great wine you received as gifts.  A very big thank you to my family and friends, who know me so well.  I am not hard to shop for

Unfortunately for my waistline, the birthday celebrations lasted 4 nights.  It was great though!  On the night of the actual birthday, I had this Red Blend from my friend Judy.

Deep and dark, this red blend is also silky smooth.  It is 46% Zinfandel, 44% Syrah and 10% Petite Sirah, which makes it rich and juicy with a little spice added in.  A fantastic BBQ wine, it was aged 16 months in French oak, so it would go with any meat dish.

Owned by the same people who make this beauty, the Cleaver and Renwood Winerys are owned by international vintner, Alejandro P. Bulgheroni,  a family-owned collection of wine estates from around the world.  In addition to Renwood Winery in Amador County, The Cleaver from California, Bodega Vistalba, Tomero and Bodega Argento in Argentina, and Bodega Garzón in Uruguay, they also have properties in France, Italy, and other distinguished wine regions.  They are putting out some fantastic wines.

The next night my friend took me to one of my favorite restaurants in Halifax, the Bicycle Thief.  I enjoyed the spectacular beef tenderloin there, and with the juicy steak, we had a juicy wine.

The 7 Deadly Zins was a spectacular match with my beef tenderloin and my friend’s lamb.  The big bold juicy wine with hickory smoke flavors complimented both dishes very well.

I’m not much of a cake person myself, so for dessert I chose a creme brulee.  I love creme brulee, and in my opinion, the perfect wine match is one of my favorite Canadian dessert wines.

The Borealis from Benjamin Bridge is a wonderful dessert wine, reminding me of a Royal Tokaji.  This wine is made from the Vidal grape here in Nova Scotia, and is the perfect compliment to your favorite sweet dessert.  Picked at the perfect time, when the temperatures hits -10-degrees outside, which is very common here in Eastern Canada.  (Yes, that was not a typo, I said minus 10 degrees)  Gorgeous flavors of apricots and peaches make for one of my favorite dessert wines.  I actually didn’t really appreciate dessert wines until I started taking my Sommelier courses.

If you can’t find this local favorite in your area, try this dessert wine…

The Royal Tokaji is heaven in a glass, and is just a fantastic dessert wine.  I actually had this wine on one of my final tasting exams, while doing one of my courses.   It is made in Hungary and the process is very labor intensive, so I tend to be very grateful with every sip.  An amber/gold color and rich apricots and honey on the palate.  I love this wine.

And my wine of the week

A great wine at a great value.  The Carmen Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon from 2012. Chile is putting out some great Cabernet Sauvignon wines and this one is no exception.  I loved the $20 price tag, but loved the wine in the bottle even more.  Given a 91 Point rating by Wine Spectator, this publication also calls it a ‘smart buy’ and featured it as the wine of the week.  Rich and well-spiced with notes of black pepper, here is another great steak wine.

Well that’s it for me for this week, I survived another birthday.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene