This Christmas, my parents and I were all "under the weather" so it was a very mellow season.
However, all that mattered was that we were together so Prowler and I packed up and made the 10 minute trek over to my parents' house on Christmas Eve.
For Christmas Eve, we decided to take our taste buds to Spain. I haven't necessarily been fond of Spanish wines but have also found that they can be tolerable with food.
This is one of the first IYI quarterly wines that I received and knew it was a high-end Spanish wine, so perhaps my senses would enjoy it.
After doing some research, I found that this 2009 Bodegas Alion, from the Ribera Del Duero appellation of Spain, is a 100% Tempranillo. That didn't excite me so I dug a little deeper and found two very important facts. This wine should be decanted for at least two hours and it should also pair well with roast beef! It just so happened to be that we were having roast beef for dinner and I quickly packed my decanter and we were good to go!
After four hours of decanting, this very dark and thick ruby-colored wine had a tangy, burnt plum aroma. Dad decided that it had a medicinal smell; Listerine even.
Its tangy, cherry-Coke flavor did not make me happy but once I tried it with the roast beef, it was acceptable.
After dinner, I decided to pull out the "big guns" and really see if this wine was going to be enjoyable.
It was definitely better with Ghiradelli sea salt and almonds dark chocolate. Thank you, Chocolate!
While this was a high-end wine and not a drop went to waste, it's not a wine that I need to ever buy or taste again. There are way too many wines out there to try before I go back down this road.
Do I regret opening it? Of course not.
I'm just realizing more and more that Spanish wines just aren't "my thing" ... and that's ok!
In March of 2014, I bought Chateau O'Brien's 2009 Tannat.
Some people (including myself) would think paying $79 for a local area Virginia wine, was ludicrous but after tasting Howard O'Brien's Tannat, I was sold (see my post from March for more about Chateau O'Brien)!
I splurged in March and knew that this wine would have to be shared with my dad and saved for a special occasion. What better time to open it than for Christmas dinner?
After being told by Howard that it should be decanted for a half hour and that it would pair well with lamb, I decided to pair this wine with the lamb bolognese I was making for Christmas dinner.
Excited about Dad trying this wine for the first time and texting with Howard throughout the experience was an adventure in itself. With one whiff, I was happy and definitely more satisfied than I was with the Tempranillo from the night before. While it isn't as dirty as I have grown accustomed to enjoying, it still reminded me of a rotten tomato that had fallen off the vine on a hot summer day peppered with dirt from the garden after a rainstorm.
In other words, it was delightful!
In other words, it was delightful!
This is where things became too good to be true though.
I should have known better but we'll blame it on the bronchitis and lack of oxygen going to my brain for about a week of body aches and horrendous coughing.
This wine should pair well with lamb. Of course it should.
Why then did it taste better on its own than with my lamb bolognese?
The only explanation I had was the tomato sauce was too acidic for the wine.
Perhaps a rack of lamb or lamb chops would have been a better pairing.
I think the lamb Bolognese was too light for this smooth, rich wine.
No tears for me though...
because unlike the Spanish Tempranillo, this Tannat was just perfect on its own!
Howard's Tannat also paired well with musical wine glasses, homemade Christmas sugar cookies and my absolute favorite Christmas movie, Elf!
It was mellow, it was relaxing and it was all about me and my three best friends!
Hope your Christmas was just as full of love!
May our love be like good wine, growing stronger as it grows older. ~
Old English Toast
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