Holy Mother of Macaroni, forgive me, for I have sinned. Numerous times, with numerous glasses. This is by far my favorite discovery this year. Thank you to JM for the recommendation!
Where to begin? What a cool fucking name. It reminds me of dark, moorish evenings spent in the black lagoon in the arms of Nathan Fillion.. OOPS! Sorry, that was another Doolhof-inspired dream! The name draws you in, but come on- look at the label! The makers of this vintage certainly did their homework with marketing lures. That label is designed to grab the eye of anyone who may be walking around a dusty liquor store looking for a great bottle to grab their eye. It certainly succeeds.
The aroma? Once you open this sucker and let it breathe(this time, because I was cleaning under the kitchen sinks and the upper cabinets, it was closer to two hours), oh my, what a glorious aroma. Right off the bat, you can smell the richness of the wine. I’m not kidding when I tell you I swear I smelled coffee or some mocha(various investigation on Snooth.com shows it is indeed espresso I was smelling. I’m NOT insane!). Of course, being a coffee-holic, I’m sold right there. But oh, no, my friends, the festivities were only beginning.
The taste? Superb! Boysenberry, Chocolate, Espresso, Plum, and a multiple of others that many more bottles of imbibement(is that a word? wordsmiths, help!) will no doubt help me solve eventually. It’s an elegant finish. Meaning, with all of these flavors co-habitating, you would expect a lot of deep flavor. it is there, but it’s not overpowering. I have had pinotage that was too much going on all at once. This is, happily, not the case here. It’s so smooth, that it’s not odd that you suddenly discover several glasses have been consumed.
That was not a confession. That was a revealation.
I paired it with my pork chops and the small endive salad I made. if you’re going super-salad savvy, make sure it’s Tuscan Italian dressing from Trader Joe’s that you use on the salad. Balsamic Vinegarette might be too sweet and take the finish off the wine. The Tuscan Italian paired beautifully with it. Felicia’s right, the Havarti with dill cheese would likely pair well. we’ll have to experiment with it at a late date and I’ll report back. The pork chops- if made plain, worked well. I have a feeling that baby back ribs would be divine with this wine. Try it, let me know your results!
To be honest, I haven’t tripped the light fantastic with Pinotage since the 2005 heady days of “no bills, lots of financial-free thrills” Lagrange-bars- and food-stops with Dylan days. Those are LONG gone, so I have been thinking fondly of pinotage(not so fondly, of those I was deluding myself with in those heady, break the sink days) lately. My homeboy John was terrific at recommending a great one for me to try. Thank you! This blows the doors off of any redneck station wagon full of pinotage I may have been driving before. I bid that one adieu, and welcome anew!
Seriously, start calling around and find a bottle. It won’t be easy(what is these days?) but I guarantee if you call Famous Liquors in Oak Park, they probably have it. If not, if you have a Famous Liquors near you, they likely have it. Binny’s might, if it’s one of their superstores. It’s not easy to find, which of course, is why Oak Park had it. I highly, highly recommend it!
Sipping Sentiments- A Wino's Blog 