The Coalesce of Grape Fusion

Have you ever wanted a wine which included most of your favorite varietals? Well this wine could quite possibly fit the bill! Some call this a Bordeaux Blend and true, but which bank? No I am not talking about the banks here looking for "bailout" money who want party it up in Vegas! Nope I am talking about the left and right bank in Bordeaux, which most of you reading this blog are most likely all too familiar with, so suffice to say this blend would be a "lefty" in terms of the type of blend used to produce this amazing effort from Girard Winery. But it's not a typical Bordeaux blend in that it is more fruit forward, definitely more approachable for American palates (no austerity in sight). Which is one of the dig's of American wine!

So here's the break down of the blend: 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, 12% Malbec, 9% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc this litany is inscribed on the back label. Back labels are sometimes just a vacuous wasteland, but this one got down to the business of giving you a mini-education on the fruit used and where it came from, great job! Also a phone number so you could call for more in case you ran out!

In the glass the 2004 vintage is a fully extracted regal colored throng of dark ruby wine spreading out to a lightly colored velvet rim. On the nose aromas of ripe cherries, red plum, cinnamon and allspice waft up out of the inky goodness. On the palate, this smooth-textured wine offers a full-mouth, medium (14.3% ALC.) bodied feel, while the firm tannins are very well integrated, making the wine courtly and approachable rewarding those who can't wait to imbibe. This wine like your favorite layer cake, which has a complex blend revealed through decanting. No wonder this wine is called Artistry. I do strongly recommend decanting this wine, one to reveal it's more subtle characteristics and two because this wine is not filtered!
Taking a look around the web, I see many place offering this wine for $39.99 or more. But folks I will be honest, I picked up this beauty @ Costco for $30.99 and I didn't have to pay for shipping. They (Costco) is currently carrying the 2005 for the same price point and the 2004 I purchased laid about a year before I consumed it and well worth the wait. Until next time Cheers!

Get this widget