Saturday Night – Mick is back in the saddle again – Part 1

The blog has been quiet lately as our normal Saturday night dinners haven’t been quite so normal.  Thankfully that ended last night as Mick and Amy were hosting and Mick had three great dishes on tap and three very good wines to go with them.

 

The first course was Oysters “Mickafella”, which are oysters topped with cheese, green onion, jalapeno peppers and other assorted goodies than cooked in the oven.  Mick paired this with a 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fume Blanc.  We have reviewed this wonderful wine before (see the Top Ten Zippy Sauce Whites list for the link), so I won’t be doing that again here.  I will add it was a good pairing with the oysters but not perfect.  The oysters were very good as well.

The second course was barbequed Brie with a bruschetta topping and served with toasted sliced baguette.  Amy jokingly refers to this as Brie-chetta.  Mick paired this with a 2004 Beringer Napa Valley Merlot. 

The nose on the Merlot was big and easy to find with aromas of raspberry, pine, chocolate and cigar box.  Tasting the wine, it was a dominated with a plum flavour that was tempered by vanilla, clove and chocolate notes.  The balance on the wine was good but it was a touch tannic which made the wine seem very dry at times.  The finish on the wine was good but it didn’t linger for long.  I liked the wine with the food.  Mick and I both thought the wine was solid but not amazing.

 

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark - 89, Kathy – 88, Amy – 88, Overall – 88.5.

 

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

 

BERINGER MERLOT 2009

VINTAGES 919647
750 mL bottle
Price $ 29.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Treasury Wine Estates
Release Date: Apr 28, 2012
Wine, Red Wine
14.3% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Merlot
Sugar Content: 5 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

 

Tasting Note - Deep bassline aromas of chocolate cake, black cherry, blackberry creme and a wisp of caramelized sugar. Full bodied, generous, lush and complex, with gobs of fruit and pinpoint balance. This has the structure to develop nicely over 5+ years, though it's drinking well now with beef stew or prime rib. (VINTAGES panel, March 2012)

 

Click here for Part 2