It was my turn to host this past Saturday night’s dinner and we had an extra guest attending, my father-in-law Glenn. My mother-in-law was away for the weekend so we added Glenn to our guest list. I wanted to do something different for dinner and decided to do a mixed grill with a Southern theme.
For the first course I went with a blue cheese and bacon dip with crackers and paired this with a bottle of Roederer Champagne. We have reviewed the Roederer before so I won’t be reviewing it again.
For the main course I did grilled Chorizo sausages, grilled shrimp with cilantro with a chipotle dipping sauce, grilled Chimichurri steak and a side salad with grilled corn, black beans, onions, tomatoes with a tangerine and lime dressing. I paired this with a 2011 Duckhorn Merlot and a 2008 Franciscan Estate Napa Valley Merlot.
I will review the Franciscan Estate Merlot first.
The nose was big and easy to find with aromas of raspberry, cedar and mushroom as the main ones with plum, green pepper and nutmeg in the background. Tasting the wine, dark chocolate and plum were the dominate flavours with clove and coffee as the secondary ones. The structure was nice with good acidity and soft smooth tannin and a finish that lingered. The wine had a thin mouth-feel which was ok but I prefer a more meaty/full one on a Merlot. As the chocolate flavour was the most powerful and not the fruit, the wine reminded me more of a French Merlot than a California one. It was a good pairing with the food and was also good on its own (though maybe a touch dry at times).
Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 87, Mark – 88, Kathy – 89, Amy – 86, Overall – 87.5.
This was purchased at the LCBO but it was about a year ago or so and they are no longer listing it or any other Franciscan Merlots. The price point on it was $28 which is a fair to decent price for this wine.
Click here for Part 2
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