Delightfully tender and rouge, dry as sand, mellow, and strong. Lightly dry, vivid and vibrant with a cherry follow. Well aged and thoroughly enjoyable. Quite tannin and balances with spice, oily nuts, and toufu. Taken with mozzarella snack sticks one day and peanuts the next. A second bottle with pepper smoked duck from Yilan, Taiwan. Always best on a full stomach.
Carlo Rossi — California Red
Half dry and delightfully cherry. Enjoyed with muenster cheese. Would go great with a cheesed-up, meaty salad—even with grilled chicken breast or a 12 oz. medium-rare steak.
Quenching: Isla Negra Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2015
Light and neither oaky nor bodied… whatever that means. Strong as iron and friendly as flowers, yet dark and conversational.
I wouldn’t take it with beef, as it’s just neither dry nor tannic enough, though a little. I’d take it with lamb, poultry, cheese, or vegetables with some oil, like olive, butter, or coconut. Great with snacks, a 4 p.m. meal, dinner and a movie, or a night cap.
Taken with the usual roll of Monterey Jack, Swiss, Cheddar, Colby Jack, and the special occasion of a Star Trek TNG rerun.
Delectable: Corbieres 2015
Not so sure whether oaky or mapley, but full, half-dry, and half-tannic . Thick and deep, almost a cherry. Every bit as intoxicating as the cheese.
Plan on lamb or half a steak. Tasted with the whole roll of Swiss, medium cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby Jack, over a few pages of Pagan Christianity on the Kindle. Always take wine with your cheese.