Big Reds with Tomahawk beefsteaks
With fellow ‘Pour Boy’, Lyle, and Terry, of our wine group at The Cove, our vacation rental in Destin (FL), we grilled out tomahawk ribeye beefsteaks.
For wine pairing with the dinner, Lyle brought this Sangiovese Brunello di Montalcino from his home cellar to share, and I opened, from our home cellar a Bordeaux varietal.
I was eager to taste this premium Brunello from this producer since we have some vintages of this label at home, and for a comparison with several Sangioveses we had a dinner the just the other evening.
Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino 2016
I was eager to taste this premium Brunello from this producer since we have some vintages of this label at home, and for a comparison with several Sangioveses we had a dinner the just the other evening.
The Uccelliera estate has 30 acres of vineyards almost entirely planted to Sangiovese, made up of vines between 5 and 45 years old. The site consists of sandy loam with presence of crumbled fossils in the zone of Castelnuovo dell’Abate.
The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is sourced from three vineyard sites on the sun-drenched southern side of Castelnuovo dell'Abate in the southern half of the appellation. The vineyards sits at an average altitude of 150, 250 and 350 meters above seal level adjacent a natural barrier provided by the proximity to the height of Mount Amiata in the south-east side and of Poggio d’Arna in the south-west.
Also, the nearby Orcia river provides a marine breeze rising up from its valley contributes to create a unique microclimate that is particularly well-suited to viticulture. This label consistently shows a sense of place of this specific Montalcino location.
Dark ruby colored, medium to full bodied, smooth and balanced, plush, round, complex black raspberry and blackberry fruits with tones of dark chocolate, tobacco, licorice and spice with hints of mushroom and smoke, reserved with polished tannins..
RM 93 points.
To complement the dinner, I opened from our home cellar this Bordeaux varietal blend.
Long Shadows "Pirouette" Columbia Valley Bordeaux Blend 2017
I wrote about this label in detail in a recent blogpost, Long Shadows Pirouette 2016 with beef roast.
I wrote, after enjoying the Long Shadows Pirouette 2014 at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, Linda prepared a beef roast and I pulled out the next vintage release of this label to enjoy, and compare with the earlier vintage in a mini-vertical comparison tasting.
This is the Bordeaux varietal red blend from the Long Shadows Vintners's Collection that features world class winemakers and Washington State Columbia Valley fruit.
This label is produced by legendary winemakers Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, in collaboration with Agustin Huneeus, Sr.. another legendary wine producer. I;ve written about about Philip Melka numerous times in these pages including that recent Sullivan’s Steakhouse post and previously - Château Boswell Napa Valley Estate Reserve Red Wine 2016. I featured Huneeus in a recent blogpost here - Faust Napa Cab with St Pat’s Dinner.
We’ve featured Long Shadows and their vintners collection, and our visit to their hospitality center and tasting room in Woodinville (WA) in these pages.
We’re members of the Long Shadows wine club and hold nearly a decade of vintages of their various label releases.
Checking our cellar inventory, we hold nearly a decade of vintages of this label so we pulled the oldest in our holdings, and one year adjacent to following the earlier release tasting. We supplemented our wine club allocation with several bottles of this label acquired at auction, some of which I took to Florida to our vacation rental home which we opened tonight.
Winemaker notes - “The Cabernet Sauvignon, primarily sourced from a collection of Red Mountain’s best vineyards, gives Pirouette the structure and textured richness that has come to characterize this acclaimed growing region. A small percentage of old vine Cabernet from Sagemoor Vineyard, planted in 1972, adds complexity. Merlot brings juicy richness to the finished wine. Malbec from Sonnet Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills adds spice. Finally, Dionysus Vineyard’s Petit Verdot enhances the wine’s color and contributes to the wine’s layers of intense aromas and flavors.’
“The 2017 Pirouette has an expressive nose with a firm core of dark fruit and mocha flavors, displaying a layered concentration of black cherry and well-integrated oak spices. Vibrant and full-bodied across the mid-palate, this is a texturally pleasing wine with a broad and lengthy finish.”
Dunnuck wrote - “It can be drunk today but will develop additional complexity with 3-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades or more.”
Dark ruby colored, full bodied, vibrant expressive expressive vibrant blackberry, plum and black currant fruits with savory accents of cinnamon and clove spice, bitter dark chocolate and crème de cassis with smooth polished tannins on a sumptuous finish.
RM 94 points.
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