2007 H3 Merlot & 2006 Tikal Patriota

So in my last post, Simply Divine | RED 2006 by St. Francis, I ended with “Next Post: A delightful discovery in Anacortes, Wa followed by a great story about acquiring a taste for great love like fine wine.” In order for me to do that we need to rewind to the week of January 10th. I was still involved in my internship at Pransky and Associates and thought I wanted to go into business consulting. I got to sit in on these great sessions and watch people go from being really intense and caught up in their concern about their life or corporations to getting way more philosophical and coming up with solutions once they stopped worrying and being concerned. That is another blog all together.

Half way through my week I realized that consulting wasn’t for me. That being said, I learned so much from George Pransky and his team over the past 7 months which has completely enhanced my life in far to many ways to even mention. After embarrassingly admitting I wasn’t cut out for consulting in that way, I realized two things: I wanted to work with people but in a completely different capacity and I was seriously going to pursue wine.  All that out of the way, I now had a lot of time on my hands and when I’ve got time on my hands I do what I do best…I set out to explore.

On that note I happened into the next town over from La Conner to Anacortes. If you ever get the opportunity in your life to visit Washington, I highly recommend visiting in the fall to catch the changing of the leaves! It is spectacular. Stay a few nights in La Conner at  La Conner Channel Lodge and from there take day trips to the San Juan Islands, Victoria B.C., Anacortes and a few more quaint and cute towns. It is so peaceful, quite and rejuvenating.  There are so many scenic back roads to explore and the fall foliage is brilliant and breath taking. Make sure to visit Nell Thorn and have a hamburger or my favorite, Beach Bowl Soup – A big bowl of fresh Mussels, Clams, Prawns and Fin Fish poached in a Herb & Fennel Seed-scented Tomato Broth for $24.00!

In Anacortes there is a cute grocery store called  The Market, similar to Whole Foods. I love shopping there and they have a great wine selection. I just happened to pick up 2 spectacular wines and I was delighted that I found them. They are so good they made Freda’s Cellar List!

The first wine is by Ernesto Cantena from Mendoza, Argentina. Tikal, the name of his vineyard, is named after his son. The wine is Tikal Patriota 2006 Red Table Wine from Argentina. I loved this wine! It is fruit forward but not sweet and it smelled wonderful.

Winemaker’s Notes:
Aromas of bright berry/cherry fruit and electric-purple color. Like swallowing a whole bowl of mixed ripe berries at once. Big body yet very balanced, with luscious layers of raspberry, cherry, and cocoa flavors. Just a hint of baking spice at the end brings it all together.

Pairs With:
Grilled meats such as beef and pork, smoked ham, and even pizza with meat toppings. Incredibly fun to drink!

Critical Acclaim:
The 2006 Patriota is composed of 60% Bonarda and 40% Malbec. It has greater depth and a longer finish than its 2005 counterpart.

The second is as equally pleasurable, a 2007 Horse Heaven Hills (H3) Merlot by Columbia Crest. Wine Spectator gave this sexy little number 91 points and I can see why! This is a full bodied, bright and complex wine explodes in your mouth. I don’t like many things exploding in my mouth but I can assure this is a good one!

The H3 (an abbreviation for Horse Heaven Hills in Wa) Merlot entices the nose with spicy blackberry aromas and then explodes across the palate with slight dusty, earthy, and rich berry notes which cumulate in the seductive, velvety, cocoa finish. -Ray Einberger, Winemaker

Grapes were crushed at 30% whole-berry to retain the fruit quality. Fermentation lasted 7-14 days on the skins to extract optimum fruit and structural components. Malolactic fermentation occurred in stainless steel tanks and oak barrels. I never thought such talk could turn me on!

H3 Blend: 79% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon,6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Syrah

It was a wine drinking frenzy for me because I drank both of these at the same time–no I wasn’t double fisting it–I’m more elegant than that…I put one glass down while I picked the other up!

A note on art and history: I’m not going to lie…I really like labels and like Alpana Singh says you experience a little bit  of art and history through well done wine labels. Many wineries hire professional artists to create their original wine labels and I reward them for their effort. These two are no exception! While sipping on a glass of great wine you can find yourself contemplating history and appreciating the labels as if they were Picasso paintings in a museum.

I also want to mention that I had a variety of cheeses, olives and salami. Next time I will write that down too! That’s a typical dinner for me.

Next Post: I forgot to tell the story of how great love is an acquired taste like fine wine!