So, we know I like wine. But my favorite thing is pouring a glass of a really good California red wine--usually a Cab or a Zin--and taking that first sniff, that first taste. It transports me back to happier times. My love affair with California reds dates back to my first trip to California, when I was a newlywed. We camped in Marin, just outside San Francisco--I'm pretty sure it was Mt. Tamalpais State Park. There was an older couple (probably younger than I am now) in a camper set up in the site directly across from us, who invited us over for grilled oysters and wine. My husband doesn't like either one (well, he's learning to. slowly.) but I was in pig heaven. It was a magical night. Later, it started to rain, our tent flooded, we left before dawn, and all of our gear stayed wet for days.
But this wine--with its deep purple color, its soft tannins, the notes of cedar, violets, and crushed blackberries on the nose, with its bold mouthfeel, the hints of toasted oak, the lingering taste of raspberry and cocoa--brings it all back. It tastes like night in a redwood forest--dark and earthy and smoky and herbaceous.
I'd pair it with grilled oysters, if I had them. Since I don't, I'm enjoying it by itself.
