Tonight's wine is soooo good and I'm surprised. I would have said nothing could beat a Napa Cabernet and that Paso Robles--to me--is all about the Zinfandel. But this Cabernet might change my mind. The first thing I noticed after opening it was the very pronounced fig jam fragrance with possibly small dark cherry notes. To be honest, it seemed a little one dimensional. But after it had been breathing for awhile dried blackberry and tobacco notes emerged.
It's got great legs and some surprisingly serious tannins--again something I'd associate with Paso Zins. So maybe it's just something in Paso's terroir? I don't know, but either way I love it. The spiced fig flavor is still there, which suggests that this would be a great wine to enjoy during the winter holidays. But again, after letting it breathe it really opens up and I taste vanilla, more tobacco, and a delicious smoky flavor evoking campfires and summer nights.
My first experience of California wine was when I was a newlywed camping in the redwoods just outside of San Francisco. Our campsite neighbors were an older couple in an RV. They grilled oysters on their camp stove and shared the wine they'd picked up in Napa that day with us. This wine takes me right back there.
This wine would be perfect at a bonfire on a cool midsummer's night--something you get a lot of along California's coast, and not at all here in Texas. So I plan on getting another bottle of this to drink next weekend to celebrate the eclipse.
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