Wino Wednesday: Kickin’ it at the Chateau

What a lovely wine! For realz.

Wouldn’t that rock if that was all I said about this? As though that was my poignant description of this velvety libation? Or I could be as eloquent as some guy from Wine & Spirits back in June. Check out his review of this 2008 Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet.

“Spice–a hint of tobacco, a hint of milk chocolate–gives way to a ripe set of fruit flavors in this big shouldered,thoroughly seductive red. The texture is driven by fine, pepery tannins, which stem the tide of ripe, plummy fruit, giving the wine a touch of elegance even as it remains irresistible. It’s drinking beautifully now; a by-the-case buy…93” Wine & Spirits 6/11

Alas, I don’t know it I’m capable of waxing so poetic about my boozes. But let’s just analyze what all of this means.

“Spice – a hint of tobacco, a hint of milk-chocolate” – At first taste, this cab hits you, albeit subtly, with spice flavors like cloves and cinnamon, but after you swirl it around a bit you can taste tobacco. Not like old Las Vegas casino smoke, but deep organic tobacco. Then the sweet sets in with the milk-chocolate sneaking out from beneath the other flavors.

“big shouldered, thoroughly seductive red” – The flavors are complex and bold, but they capture you under their spell without being to overbearing. Kind of like a young history professor with a sports jacket with suede elbows. Yeah, just like that.

“driven by fine, peppery tannins” – Tannin…are you still thinking about those leather elbows on that jacket? Well, you are close. The term comes from ‘tanning’ as in the process of using plant extracts to cure leather. In a nutshell, tannin is that taste you get from a strong cup of tea, or from grape skins or seeds. It’s a bit bitter or a bit astringent, but the peppery ones are the best I think.

“ripe, plummy fruit” – Ripe, plummy fruit is just that – ripe plums. For this wine, the ripe plumminess is more of a plum skin flavor than the flesh, but it’s all good.

“giving the wine a touch of elegance even as it remains irresistible” – Back to that romance novel language. Yes, this wine is elegant, but I drank the whole damn bottle in one night due to its irresistibly.

I love reading all wine reviews because they are all so beautifully written. Well, not all of them, but most are. I find them very poetic and sometimes a little sexy. Just like that professor in the sports jacket.