Red Wine
- Details
- Published: 10 May 2015 10 May 2015
This wine has travelled a long way to get to the UK… as the name of the bodega states, from the end of the world.
It’s a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec and has had 15 months in oak and a few in the bottle ageing. The label is substantial, being engraved in metal and stuck onto one of the heaviest wine bottles I have ever held. If climate change is an issue for wine production, then this wine might make an ample drop to consume as the world world goes up in flames (a Google translate definition of ‘Del Fin Del Mundo’ shows up as “Doomsday”!).
So does the taste justify the means?
There is no doubting the quality of the wine, even after a few minutes of being open the aromas of chocolate, plum, cherry, pepper and gentle vanilla reach out and caress the nostrils. The colour is a rich carmine, not opaque but dark and attractive.
To drink this wine is a pleasure on its own; silky tannins that coat the mouth, the acidity and fruit are delicious. It’s got a beautiful balance that assures me that this wine is at the beginning of it’s life cycle. I would like to taste it throughout the ensuing decade, year by year, to follow its development.
The alcohol content is 14.5%, which is at the higher end of my preferred drinking levels. It is doubtless a wine that can tackle the heartiest of foods and at this time of year make sure you’re serving with the best quality steak, the best quality lamb cutlets with herbs, or the finest roasted vegetables. What ever the pairing, make sure that the food has cojonas… because this Del Fin Del Mundo Special Blend certainly does!
In the UK this wine can be ordered from www.ndjohn.co.uk for £19.99
Discord in Odesa; pruning at Shabo goes on!
Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces.
An aperitif by the coliseum
As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.
Artichoke pasta and very fine Pigato
Britain’s lamentable exit
On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.
I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!
Soave: volcanic wines with elegance and longevity
Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.
An American In Paris; Tanisha Townsend (@GirlMeetsGlass) discusses podcasts, Paris wine bars, & what she's drinking at the moment
Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.
Wine tasting in Galicia: The pilgrims search for Albarino
The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.