I’m in Maryland this weekend to visit a friend and the Renaissance Faire and had a running joke all day about how Ren Faires tend to put the letter “e” at the end of everything to make it all . . . Renaissancey. Funny how doing that to the title here looks like it’s really supposed to look that way. /facepalm. Hey whatev, I have been going to Ren Faires most of my life and love them all dearly — the camp is part of the fun! My friend introduced me to his “Ren Faire family” of wonderful people: some hilarious performers, some long-time patrons, some jousters and merchants. Just a fantastic day. I can’t believe no one brought a camera!
Of course, I tried the mead. Not sure how I feel about it . . . having had some tasty beverages called mead that were truly made from fermented honey this was somewhat unexpected. My taste buds could be wrong but I believe this was fresh white wine combined with honey and beer. I should have tested a pairing with this and the smoked turkey legs!
The high point of the weekend in terms of wine was a 2007 Punto Final Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina (bottled by Bodega Renacer, unfiltered) that I enjoyed on Friday night when I arrived. My exposure to unfiltered wines is regrettably limited so the surprising flavors & aromas in such a young wine greatly impressed me, and if you’re going to have a Malbec by itself Mendoza is the place to get it. Otherwise it is typically part of a Bordeaux blend. A bit of trivia: Malbec gets its name from the peasant who brought the grape to France from Hungary.
This particular full-bodied wine was deep ruby in color with a dark magenta rim. We had no decanter and the lighting at the table was not ideal for observing clarity so we’ll skip that for now. Fruit aromas of blackberry and cassis were passive, allowing more secondary aromas such as soy sauce, steak sauce, rich soil or dirt, and gamey meat to take the spotlight. Tasting brought more focus to the fruits: blackberry, black plum, cassis and black cherry, then joined again with the more umami flavors such as soy sauce, finishing with leather. Acidity was high, alcohol was quite high (15%), no detectable residual sugar, medium tannins, gentle oak, medium plus intensity on the nose but higher on the palate, medium finish and medium complexity. It was rather well balanced and VERY enjoyable with a lamb/beef burger recipe my friend made. The recipe from Food and Wine:
Hope everyone else is enjoying their Labor Day Weekend!
Glad you enjoyed yourself! It’s amazing what one can accomplish by doing a little homework. It’s good to know that the subscription to Food & Wine I’ve had since 2004 has not gone totally to waste :p
BTW, that Malbec was also a very affordable pick… something else that the magazine was quick to point out… For people who tire of the Cab-Sav for red meat/burgers (as the magazine said) or they don’t feel like spending a lot of money for a decent pairing, most Malbecs apparently are pretty inexpensive.
You might be thinking all-out Sommelier path, but hey… ever consider writing for a magazine of that caliber? Or better? It would certainly combine two things you enjoy AND are very good at doing…
…but who am I to say?
Ah! Thank you for the compliment, but writing for wine magazines is not a good source of income — it might cover the cost of a few bottles of good wine but won’t pay the bills.
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