Welcome back! Today I am going to cover a nice little find by Cellar No. 8 that my wife picked up on a random run to the store. Here is the dossier:
Name: Cellar No. 8 Merlot
Winery: Asti Winery
Vintage: 2008
Region: Napa, California
Alcohol by Vol.: 13.8%
Price: $8
(Price can vary on state, taxes, the store’s mark-up, the cycle of the moon, and the outcomes in the NFL Draft.)
The first thing that I noticed when I opened the bottle was that the aroma was not trying to hide the black cherry present in the wine. However, that is all I could pick out from initial smell. The clarity is good, not great, and the color was very dark. In fact, it had a darker body than many of the Merlots that I have tried. I spent more time smelling the wine and letting it breathe in the glass. The spiciness of the wine takes a little while to come out, so I would let the bottle sit for about 20 minutes after opening before you get into it. You could also try to aerate the bottle or give the glasses a good series of swirling before you serve. I tried the wine before it had a chance to breathe and after, and the spiciness is worth the wait.
My first taste proved what I had expected: there was a significant taste of black cherry present. There was also a hint of another fruit, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I sipped on it for a while and could only pick out the black cherry. The label said that there were mocha, coffee, and blueberry flavors that were present. I didn’t get that from the tasting, but I figured I would try it with an upcoming meal: mustard marinated flank steak with horseradish sauce and oven roasted sweet potatoes.
The character of the wine is very pleasant. It is spicy upfront, unassuming in the middle, and clean in the after taste. This would easily fit in almost anywhere. Specifically, I am thinking about when my wife and I had finished our workout and the baby was asleep. We started watching a documentary while cooling down on the couch. This was the perfect companion to just being in the moment.
Rating = Try Again.
I feel like I am missing something in this wine that the flank steak meal might pull out. I will update you next week with some additional information on how the wine paired with my meal.
Have you tried it? If so, let me know below!
