Showing posts with label Black Muscat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Muscat. Show all posts

Monday, January 22, 2018

Sweets For The Savory Lover

Four Ferrari-Carano wines were recently featured in an online virtual tasting session, of which I was invited to be a part.  The presentation was hosted by Chelsea Kurnick of McCue Communications and associate winemaker Rebecka Deike.  She handles the winery's red wine program and started out wanting to be an optometrist, but she saw her focus change to a wine career.  You may be able to find some of the online comments at #FCHolidayWine.

One of the first dessert wines I ever tasted was a Black Muscat.  It was a revelation, an epiphany, the dawn of a new day.  Without overselling the moment, I very much enjoyed it.  Since then I've reveled in each sweetie that came my way, although they have remained an addition to my wine interests, not a replacement.  Even the good dessert wines, like Sauternes, can get to be a bit much if you concentrate on them at the expense of everything else.

Ferrari-Carano Eldorado Noir, Russian River Valley 2015

This is a dessert wine made from Black Muscat grapes that were grown in the Russian River Valley.  The wine underwent malolactic fermentation, which tends to impart a creaminess by converting one type of acid to another.  There was seven months cave aging in older barrels.  Tasters online liked the idea of pairing it with bread pudding or triple chocolate cake. One wanted a well-marbled rib eye.  The wine’s alcohol is a very reasonable 12.4% abv, while the residual sugar is 12.7%.

This is one amazing dessert wine, possibly one for people who say they don't like dessert wines.  The nose is deep and dark, just like the color, and smells like sugary tar with a black licorice backbeat.  The sweetness is perfectly counterbalanced by the savory side.  On the palate, it's all black currant and berries, with a streak of earth right down the middle.  The tannins are medium firm and the acidity is somewhat low, so it's really sippable, but it also pairs well with soft cheese or a fruit dish.


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Monday, March 3, 2014

Kalyra Muscat

A little bottle can hold a lot.  The little 375 ml bottle that holds the Kalyra Muscat dessert wine also currently holds my attention, along with my intermittent fascination with sweet wines.

I love sweet wines, but I don't love them all.  Those that I do love, I don't love all the time.  This one carries the qualities that do make me drink sweet - flavor, balanced sweetness and acidity.

Winemaker Mike Brown is Australia-born, but now operates out of Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley.  His dessert wines have been favorites at our house for a number of years, and the little bottle of Muscat pictured and written about here was purchased at the winery on our first visit there, a number of years ago.

This one is a non-vintage wine, and it appears to be slightly different than the current offering in that it has a little more kick to it.  This one hits 18% abv, while the current Kalyra Muscat comes in at 16%.  It's made from Black Muscat grapes and is fortified with brandy.  Also, this older bottle is described on the label as a "product of Australia," while the current product is sourced from Madera County, in California's Central Valley.

The Kalyra website says that the wine has been "aged in the Solero style, which is quite common practice in some regions, particularly in Australia."  Brown says it is "best paired with contrasting flavors like French Vanilla Bean ice cream or crème brulée."

The wine's color is dark brick red, almost brown, like a red with some age on it.  The nose is heavily laden with alcohol (18% abv) and raisiny caramel notes.  It smells like liqueur or sherry with a shot of cognac back.  The palate is just as rich.  Thicker, it might be molasses; sweeter, it could pass for raisin pudding.  The caramel notes are burnt just right and the acidity is rippingly fantastic.


Friday, March 26, 2010

Kalyra Black Muscat 2005

There are certain places in the wine world to which I seem drawn back over and over.  The Santa Ynez Valley is one of those places.  Its rolling terrain, sprawling vineyards and bounteous farm land beckon me each time good fortune takes me there.  Denise and I have stopped so many times at fruit stands there for unbelievably delicious strawberries and blueberries.  We've even stopped at a winery or two.  Insert smiling emoticon here.

Kalyra Winery is one of those places in the Santa Ynez Valley from which I can't seem to stay away.  They offer a full line of wines, but I am very partial to their dessert wines. Kalyra's 375ml bottle is adorned by label art which I think of as Australian Surfer Hieroglyphics. The surf motif is in full effect at their winery tasting room in the Santa Ynez Valley as well as at their more recently opened tasting room on Santa Barbara's Urban Wine Trail.

The Kalyra Black Muscat looks rather like a rosé when in the glass. The nose is aromatic and rich. There are notes of licorice candy and candied fruit flavors in there too. The wine tastes somewhat like a port, maybe a young one. It's a very nice and sweet berry flavor that makes a fine dessert on its own, or drizzled over ice cream. It could accompany an aged cheese fairly well, too. It's not as strong as a "real" port, but at 15% abv, it's not weak, either.


Winemaker:  Mike Brown
Variety:  Muscat
Appellation:  California > Central Coast > Santa Ynez Valley
Vintage:  2005 
Alcohol Level:  15%
Price: $15
Acquisition disclaimer:  Purchased by the author at the winery