Showing posts with label Mosby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mosby. Show all posts

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Mosby Roc Michel


The Bottle: The tall-shouldered Bordeaux bottle features a front label with several hints. "Rhone Varietal Blend," "Monterey County Red Table Wine," "Fremir Vineyards." It's a Mosby, without the usual art show, though. Too bad. The Mosby label is generally as beautiful as the wine behind it. This wine clocks in with an abv of 13.5%. The back label promises flavors of black cherry, cola and cinnamon. It does not say so on the label, but my tasting room notes mentioned a blend of Syrah and Mourvedre. It goes for $22 at the winery.

The Nose: It's lush in here. A bit of alcohol and the faint trace of the oak, but what really comes forward is the cherry that back label told us about. I don't get the cinnamon, but there is some sort of sweetness creeping through, like a candy I can't quite name. Faint traces of, oddly enough, Super Bubble bubble gum.

The Taste: That cinnamon is there on the palate, right up front. A good deal of heat, too, upon opening. But it's a fruit explosion in my mouth, tons of cherry cola. This wine really finishes pretty well, too. The nice ruby color is see-through, but not too light. The mouthfeel is full and yummy. This will be nice with a pepper steak or a pork chop. This makes me want to schedule a trip to Buellton. I'm going to want some more of this.


Afterword:
The second night it was open, the wine began to show some interesting aspects that were not apparent to me upon opening the bottle. It began to display a more vegetal side on the nose and palate, something akin to a bell pepper. This occurrence sort of dialed the sweetness back a notch and replaced it with a darker, more insidious character. It's still a very good wine. It seems to get more complex the longer it is open.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Mosby La Seduzione 2004


The Bottle:

Beautiful artwork is what strikes me on first glance. The Mosby wines are famous for their beautifully illustrated labels by Robert Scherer. This brown/green tinted bottle contains La Seduzione, 2004 French Camp Vineyard California red wine. It's a Lagrein, which we find on the back label is an Italian varietal found largely near Bolzano. Fortunately, there's also Lagrein growing in the French Camp, near San Luis Obispo. Also fortunately, Bill Mosby found them and procured them to make some wine from them.

The Nose:

Rich and forceful, the aromas leap from the glass. There's a fair whiff of alcohol, but not so much that it can obscure the black cherry, blackberry, licorice and leather. I believe my tasting notes from the winery may have indicated a "forest floor with blackberries tromped into the soil," or some such silliness. These are very dark, but fruity aromas.

The Taste:

Flavors of black cherry soda and big, dark plums dominate the palate for me. There are notes of cocoa and spices in there. It's a big, big taste. I would not recommend pairing this with anything too tame or sedate. This is a powerful wine that calls out for brash food to match it.