Gnarly Gorrondona!

10/25/2008 -

Happily, there is no departure here with this vintage in terms of terroir expression. The attractive nose shows pillow-y aromas of bright blue-raspberry fruits, black pepper, earth, and subtle hints of orange zest and sea salt. These flavors are echoed on the light to middle weight palate with suave tannins leading into a beautiful and supple finish of focused berry fruits, granite and a red pepper spice note that seems to intensify with aeration. Blind tasted this is a Cab Franc knock-off with a Basque personality. I enjoyed this wine with Basque style chicken legs with sweet peppers and local cherry tomatoes. The two coalesced memorably.

In addition to this I was recently speaking with the Andre Tamers, the importer, and he was telling me that the producer wanted to export less of the Tinto and keep more for the locals. Luckily with some prodding, Andre turned him around and managed to get somewhere close to the same amount as last vintage. We are excited by this indeed.