Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sokol Blosser Meditrina (6) and an Old Ontario Cab Franc (Oregon / Ontario)

Okay, the way I read the documentation that came with this wine was that it was a blend of three different grape varieties from three different parts of the U.S.:  Pinot Noir / Syrah / Zinfandel (from Oregon / Washington / California respectively).  So I thought instead of just I giving it a try I would take it to class and give the students a go at it: see if they could identify it and then find out if they liked it.  The wine started off okay with a very fruit driven nose of plum, cherry and black currant, someone sniffed some pepper in the mix too, but I did not pick it out (something tells me they took a sip before it was time).  On the plate that aforementioned pepper came screaming out of the glass and onto the palate, almost intrusively so, it overpowered everything else and no fruit was apparent ... then the finish turned all bitter and unappealing.  Ten minutes later we went back to the smell and there was a rancid butter aroma beginning to creep out of the glass.  Sorry to say that the Meditrina was not as appealing a wine as its white counterpart: Evolution, which I enjoyed the previous night.  Out of the eight students that stayed to try the wine only one said they enjoyed it. 

We moved on to a Southbrook 2002 Triomphe Cabernet Franc (Ontario), it started poorly with everyone giving the nose a hard time and the palate an even rougher time.  But with some time in glass and a constant aeration, decanting would have been a better option.  Everyone admitted that it certainly got better the longer it sat and by the time we were ready to wrap up class everyone wanted to know where to buy a bottle -  alas, I told them, wine is a finite item and it has been sold out for many a moon.

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