Behind the Vines

Destination Reached: Escafeld Petit Verdot

by Farley on October 12th, 2007

When I (ok, BK, actually) was unloading the wine fridge for moving, I came across a few bottles that were hidden in its dark bottom shelves. One of those was the 2004 Escafeld Petit Verdot that Elsbeth was kind enough to send me after a few failed attempts at finding it at the SF Chronicle tasting and in Monterey. Last week I finally had the opportunity to break it out with the best wine friend in town. We had plans to make one of my famous wine dinners one night while she was here. Sadly, the meal didn’t quite stand up to the wine.

I was going to make Beef Wellington, but the filets didn’t look good enough, so we picked up ribeyes instead. After a long day touring the Russian River Valley, maybe I shouldn’t have tried to cook a fancy dinner without much prep time. Two smoke alarms were going off, the steaks weren’t cooked at the right temps or with the right flavoring, and even my trusted sweet potato side didn’t caramelize properly. But the wine was tasty. I came back to it a day and a half later to really give it the attention it deserved, bringing it to work to share and analyze. Even after that time, the tannins were still going strong. On the nose, I found blueberry, raspberry preserves, cocoa powder, mushrooms, and black pepper. More of the same on the palate, along with Fig Newtons. The pairing this time was much better, as it really stood up to the hearty Irish Cheddar with Porter.

I’ll definitely have to get this one again, maybe trying it with Thanksgiving as they suggest.

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POSTED IN: Escafeld, Petit Verdot, when the wine is better than the food