September 9th, 2008
After a bit of a sabbatical, I’m glad to be back into the Wine Blogging Wednesday scene, for such a fun topic. This month’s theme is hosted by the blog, 2 Days Per Bottle, in which “Dhonig”, a self-proclaimed cartoonist and wine geek tastes a single bottle of wine over the course of two days and notes how the wines change. Very neat idea! In any case, he suggested a wine that marks the end of the Bush era for us. Some people may drink some bubbly, others may toast to his roots with a Texan wine. Personally, I just found a bottle with a silly name that was reminiscent to me. I was pleased to find there was more in this wine that was emblematic of Bush than just its name, as well.
The wine I’m tasting tonight is “The Old Man’s Blend” 2006 Groote Post from South Africa. It’s a blend of 48% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Cabernet Franc, almost akin to a right bank Bordeaux. I decanted it and then enjoyed with some whole wheat pasta with broccoli, sundried tomatoes, and parmesan. To say that I “enjoyed” it is a bit generous though.
The wine starts with promises of ripe, berry fruit with hints of spice on the nose. But on the palate it turns sharp with high alcohol and seering acidity. This wine is really out of balance. It leaves me with a big thud and a hot, thinness on the finish. Despite shining promises, this wine disappoints in the end. Sound familiar to you?
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Is “The Old Man’s Blend” an homage to the current president or the Republican nominee.
Hi Erika, I had that experience many times where the wine smells better than it tastes. But maybe that dish you had it with wasn’t the best match. Sounds like a white wine could’ve been better and maybe steak would have showed better with the red.
Hey Steve– It definitely wasn’t ideal but it’s what my sister and I had in the fridge to whip together! I did taste the wine quite a bit before having it with dinner so I don’t think that the meal adversely affected my opinion.
I wouldn’t toast quite yet, McCain/Palin might be worse than Bush/Cheney, if you can even imagine that.
I’ve only done one WBW and after reading your post, I’m sad I missed the last one! I need to catch up wht October’s theme will be…
Thanks for warning me on this wine. I was getting ready to buy it. I think my Chilean Malbec woud be a better fit for what you had but since it is a private reserve nobody will know except me.