And thank God! Both of us were sick of looking at it and both of us were sick of having it come up in the discussion when figuring out pairings over the last few years.
I mean the wine, of course.
97 points Wine Advocate, #8 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2007 (the 2007 checked in at #9) so...critical darling and most likely the reason we bought. That and being available at Sam's. We loved Australian wine at the time. Still do. But if this sort of wine came up on some list now and we saw it out in the world, there would probably be more of a pause and pass.
We're learning.
Food: Chimichurri-marinated flank steak, salt-crusted potatoes, balsamic-roasted pearl onions and arugula salad
Whipped up freezer food in a way. Mrs. Ney found some chimichurri in the freezer, dumped it all over the meat, let it sit and there you go. Marinade really got into the flank to great effect. Leftover Rogue Smokey Blue to dump over the top, along with some bacon she found, cooked, and crumbled. Potatoes cooked in salt, pepper, olive oil and oodles of garlic. Fine, garlicky stuff. Balsamic roasted pearl onions. Delicious. Arugula salad on the side drizzled with fancy aged balsamic and great meat juice run-off wandering over to the arugula pile.
Good food here.
The wine was a bit of a he said, she said.
Wine: 2006 Mollydooker Carnival of Love McLaren Vale ($80 - Sam's)
Mrs. Ney loved it with a few reservations. I didn't love it but liked aspects.
Big wall of tannin obscuring the fruit upon open. Two hour decant and drunk over an hour-and-a-half meal.
Almost an oily consistency as it swooshed around in the glass. Real toasty aspect to the nose, like toast just on the right side of burnt. Big blueberry number with a kirsch shooter, even a wee hit of Fun Dip at times. A bit hot. Smoky, creamy, smooth and rather egregious in ways.
Mrs. Ney liked the expression with all the suave, showy flavors that harken back to some of the great Australian shiraz we've had, a wine that just doesn't care about hiding anything, because it has nothing to hide. Big place for that in our world. Ultimately, she found the wine a little formulaic, and, at this tasting, little room for serendipity. I found the pretty tannins still holding back what I thought its full expression could be. Think I wanted a third act along with some identifiable spice and didn't get it.
Nice. Both of us wouldn't buy it again at this price. You can get 90% of what this is going for at a third of the price. Or be silly and blow an extra hundo and get the full Monty.
Pairing: 87 Liked it. Big food and big wine on a hot day. Something Great about that.
This was about getting a bite of everything in order to pry open the wine. A meat, blue cheese and balsamic onion bite did that, allowing the wine to give more than it initially wanted.
Nothing special here but just fine in many ways. And we don't have to stare at the Carnival Of Love anymore.
Dessert was fancy surprise. Homemade raspberry cream tart with 2010 Ponzi Vino Gelato dessert wine. 41% old vine Riesling and 59% early Muscat and 100% delicious! A bit pricey at $30 but worth every cent. Pineapple Life Saver to open but transitioning to something so wonderfully and delicately floral with a gracefully letting-up finish that we could have finished the bottle if we didn't go all 16% alcohol with dinner.
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