This wine needs to come with a warning: decant before attempting to drink or risk lighting yourself on fire with the fumes. The wine itself is a 2002 Mazzocco Merlot.
Weighing in at 15% alcohol by volume, the bottle had a real cork and cost us $25 at the winery. (One of our purchases on our recent trip.)
After the alcohol blew off the nose (really, trust me on this one, decant) strawberries showed through. Then, and I realize this will sound incredibly odd, chocolate leather. Neither simply chocolate or leather, it was honestly a combination. In the mouth there were more strawberries and the wine was earthy overall.
I would describe this as a big wine. Big flavors, big alcohol, big aroma. The wine was the darkest wine I think I have ever seen. Not a ray of light was getting through this deep purple wine. The wine was also very tannic, it could certainly age for quite a while longer and I think it would develop into an incredible wine in another 3-5 years. It took several hours for the flavors to smooth out.
I served this with bbq pork chops, parmesean cous cous, and white corn on the cob. It was an excellent match for the bbq and I would definite suggest a bbq pairing for this one!
Filed under: California, Mazzocco Vineyards, Merlot, Red | 5 Comments »
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