*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.
We had a cold cold week in the DC area last week and I was digging red wines. I wrestled the 2008 Bonny Doon Bien Nacido Syrah from it’s comfortable resting place in the cellar and dragged it upstairs to pair with some good old fashioned meatloaf. Seems like comfort food and red wine make it just a little cold out. Especially when your heating system decided to give out for the second time in the winter and you needed to seek alternate sources of warmth. The Bonny Doon Syrah sports a screw cap closure, clocks in at 13.9% alcohol by volume, and retails for $42.
Four takeaways from this wine:
1.) The Bien Nacido has a nose you can get lost in.
2.) I’d recommend decanting the Bien Nacido and letting it get some serious air. It kept getting better and better with time in the glass.
3.) I think, given how the wine developed in the glass, combined with the acidity and tannins, the Bien Nacido could easily age for quite some time.
4.) Meatloaf was good, but next time I’d go with my rosemary/mint/mustard/breadcrumb crusted rack of lamb.
On the nose I found spice, cedar chest, cinnamon, baking spice, the aroma of Christmas, (pine tree, spices, cookies), espresso, pepper, cherry, and raspberry. I would have kept sniffing at the wine, but I was afraid to lose my second glass to Matt if I didn’t move on to the palate. In the mouth I found meat, black cherry, leather, spice, raspberry, plum, pepper, earth, and more black fruit. Overall, the wine had great structure and acidity and seemed alive in the glass to me.
Filed under: California, Red, Syrah, Wine |
Wannabe Wino Wine Blog 
The photo shows a very different wine, from a very different vineyard…the Alamo Creek Vineyard…is the photo perhaps from a different tasting? Just curious because I would like to know more about the Alamo Creek Vineyard? Thanks. BTW, hope you get the heat fixed…yikes
Hi Andrew- That was completely my fault. I chose those pictures from my thumbnails and clearly did not look closely enough. I tasted both wines the same night, so look for an upcoming post on the Syrah from the Alamo Creek Vineyard. I will try to update my photos, though I am having trouble locating the correct ones at the moment!