| 2008-04-25 16:34 |
IWC: By Josh Raynolds
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Issue #135, November/December 2007)
(Clos Mimi Hommage a Henri Bonneau Grenache California (half bottle)) ($50; for 375 ml.; 18.5% alcohol) Deep ruby with a light amber rim. Deep, raisiny dark berry and kirsch aromas are complicated by exotic chestnut honey, toffee and roasted coffee. Deep and sweet, with rich cherry and plum liqueur flavors and a wild array of confectionary qualities: candied fig, dates, ambrosia salad and toffeed nuts. Finishes with good acid grip and lift (the malo apparently stalled), which helps to enliven the exotic qualities. Reminds me of a 30-year-old Graham's Tawny Port, but with more vivid red fruit. The grapes for this were harvested at 33.3o brix, with a pH of 3.94. It was bottled with 33 grams per liter residual sugar, reportedly after spending four years in a seven-year-old French barrique This would be magical with an aged Comte or serious cheddar, such as Montgomery's or one of the fantastic cloth-wrapped versions coming out of Vermont. 92 points |