Jeff’s Corner 8-10-18

Hello, Hello, Hello, and a Howdy just for fun!

Today we’re going to take a peek at our new 2017 Grand Rouge. Grand Rouge is one of our most insanely popular wines, but first a vintage update.

Experiencing extreme carnivore cravings the other night, I was about to grill some steaks and found a GCV 2013 Cabernet/Syrah. So, I pulled the cork and, Great Googly Moogly, it was amazing.

Graceful and elegant, the nose showed mature aromas of violets, rose petals, dark fruit and white pepper. The palate was a delicate ballet of well-integrated fruit, acid, oak, and tannin. If you have one of these beauties, drink it soon with a blue cheese stuffed tenderloin. We did.

So, on to the ’17 Grand Rouge, which most likely has the broadest palate appeal of all our wines. The Big Red is unique in several ways: it’s sweet, aged in stainless steel tanks for a very clean finish, and served chilled. I suggest a temp between 45 and 50 degrees.

This delightful wine is made from 100% Texas High Plains fruit. It is 54.26% Tempranillo and 45.74% Sangiovese. For a sweet wine, it is a respectable 13.5% ABV with a residual sugar of 3.2%. From a sweetness perspective, that’s 6 grams of sugar per 6oz glass, while there are 17.5 grams in 6oz of Coke.

The color is a bright, translucent cherry/ruby, what I imagine a Claret would have looked like on Lord Berrybenders table 325 years ago. This wine shows sprightly aromas of red grapes, sweet cherry, raspberry, red licorice, and spicy cinnamon.

This is a fun, flavorful wine. Like all of Jason’s wines, it has perfect symmetry; fruit, sugar, and acid make this wine like the Grapette of our youth. I’ve never really liked the word “smooth” when it comes to describing dry wines, but I think it’s okay for sweets. This wine is really smooth; I can see why people guzzle it up.

Sweet wines pair really well spicy foods, so let’s try the ’17 Grand Rouge with a very spicy cajun jambalaya or gumbo.

Chow, Chow, and Meow