This wine was a surprise find at Harris Teeters this week. The wine was on an end cap near the express lane registers and the price was right. I’d never actually heard of the wine before but this blog provides me with an excellent excuse to buy random wines and try thing.
- Wine: Cellar No. 8
- Price: ~$8
- Vintage: 2008
- Varietal: Merlot
- Winery: Asti Winery
- Origin: US, California, Sonoma-ish
- Alcohol: 13.8%
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this wine. I usually have very mixed luck grabbing a random red off the shelf, especially if I wander away from Cabs or Merlots. I’m quite happy to say that this Merlot did not disappoint. The wine is very dark, almost black and showed surprisingly long legs. It had that earthy taste that I’ve learned to identify as Merlot and offered a peppery quality to it.
It was paired with cumin laden spice rubbed grilled chicken, grilled (burnt) asparagus, grilled zucchini and it went with the foods perfectly. Later the rest of the bottle fell quickly to the accompaniment of some very dark (72%) chocolate. In the hour or two between dinner and desert, the wine stood perfectly well on its own. I liked this wine. I’ll be buying more of it, especially at that price. I’d rate it a very nice B.
Karl