10
Mar
A red wine please: John x Merriman 2020
A red wine please.
Like every self-respecting Friday, yesterday I went looking for a red wine to open at the end of the day, together with some delicious Italian food, right at the time when the kids go to bed and it’s just my wife and I, talking freely, can you feel the silence? A good red wine that I usually open an half an hour in advance to let it take some oxygen in a decanter. Yes cause when you use a decanter red wine usually release his flavor and the taste of your wine will definitely change, for the better.
When I go to the shelves of the supermarket I usually rely on my good friend Vivino. Vivino is an app that you can download on your mobile and it works like a wine scanner, basically you do scan the wine etiquette and the app will search it for you from a database of wines, shared by many different users, it is a kind of wine social network indeed. Vivino will give you back some facts from the wine you scanned and it is always an excellent resource for me to, at least, to avoid making blunders.
Usually I buy red wine, because I prefer red wine, but in summer time when is warm, I can also enjoy a cold white wine, so basically I can say that I love wine. In the local supermarket Albert Heijn, a very famous chain here in The Netherlands. They also own Gall&Gall that is a shop dedicated to spirits, with many wines to choose from. Last week I found an excellent South African red wine, a blend. I must admit that I had never tried a South African red wine and that I didn’t trust it much, especially because the bottle itself is not catching attention and it is one of those wines with a cork that you need to unscrew. Hey, but boom! I had to change my mind, after the first sip I have to admit that it was a delightful discovery.
Here are some facts: it is, as said, a South African wine, blend of various grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot.
Let me share with you also some of my perceptions: ruby red color, very intense in my nose, aromas of cherry and wood above all. Tasting it it seems very structured but even whit his 13.5 degrees it remains pleasant and delicate. Quite fruity. I didn’t find it acidic at all.
To conclude: Vivino average price is €22, Albert Heijn price is €13, more than worthy to try!
If you like red wines with strong character and intense flavor than you definitely wants to try it, we drank two bottles and for both we used a decanter to make it breath a bit.
This is the link at my Vivino where you can find some interesting facts about this red wine from South Africa if you feel like you want to go deep:
