Wine: Castillo De Monseran, Grenache (Spain)

Bodegas San Valero, Castillo de Monseran, Garnacha (Cariñena, Spain)

Ok, so "Bodegas San Valero" is the winery... "Castillo de Monseran" might refer to a brand or vineyard maybe... Garnacha (AKA Grenache) is definitely the grape varietal. Sometimes wine is confusing. (FYI, the title of this post is as listed on the menu at Chop, the top of this post is what I found on the MLCC and LCBO sites.) If anyone out there can clarify this, I am all ears!

Regardless of its heritage, this was an amazing wine! One of the most interesting I've tried in a long time. (Technically it was my hubby's but we share.) Its bouquet was incredibly sweet and fruity. Very black cherry. And yet it is only a slightly sweet wine on the palate. It is listed as a medium-body red yet it is very rich with deep flavour. I highly recommend trying a glass of this!

Wine: Folonari, Valpolicella Classico Ripasso (Veneto, Italy)

Folonari, Valpolicella Classico Ripasso (Veneto, Italy)

When one orders a great steak, one wants a lovely red wine to compliment it. Or at least, I do. By no means am I a lush, but I do like to enjoy a glass with a nice meal. The Folonari Valpolicella Classico Ripasso is just one such wine.

This is a lighter-bodied red. (Compares with pinot noir in this regard.) I had never had a ripasso before but I do like to experiment! I was very happy with my choice. This was very smooth and light without losing it's complexity. I do tend to go for fuller-bodied wines with steak and I do think the ideal pairing for this would be pasta in a tomato sauce or the like. Still, I very much enjoyed this new taste.

My hubby had a sip and said it reminded him of the Nonsuch. I looked at him, confused. Fishy??? No, he meant something in it's flavour brought to mind maritime wood. Old sailing ships... Isn't that a lovely image?

Wine: Catena Zapata, Malbec (Argentina)

Catena Zapata, Malbec 2008 (Mendoza, Argentina)

This is the red wine that we had at Sydney's for my husband's company Christmas party.

It was very nice. I've been developing my palate for the last couple of years but still need to learn the proper terms to describe things. Malbec is one of my favourites. It's rich and deep yet very smooth. It is a very dark wine that goes well with steak and other red meats. I had it with salmon and it worked perfectly fine.

Update: The winery found my tweet! Now I wished I would have written more about these guys... 
@CatenaMalbec
@MalbecBen
www.catenawines.com