Girls night requires fondue. And Fondue requires wine. Natalie came over Sunday night and brought her fondue pot (ah, the fruits of marriage). She brought me a bottle of Bordeaux from her summer travels to Europe - best souvenir EVER - but that's not what we drank. I didn't want to drink such a special gift on just any old Sunday night, so we opened a bottle I got a while back from Paul's wine tasting. The bottle read "Appellation Bordeaux Controlee," which is a guarantee that the grapes came only from Bordeaux and were processed with traditional style and methods of the region. This is important, because each winegrowing region and vineyard has different terrior, which shapes the character of the wine. Terrior is a broad French term meant to encompass all the influences that might impact the wine, such as soil, climate, geography, human skill, and tradition.
All were in agreement - this wine was delightfully simple and drinkable. It was dry like most Bordeauxs I've tried, but not in the harsh way that some are. There was virtually no back-of-the-throat-smack if you know what I mean. Not much fruit, either. The girls and I decided there was some definite wood happening in this red, perhaps French oak, if we had to hypothesize. Oddly, this wine did not taste better with food. In contrast to most reds, the tang of tannins only came out after digging into the fondue. If I weren't into trying a new wine every time, I'd grab a few bottles of this for food-free enjoyment. Although it wasn't the most dynamic or interesting red, it's hard to find such a pleasant Bordeaux for only $10.
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