Celtic Rover
When in Mendoza on a Celtic Rover expedition….on a sunny January day…it is imperative to sample some of the local wines which were some of the best I have had…and I have sampled a few over the years. One of the many advantages of being a more mature and discerning human. We visited the Bodega La Azul, a small family owned vineyard at an altitude of 1 200 m in Valle de Uco in the Mendoza region. We started with a very young fresh 2019 Sauvignon Blanc which was grassy, lemon with a very slight melon and peach hints, very well balanced and would go brilliantly with Ceviche, a seafood dish from Peru (although one of my recent undergraduate students did a presentation to the class about a parasite that is very commonly found in this dish….hopefully neutralised by the alcohol in the wine).
The next wine was I think my nearly favourite, this is the wine before the next wine which is usually the favourite and the one you buy a case of to take home, especially if you have been actually been drinking the wine, which for me is the main point! This wine was another very young 2019, Malbec. This was an inky, blackberry and cherry with a slight hint of vanilla very light and drinkable wine and surprising for a very young wine. You got the feeling if you spilt any on the white tablecloth nothing (not even Daz would get it back to white …you would have to embrace the inner pink). This was a fabulous wine and helped us get to know our neighbours in wine tasting from Kansas on one side and Melbourne on the other. this wine would be perfect for a cheese souffle or beef carpaccio and parmesan.
The last wine we tasted was superb….a 60% mix of Malbec and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017. This was a beautiful wine, dark fruits, vanilla, slight hint of bourbon and chocolate , very well balanced…not a lot of tannin and a good finish. Would go beautifully with a medium rare grilled rib eye steak and some runny gorgonzola cheese.
We set off having bought a few of these lovely wines to sustain morale on our long drive south to Cape Horn and The Beagle passage in the southern most tip of beautiful South America.
