The bottle
The Vice “Additional Añejo” Napa Valley Cabernet, $99
The back tale
Externally, there’s little apparently in common in between red wine and also tequila. Yet this Napa Valley-produced container, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, births the same classification– “Extra Añejo”– that you’ll find on choose containers of the Mexican spirit. Just how to explain?
It’s all about aging: “Bonus Añejo” is Spanish for “additional aged.” And also like the tequila that bears the classification, this red wine, from Vice Red wine, a nearly decade-old tag that aims to use a wide range of Napa-sourced sips, is matured for a lengthy amount of time. In the Vice container’s instance, that indicates 5 years in oak barrels– greater than twice the typical duration for such a glass of wine.
In theory, longer aging indicates much more flavor, so why isn’t this done typically with white wine? Malek Amrani, the wine maker who founded Vice, says there’s always problem that the additional time in the barrel can cause a wine that’s also “oaky” because of all that get in touch with in between the fluid and the timber. There’s additionally a functional element: Wine makers wish to relocate item– as well as keeping white wine for many years at a time doesn’t specifically talk with that suggestion. “From a monetary point ofview, it does not make good sense,” Amrani claims.
But Amrani was video game to offer it a shot. He states he chose Cabernet Franc as the primary varietal in this blend since he felt it might stand well to the aging. The Merlot in the mix (simply 2%) was contributed to offset the “angel’s share”– the fluid that evaporates over time.
So was the wait worth it? Amrani states he’s “couldn’t be better” with the result.What we assume
regarding it
We without a doubt asked yourself if the white wine would certainly be a little bit much, but we instead found it is a flavorful charmer of a sip– not as well huge, however rather full of pleasing vegetal and violet notes (though Vice states you ought to be getting white truffles, dried out sage and also crème de cassis in the mid-palate). It’s also obtained a rich, rewarding mouthfeel.How to appreciate it We paired this with a hearty
meal of pasta in red sauce as well as it functioned quite well. Amrani states he suches as to select Kobe steak or any kind of meal with truffles as his pairings of selection.