"If it tastes good to you then it's good wine" - Dave Matthews, Winemaker 2014 Dreaming Tree Cabernet Sauvignon displays classic aromas of blackberry, cherry, and cassis are wrapped in toasted caramel and soft, mouthfilling tannins. It's elegant and supple. A fun start or end to any meal or friendly gathering. Enjoy with grilled flank steak, BBQ ribs, or vegetable kebabs. Silver Medal - 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Download Cabernet Sauvignon tasting notes Chef Fiona couldn’t resist grilling up some tender, juicy steak for the Chicago stop of the DMB Summer Tour. The crew savored the Garlic Marinated Grilled Flank Steak with Fresh Herb and Olive Tapenade before taking the stage later that night. Try pairing the dish at home with the Dreaming Tree Cabernet. “My favorite two sides with Fiona’s flank steak are the flank steak and the flank steak. I always eat her asparagus too. Photos by Aaron Farrington You must be 21 years of age or older to enter this site.

Please enter your date of birth below.You know about red, white and pink wine. You (probably) know about green wine, and orange wine too. Now let's expand the color palette to include the black wine of Cahors.Relax: There's no squid ink or cuttlefish in play. "Black wine" is actually red wine — a very dark malbec. Cahors (pronounced "kah-OR") is a small town on France's Lot River, but it also lends its name to the red-wine region in southwestern France that is the ancestral home of the malbec grape. Cahors equals malbec, and malbec equals Cahors. But there, winemakers refer to malbec as auxerrois (confusingly, auxerrois is also a white wine grape grown in France’s Alsace region, Germany and more) or cot, and they use it to produce the dense, full-bodied, dry wine known as — you guessed it — Cahors.Just up the road from Cahors, in Bordeaux, malbec is a blending grape. But in Cahors, it is the primary player — the grape variety that winemakers put all of their chips on. The wine was beloved in Europe as far back as the Middle Ages, and it remained so for hundreds of years before suffering some major setbacks due to pests and weather disasters, some of which occured as recently as the 1950s.

Since then, a slow and steady rise to its original glory has been afoot, via an influx of talent and investment money. Both the wine's color and personality — broad-backed, usually in need of some aging or at least some time to catch its breath in a decanter — earned it the "black wine" nickname centuries ago, and those highly tannic wines are still being turned out. best wine with japaneseBut contemporary Cahors producers also make malbecs that are more accessible sooner, and generally easier to get along with.best wine label copyIn fact, getting along with some modern Cahors bottlings is close to effortless. good wine to go with turkeyAre these friendlier bottles a response to the popularity of Argentine malbecs — those fruity, lush and juicy crowd-pleasers made from the grape that crossed the ocean in the mid-19th century? top rated wine boxes

No matter the reason, it's clear that Cahors is going through an overhaul of its image.The place now refers to itself as the "Capitale du Malbec," and more bottles use the word malbec in place of less-recognizable auxerrois or cot. best wine club londonBy using the grape's better-known name, Cahors is sort of … reaching out. good earth wine and food companyPutting in the effort. Trying to make contact with the larger world. And that is nothing but a good thing.The law calls for Cahors to be composed of at least 70 percent malbec, with merlot and tannat allowed as blending partners. These are big red wines that can stand up to rich and hearty fare such as foie gras, black truffles, beef, game meats, duck confit and cassoulet. Traditionally, Cahors has offered variations on plum, dark berries, smoke, leather, tobacco and hints of so-called animale, but more modern styles can lean to the lighter side, relatively speaking, both in color and body, with supple red fruit qualities and floral notes.

Below are tasting notes for a handful of Cahors that are ready to drink now. They are listed in ascending order, according to price.2014 Georges Vigouroux Pigmentum Made of 100 percent malbec, this pleasant and affordable wine offered aromas of strawberry, cocoa, smoke and a touch of animale, all leading to a palate full of ripe cranberry, tobacco, cedar and spice on the finish. $132011 Domaine du Theron Prestige Here is another 100 percent varietal, rich and velvety, with anise, pine needles, bright red berries, herbs, spice and incense arriving in layers — a drinkable wine that would do well paired with a juicy cut of beef. $182011 Georges Vigouroux Chateau de Haute-Serre At 15 percent alcohol, this powerful wine opened with raspberry, cherry and minerality that led to a whiff of eucalyptus and licorice followed by a lush wave of soft red fruit and a slow, spice-tinged finish. $232012 Chateau du Cedre Expect blackberry, forest floor, ripe dark fruit, cedar, bright acidity and an herbal quality in this wine, which is composed of 90 percent malbec and equal parts of merlot and tannat, and made from vines that are more than 30 years old.

$302009 Chateau Lagrezette Plum, black cherry, blueberry, vanilla and smoke characterize this complex, elegant wine, which aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels, and was so densely colored I could not see even a dark outline of my finger through it. $45Check back in the coming weeks for a story on malbec from Argentina.Ink Costs More Than Human Blood shared by judithgold on Sep 21, 2011 in Ink Costs More Than Human Blood An Exclusive Collection of Highly Rated Wines If you are looking for great values in highly-rated wines, then you will want to explore this collection of wines rated 92 points and above. The Best Wines Under $10 Great bottles of Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and more are available within Bin 55 and they're sure to be great tasting and affordable. What is Terroir Anyway? Terroir - A mysterious wine term that’s almost as tricky to define as it is to pronounce. We know the wines that we enjoy drinking, but how does one go about choosing a bottle of wine to cook with?