#47- Chambourcin

The last month or so has been one of the most stressful months of my life and thankfully, that month is nearing the end. And lucky me, with that month end comes a brand new year. I say bring on 2011. But we're still a few days away so I'm busting out the blog and going blog crazy- I do have seven blogs to write in 4 days so hang on tight!

The next wine was brought out after a great evening of hot yoga (hence why I don't have a stitch of make up on in this picture). I had thawed a beef and lemon parsley stew that I had made earlier in the summer and it was ready to be reheated by the time I got home.

The wine I chose is the 2005 Yarraman Estate Winery- Black Cypress Chambourcin in Australia and more specifically the Hunter Valley. The Chambourcin wine had great vintages in 2004, 2002, 2001 and 1999. But of course I had the 2005 wine. I really wanted to like this wine. I did.

But I can't say that I do. I drank it and could muster the courage to drink it but I won't be going out of my way to get it again (unless the bottle has the right vintage year, maybe I'll give it another shot but that's a long one to be sure).

This wine is very dark in colour, almost black in depth. I couldn't really pull out many flavours from the wine itself because I found it to be a little too acidic. On the website it notes the wine isn't very acidic but again, they're talking about a vintage year. The bottle describes cherry and plum flavours and you definitely taste the fruit but really, this wine leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps I need to try it with chocolate or something. Noted for New Year's when I'm attempting to polish off the bottle...

The Chambourcin grape is not listed on De Long's Wine Grape Varietal Table but it is definitely a grape used in wine making and in several countries and originated in France, making its debut in 1963. The more I read, the more I realize I must pair this with chocolate. I tried the wine twice- once with the stew that I had made and then all on its own again tonight. But both times I didn't really enjoy it. Normally I don't give a wine a third taste but perhaps in this instant I will.

I'm not sure what else I can write other than try it yourself to see what you think, with chocolate of course! Craig is doing a monster catch up on the wine soon so we'll update the page on his opinion.

UPDATE: Craig didn't like the wine either.