Got a call from SWMBO. She was at a favourite eatery, and the boss there, Cafe Gal, was celebrating a big (note the lower case) birthday. So I was given the duty of turning up with the liquid reinforcement. As there was a wee army of people to ply with a shot of wine, it was appropriate to arrive with a bigger bottle. So along came the Redmetal 'The Merlot' 1998 in 1.5 Litre format. This was Grant & Sue Edmonds' first release of 'The Merlot'. And from the ultra hot and ultra-dry year, especially in Hawke's Bay. After tasting a lot of 1998 Kiwi wonders, we could expect something special, as long as it was not afflicted with brett as the Sileni EV tasted earlier was.
Turning up with the aforementioned bigger bottle, the birthday girl put on a big smile. It was a big surprise. The wine became a feature, and everybody more or less ordered their main courses to match the wine. Lamb shanks and steaks abounded. Big food for what might be a mouthful. The wine was big and juicy still, with ripe plumminess and plenty of tannins that were becoming resolved. A touch of the meatiness from funky yeasts, but it was all rather drinkable. SWMBO who has an aversion to horses and wine (brettanomyces) found it more than acceptable. Big surprise. In the final analysis, the wine went down a treat. Delicious stuff and I believe another big bottle may have slipped down easily.
I think we'll need to give Cafe Gal another big bottle as a top-up pressie. Hopefully, it will be another big surprise!
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