Special Edition - Red Blend
What is it??
Cassidy by Seven Oxen Winery is our chosen wine this week! Rhône blend consisting of 65% Grenache and 35% Mourvèdre. Unlike a typical Rhône/GSM blend, it is missing Syrah. This a fruit-forward wine with notes of straberry jam, balck pepper, leather, and roasted meats. This wine is one of Seven Oxen's signature wines and is fermented in open-top fermenters for 15 days [1]. This marks our second wine from the Paso Robles wine country of California, with the first being the Sauvignon Blanc from Edna Valley. This region was one of the first places in the United States to champion Rhône varieties, as the calcareous limestone in the soil was reminiscent of that in the Rhône wine region [2,3]. This region became a testing ground for various Rhône varieties and now is host to Hospice du Rhône, a biannual international celebration of Rhône wine and winemakers [4]. Thus, we'll be trying one of the region's specialties this week!
During Molly's trip to California, she went to a wine store to find some styles of wine that we thought would be fun to try. She unfortuantely couldn't find any, but the lovely gentleman working at the store recommended her this wine, so this gives us a special unplanned edition to our wine of the week! We had this wine after coming home from a game night with friends and paired it with cookies and pretzels.
Molly's Rating and Tasting Notes
8.4. Hints of stewed strawberry do come through, somewhat surprisingly (though I didn't taste it until reading that it was a common flavor). Primary taste for me is grape. There is some minerality and earthy notes. Finish is peppery and reminiscent of roasting and char. This is easily the best red wine I've ever had.
Ryan's Rating and Tasting Notes
8.7 On the nose, the smell changes like the seasons as I move from the south to the north of the glass. Near the bottom I get Windex and butterscotch. As I move north I get cocoa, licorice, grape, and a maltiness not dissimilar to that of a glass used to drink scotch and then left out for about an hour. To finish our journey of smells, we end with berries, toffee, and sour candy at the very top of the glass. On the tongue, it is fruity, yet not too sweet like a Twizzler (but so much better). There is a slight quality of soil and minerality, almost as if they were growing the wine out of the ground and didn't wash it off before serving. It's not an unpleasant sensation, but rather one that adds depth. There's also a smoky, herbal quality to this wine that is quite nice and adds some complexity. The finish is sweet like a berry reduction and butterscotch. All in all, a very good wine, and would definitely recommend.
References
[1] 2018 Cassidy https://sevenoxen.orderport.net/product-details/0004/2018-Cassidy Seven Oxen. Accesseed March 2023.
[2] Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack. Wine Folly: The Master Guide. Avery - A Penguin Imprint, New York, NY, 2018.
[3] Paso Robles Wine Region https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/paso-robles-wine/ Wine Folly. Accessed March 2023.
[4]Hospice du Rhône Paso Robles https://www.hospicedurhone.org/events/paso-robles/Hospice du Rhône. Accessed March 2023.
Suggestion of what we should try next?
Let us know via the comment box below!