This past Sunday wasn’t a workday, but it definitely was busy.  As my Twitter followers know, I’m training for a half marathon, and this past Sunday was my last long run before the big race.  It’s been 20 weeks of training, slowly building up from running 4 miles to the longest distance I’ve ever run—14 miles.  It took a couple of hours, but after finishing the run, stretching my aching muscles, rehydrating, and cleaning myself up, instead of resting, I started preparations for Passover.

The holiday didn’t start until Monday night, but Hubby and I were headed to a Seder that my family was hosting.  As you can imagine, I was in charge of the wine, so Sunday night involved some last minute tastings to determine which wines would make the cut.  Plus, there was a little cooking that I wanted to do for myself.

The 2005 Ella Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (winery) was made with 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot grape and had an opaque, purplish ruby color.  On the nose, there were blackberries and pomegranates, along with something reminiscent of Listerine tabs.  In the mouth, there were blackberries, pomegranates, and cherries, followed by menthol and tobacco on the finish.  The wine had a medium body, medium tannins, and high acidity.

Is this worth a glass after work? Sure…you won’t be drinking anything out of the ordinary, but you’ll have a decent, reliable glass of wine. At $30, this wine was a decent Passover Seder option.  It definitely needed to breathe a little, which helped the unpleasantness of the Listerine tab aromas blow off to create a more pleasant, minty character.  That said, there was still something in the finish that, while not a complete turnoff, definitely caused me to raise an eyebrow.

In the end, I decided not to bring this wine to dinner because it needed too much time to decant.  However, I enjoyed it as I let my muscles recover from my long run, as well as used it to make my charoset.  It also paired nicely with a baked garlic, herb, and wine chicken that Hubby made.  The wine ended up lasting me a few days, and really stood up to the test of being opened over an extended period of time.

 

Price: $30
Purchased at Arrowine
Overall: 3 Corks