Friend of mine from college settled just outside of Downtown Raleigh with his wife about 3 years ago and I have imposed on them annually ever since. I wish i was writing about the local Raleigh wineries but unfortunately they weren’t in the schedule this year (hopefully next year). Luckily, we did get a chance to drink some wine and check out some good eats downtown.
Saturday night in downtown Raleigh started of with an excellent sandwich at a small bistro style restaurant called Rockford’s. Toasted pumpernikel, melteld fresh mozzelrella, pesto, basil and red roma tomatoes. Sipped on a 2003 Rio Sol Cabernet/Shiraz, excellent everyday value quaffer, soft tannins made for a smooth finish. Onto Vin wine bar where the fun begins…
At Vin I tasted 3 wines. First the 2005 Gilbert Picq Chablis, typical Chablis, juice a lemon over a piece of toast and thats basically this wine. Expected a tad more body but nonetheless still great, 87. Next i went straight for the only Bordeaux on the menu which was the 2003 Chateau Courtin. Medium in body this Bordeaux displayed an old world terrior driven nose of soil, rock and some black cherry. Great balance with a nice slightly spicy finish. This wine was still pretty young (like most Bordeaux us Americans consume), would be nice to revisit in 4-10 years. 90 pts for the Bordeaux, looks pretty limited on wine-searcher but for $30, I would drink again. My visit to Vin ended with my newfound love for Aussie Shiraz. If you enjoy new world fruit bombs then definitely try the 2004 Piombo Shiraz. This McLaren Shiraz exploded with BALANCED dark fruit! I stress balanced. This wine was just plain fun to drink. Reminded me of the Step Rd Shiraz i last reviewed, only better, 92 pts.
The night ended at Rum Runners. Great dueling piano bar with lots of college kids, bachelor/bachelorette parties, dancing, beer, and more beer. No wine here, sorry!
cdavis :: Sep.05.2007 ::
Australia, Bordeaux, France, Raleigh, NC, Shiraz/Syrah ::
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Lindsay received a bit of great news from work, so naturally we popped open wine in celebration. The choice was the series m by Vilafonte. 41% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec and 4% Cabernet Franc. The nose was a marriage of old world/new world, sweet red berries with leather and hints of tobacco. There is no hiding this wine in a blind tasting as it screams South African terroir. The finish is creamy milk chocolate. In my opinion the oak masked the natural beautiful terroir this wine exhibits. With that said I would still drink this again. I am curious to see what else this winery offers.
