A Brand New Winery....Maggie Malick Wine Caves

We had a last minute whim to go out to Loudoun county today. We had a wine pick-up to make at 8 Chains North, and we heard Padawan Pumpkin was on tap at Corcoran Brewery (spoiler alert, it wasn't). But, after a glass of wine, and a glass of beer we headed out on Harpers Ferry Road to try a new-to-us winery Cardamon Family Winery. I know, big surprise that isn't the winery in the title, and I promise our visit to Cardamon Family Winery is a blog for another day, but while enjoying a tasting and salsa there, the wine maker and owner Chuck told us his neighbor was having his grand opening today, and that if we had time we should visit Maggie Malick Wine Caves.

So after our tasting we took the right and headed north until we saw the open flags waving, and the sign saying last tasting starts at 4:45 PM. We found out later they plan on being open later, but they had an event to attend that night so were closing at 5 P.M. sharp that night. No worries for us as we got there by 3:45...1 hour early!

The current tasting room (pictured above), I learned from the owners Mark and Maggie, was originally built to be a storage facility that is a kit made in the ground building that reminded me of an old school weapons bunker I have come across during my Air Force career. Once inside though, you're greeted by a well laid out, ecologically friendly facility for making, storing, and more importantly serving their wines.

Since it was their first day, they featured all their wines, five whites and six reds. The husband and wife duo first planted in 2001 with Viognier, and expanded in 2009 to 20 acres and 10 varietals, with plenty of room to grow, which they fully plan on doing. Since most of their vines went in in 2009, all of their wines are from 2011 which was their first usable harvest.

As many of you know, 2011 in Virginia was very challenging year for grape growers and wine makers alike. With this in mind, my wife and I had tempered expectations of the wine we were about to taste, as we do with all 2011 wines we come across from Virginia. To our surprise Maggie, the wine maker, demonstrated her talent in wine making by having a line up of solid 2011's that were all on the lighter side, with good structure, and solid acid. Maggie uses primarily French and Hungarian oak for her barrel aged wines.











With eleven wines on the menu today, as pictured below, I won't go wine by wine through our tasting, however I will hit the highlights. There was one blend the Melange Blanc (Chardonay and Petite Manseng). The others are all varietal wines, but Maggie informed us most included some blending of other varietals to account for the less than stellar growing year. The Melange Rouge is a varietal wine of Grenache Tinto, a lesser known Spanish grape, that tastes greatly different depending on whether it is served chilled or at cellar temperature but both very interesting. Our favorites included the Petite Manseng, Merlot and the Melange Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat which came home with us as bottles.

Next time you're out in western Loudoun county and looking to try something new, I'd recommend visiting Mark and Maggie at Maggie Malick Wine Caves. They are picnic and animal friendly. They have a great seating area with views of rolling hills, ponds, and even some mountain views. Mark and Maggie are very friendly, passionate about what they are doing, and will gladly take the time to discuss there future plans for their winery and don't forget to mention you heard about them from me.

Exploring a Portuguese Legend

Touriga Nacional, It has been a favorite varietal of mine from the first time I tasted it a Unicorn Winery about 5 years ago. A standard for those of you who love traditional port, and one of the stand out grapes for those of you who enjoy wines from across the pond. However, I can honestly say I have never tasted a wine made of this grape from its native country so my love of it is solely based on the few wineries that are growing it here in Virginia.


Last year I made my first visit to Barren Ridge winery solely because the made a single varietal Touriga Nacional  I remember being smitten with it then, not because it was the best Touriga Nacional I have every tasted, but because it was a good wine. It surprised me because it was the 2011 vintage. As most serious VA wine drinkers know, 2011 was at best a challenging year, especially in the NOVA and Charlottesville region where 15+ inches of rain fell in a two week period that coincided with traditional harvest time for red wines. Many wineries lost full harvests of some of their red wines, and the ones that didn't had to fight off rot and other diseases. So to find a challenging grape, in a challenging varietal, in a challenging year that didn't taste like garbage was worth a buy.

Barren Ridge winery was first planted in 2007, and is the first winery in Augusta county. It features 10 acres of vines, and a winemaker who really knows what he is doing.

Unlike in other years, the 2011's from Virginia in my humble opinion are probably as good as they're going to get now. So save the 2010's, 2009's, and 2008's for future drinking at a future date, especially the 2010's, and enjoy 2011's now.

With that in mind, we set out to find a wine to pair with Sunday's dinner. We had a Cajun venison sausage with cheese planned with a fajita style salad featuring peppers and red onions with a balsamic dressing and accented with cotija, a salty Mexican cheese to balance things out. After reviewing the selection, we decided on the 2011 Touriga from Barren Ridge. We opened it and settled it in the decanter while we prepared dinner.

Although it was cool night, the Cajun sausage was grilled on our gas grill. It came out slightly crispy and delicious  and just about perfect. The salad was slightly sweet and salty, a good balance for the spicy sausage. The only question the remained was the wine. How would it be?

After an hour in the decanter, my wife and I agreed the nose showed earth with light cracked pepper. It featured a very light body with a light muted red fruit with a dry dusty finish. Paired with the spicy sausage the fruit became much brighter.
However, true to the characteristics of a good wine, even after a hour in the decanter the wine had changed prior to the second glass. The nose had settled and the black pepper had left. The fruit was still quite muted on the nose, but there was almost a hint of vanilla, no doubt imparted by oak aging. The pallet had not changed much however, the fruit was a little brighter and more pronounced. Overall, it balanced the spiciness of the the venison sausage. It represented the winery nicely, and has me excited for the 2012 that is still to be released.


If you have not visited Barren Ridge winery, I'd highly recommend it. It features a good line up of wine, and each is very good in quality. Great place to stop and have a picnic, and  I'm very excited for my next visit  to sample the next vintages.

A rare new release.....

Ok, so I have totally fallen off the map for blogging lately. It isn't that I’m not drinking great wine (beer too for that matter), but the actual writing of the blog has been a bit of a chore lately. I have lots of pictures, tasting notes, and even some draft blogs, but none of them seemed worthy, and so in the recycling bin they went.

Last weekend however, one of our personal favorite wineries did a pre-release. Something they don’t do often, and when they do, it is a worth while event. Chateau O’Brien was offering a pre-view of their 2010 Malbec, and released their 2010 Cab Sav. They were offering both on their cellar tasting side so after a quick trip out 66 (I know how unusual), my wife and I entered the tasting room and made the quick left into that side of their beautiful tasting room.

For those of you who have never been to Chateau O’Brien, the offer two non-reservation tastings. A classic collection ($10 per tasting) which is your standard white and red, and when available rose that displays great quality wine, and represents a good sample of their winemaker’s taste in wines.

There Cellar collection ($15 per tasting) is usually an all red collection of their higher end red wines that features their limited release and all estate wines. Today’s Cellar collection featured their limited release 2010 Malbec, 2010 Cab Sav, 2009 Petite Verdot, and their 2009 limited reserve Tannat, and a bonus they had a bottle of their 2009 late harvest Tannat for our sampling pleasure.

And finally for you who want a truly unique experience you can reserve a cellar tasting. They are conducted by the owner and mastermind behind Chateau O’Brien, Howard O’Brien. He lets you sample wines that are not available in the winery, and usually involves either library of very limited production wines. The cost is $50 a person, and I have never actually done one for myself, but for a true wine lover, I hear it is worth it.

The Cellar collection that day wanted to know which of their new release wines we liked better, the Malbec or Cab Sav. For me it was hands down the Malbec. A good fruit forward wine with a long lingering finish. It really struck my fancy. Malbec is not a grape that is grown all over Virginia, and a good one is even rarer. 

My wife however was much more into the Cab Sav. It was bright and had powerful fruity nose. It finish didn't linger like the Malbec, but it still was a great representation of what a Cab Sav should be.

After our tasting, My wife and I enjoyed their enclosed heated deck for a picnic and couple of glasses from their classic tasting before going back in to purchase two bottles of the Malbec and a bottle of the Cab Sav, and a bottle of Pinot Grigio taboot.

Unfortunately after last weekend, the Chateau O’Brien Malbec was heading back to the cellar so to get your hands on it will require you to do a cellar tasting, but all wines at Chateau O’Brien are made with care using only the highest quality practice and one of the few wineries that use native yeast. So if you traveling out west a 66 and you’re looking for an enjoyable wine experience, stop off and have glass, enjoy the views, and tell me what you think.

Waiting out Sandy....

After a particularly eventful day waiting for Sandy the Hurricane winner of 2012 that involved an early trip to work, hydroplaning and wrecking my car, and then a mandatory afternoon nap, it was finally time to unwind. To start the unwinding process, my wife and I decided we'd make one of our favorite appetizers, a big bowl of guacamole.

The question came up was what to pair with our delicious appetizer? I had recently taken a trip back home northern PA to harvest a doe for the freezer this year, and while up there I stopped by my favorite wine store to pick up some great Finger Lakes wine. For you regular twitter followers, search #FLXwine and you'll see all the popular spots to go in the finger lakes. Some of our particular favorites are Dr. Frank's, Goose Watch Winery, Shalestone Winery, and Atwater Estate. On our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes we noticed that like Virginia, local micro breweries are starting to pop up in large numbers give the more established wineries a run for their money.

After quickly running down the inventory, we were informed by our youngest kitty Gus that the winner was our  Red Newt Cellars 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling  Quickly, it went to the freezer to cool down, while I got into the process of mashing avocado's  toasting garlic, and slicing and dicing the ingredients for the delicious guacamole.

Red Newt Cellars is on the East Side of Seneca lake and has attached restaurant with a great view. They are known for making solid wines that rival any made in the finger lakes, and as you'll see below this one did not disappoint.

Before totally tearing up our appetizer, we took the time to enjoy our wine. Our thoughts included light floral notes, tropical fruits of lychee and mango were prevalent on the nose. The wine was a light to medium body with a great balance of fruit and acid. The predominant fruit was ripe Asian pear and a lasting lingering fruit that left the mouth with clean mineral effervescent feel that lasted long after the wine was no longer present on the pallet. It paired well with our afternoon snack, and was a delicious sipper to watch Sandy as she threw her best at us. If you are reading this, we won, Sandy lost, and we kept power...yeah.

A two night Merlot...

Ever have one of those nights when you finish of a bottle of wine and want just one more glass? Well the wife and I had one of those nights last night. We had enjoyed some white wines and just had a hankering for a red wine. Not wanting to open something super special, or something that required food, we headed to the cellar to find something the scratch our itch. After scouring a few choices we decided on a Merlot.

The Merlot in question was from '09 and came from a new join for us from a wine club situation 8 Chains North. We have been familiar with the wine maker Ben Renshaw long before he got to open his own tasting room through tasting as Fabbioli and Notaviva. However, it wasn't until more than year after he opened his tasting room, we decided to join his wine club. Our choice was largely influenced by some of his wine club only, limited selection wines that were going to be available, Malbec was the one that comes to mind.

So as we opened the bottle, we expected it to get better since we hadn't taken the time to decant it. Our  initial thoughts included a woody black berry nose with hints of smoke that didn't merry well together. The pallet presented a medium body, light and earthy. There were flavors of rich burnt wood smoke, light acid, and the feel of alcohol burn on the finish. No lingering finish. My wife comment how it paired well with her mint chocolate cheese cake, especially the mint!


The second day I was opening the bottle to wallow in my Fantasy Football lose. So many players did not play to their potential and left me need a drink to bury the pain. I reached for the bottle, pulled the vacuum stopper and poured. Although the nose didn't change that much, I was surprised more black raspberry on the pallet. the wine became what I would describe as lighter in body, and firmer more pronounced tannin's on the finish.

Enjoying a one time only wine....

After a rough day on the VAWine trail, there is nothing better than coming back enjoying a good dinner and some wine. Today's activities involved a tasting at two great wineries, Little Washington Winery and Ducard Vineyards, events that will be blogged about later. As a bonus Little Washington was hosting a wine and oyster event featuring Virginia oysters. A bonus hit for both me and my wife.

The raw oysters from Rappahannock River Oysters inspired us to have a seafood dinner, so after a quick stop at Wegman's , we raced home to make a scallop and pasta dish and finish the bottle of wine we had started at Ducard Vineyards.

While making dinner, our pre-dinner sipper was the continuation of 2nd Corps. It is a Viognier blended with a touch of Vidal Blanc. It was a fruit forward wine with good weight, but very little acid. It was slightly sweet which cut through an bitterness that is sometimes present in Virginia Viogniers.

To Compliment the delicious dinner seen the right, we decided to open a treat from us. A wine we had only got a chance to taste briefly while picking up our August Estate club shipment from Sunset Hill Vineyards. The wine of choice for tonight would be the 2011 Petite Manseng.

We were a little late getting it slightly chilled with our dinner, so I finished off the last of our pre-dinner sipper with the first few bites of dinner. However, when I finally got to the Petite Manseng I was pleasantly surprised. It displayed floral nose with hints of Asian pear, my wife got a good sniff of spice she described as coriander. The pallet showed a very light body with firm acid on the finish. It showed star fruit flavor with hints of rose petal. Overall it paired well with our dinner, but it is a food wine. It probably wouldn't fair well as a sipper by itself. However it was great pairing to end our day of wine touring. The worse part of this is that we won't get a chance to taste it again. This was released only to the estate club members as it had limited quantities, and won't likely be available for purchase by the time we head back.

I admit it. I have been lazy. I have photos and notes, and many a night I’ve kicked myself for not blogging. However, tonight’s wine was so good, I couldn’t say no. I first tasted this wine earlier this year on my first trip to Stone Mountain Vineyards.

Stone Mountain Vineyards has arguably the best view of any winery in Virginia. Perched high on a mountain and overlooking a vast valley. A trip to Stone Mountain is not for the faint of heart. The road at times is barely a lane and a half wide, but for those hearty enough to make the trip, it is well worth the trip.

My beautiful wife had hinted that tonight’s dinner was going to involve steak. We had debated choosing tonight’s wine many times. It had to be well-aged, and deserved a shot to be our featured wine of the evening. So more than hour ahead of dinner time, I opened the bottle and poured it into our decanter.

Red wines can stand a good decant before drinking. Our wine of choice tonight is the non-vintage Twelve Barrel Meritage from Stone Mountain Vineyards. It is just as it says, sourced from twelve barrels. It is Bordeaux style blend of 34% Cab Sav, 34% Cab Franc, 16% Merlot, and 16% Petite Verdot, and was old enough to not be cellared for too long.

From the decanter, my wife and I thought it had a great black raspberry nose. Each subsequent whiff revealed little hints of tobacco and wood. We agree it had a complex nose. It was a wine of light to medium body, and the first taste showed bright red fruit. That melded well with the acid and smooth tannins that were well rounded. It left you with a full mouth fell.

The real beauty of the wine was not revealed until we paired it with our dinner. Tonight’s dinner was a delicious steak with a butter, bourbon, and mustard sauce. It was paired on the plate with a spinach, apple, Asian pear salad with shallots and apple cider based dressing.

Paired with dinner, the wine became earthier with really dry tannins. It showed how versatile it was. The one comment that we had was that it was ready to drink. We didn’t think another year would add anything to this wine. Its acids would probably fall off, and might lead it to an earthy monster. If you are saving this wine in your cellar, don’t. Find a nice meal to pair it with, and enjoy. I hope this fall when we make it back down to the Charlottesville area, we get a chance to visit Stone Mountain again.

Memorial day leads to a beach celebration

This year my wife and I were crashing our friends vacation in Rodanthe, NC for a long Memorial Day weekend. Daily happy hours, and fun in the sun were the name of the game. However, for memorial day we decided we'd do festive meal to celebrate. And like usual, good food needs good wine.











Our menu for the evening would consist of grilled fresh tuna kebabs, Grilled zucchini, Caesar salad with real anchovies dressing, and a sweet treat of homemade salted caramel ice cream for dessert.










With all the fresh grilled food and salad, good white wine seemed to be a logical selection. We made two selections to pair with dinner for the evening. First was Apple Wine produced by Chateau O'Brien in Markam, VA. This is a non-vintage wine produced from a mix of apples grown in Stribling Orchard  right behind the winery. This wasn't my first experience with this apple wine. For those of you who haven't had it, you'll probably be taken back on how clear it is. It literally could be mistaken for dozens of white wines just by looking at it. However after just one taste will leave you wanting more. It has nice smooth apple flavor with a little acid on the finish like a good apple cider. It is a beautiful sipper by itself on hot days, but also pairs well with food, and as a bonus it is great to cook with, especially with pork.

The other wine we served that night was the Hiddencroft Vineyards 2010 Traminette. I was taken back by how good the nose was on this wine. It was mixture of tropical melon and honeysuckle and baking spices. The pallet presented good acid, very citrusy more grapefruit then lemon, but overall it was very pleasant and held up well in the summer heat of the beach.

As is obvious by the plate below, I spent as least as much time enjoying my wine as I did eating and savoring both to a great finish. 

Vacation Begins.....

I'm going to stray from my usual blogs involving local Virginia wine. I know, first I go on vacation and then I don't blog about Virginia wine, where am I doing? However, I figure in honor of vacation it is OK to bend rules.

Our trip to the outer banks was particularly uneventful. Traffic was non-existent, (that could have something to do with our O'dark thirty departure), but anyway, I was grateful for no traffic and aside from seeing over 20+ cops going around Interstate 64 in Norfolk, the trip was quite pleasant.

As with all great and warm sunny locations our group decided grilling was on order for dinner and what wine goes well with grilling? Yep, bubbly. However, tonight's wine is not a typical bubbly from a bubbly region in France, but from the down under continent of Australia. Other uniqueness about this particular bottle was its packaging. Instead of a cork as most bubblies are sealed with, this was sealed with a metal top like that of a beer bottle.




Tonight's dinner consisted of grilled shrimp, grilled spicy hot sausage, and Julia Child's recipe for potato salad. Our wine as mentioned before comes from Australia. It is a Saivignon Blanc done in an effervescent style. And best of all, a great view of the ocean.












This wine is made by Lake Chalice Winery and called Cracklin Savie. It was big citrus bomb. It had a lemon and lemon verbena on the nose. It followed with a crisp acidic lemon grapefruit flavor on the pallet with a surprising smooth finish with the acidic front it had. It went well with our meal and was very pleasant deck sipper for our first day of vacation.

Doing it even when you shouldn't....

I'm on day two after a small surgery...nothing life threatening, but something that needed to be done. With all surgeries, drinking and pain pills don't mix. Being the good patient I am, I have taken only a few pain pills (non-narcotic) since getting out, and have been "taking it easy." However, when the wife discussed dinner tonight and it involved Cabernet burgers, I couldn't resist just one glass of local Cabernet franc wine. Knowing that I'd only be drinking one, I wanted it to be good one. Reviewing out selection, we settled on a 2007 Cab. Franc from Ingleside Plantation Winery. Ingleside Plantation winery is one of the oldest in the state of Virginia with its roots going back to 1970.

As most Virginia wine fans know, 2007 was hot dry summer perfect for Virginia Red Wines. It was highly anticipated and many reserve and special red wines came from the local wine makers. Since 2007, there has been only one year that has come close to 2007, and that was 2010. It was even hotter and drier, and I know my wife and I are a chomping at the bit for the better red wines to be released from 2010.

Back to tonight's wine though, I quickly opened it and started decanting it a full two hours before we would even think about having any. I poured the half cup my wife would need for the burgers, and set the rest to the side to be enjoyed with our burgers.

Although it is a Cab Franc, like most good Virginia wine, there are few other wines blended in to add structure, and flavor. This wine is blended with 7.1 percent Cab. Sav, 7.1 percent Merlot, and 7.1 Malbec.




To accompany our burgers would be some roasted beets in a salad involving rainbow chard and a delicious Gorgonzola. Additionally, in the burgers would be a  black mountain cheddar cheese that is a sharp yet creamy cheese with an earthy flavor of mushrooms. In a phrase, full of yumminess. Even though I hadn't had a large appetite since my surgery, the thought of tonight's dinner had me salivating.








My wife helped herself to a pre-dinner beer, and of course I got talked into a sample. It was Wild Blue, a blueberry larger that was advertised a great summer fruit beer from BlueDawgBrewing in Baldwinsville, NY. I'm a little torn on fruit beers, some I like other's I don't. True to its name there was a light blueberry smell on the nose.







It was more that color of a dark pinot noir rather than beer. However that taste was a mild blueberry flavor with a good crisp bight to round out the flavor profile. I agree that this cold would be good summer sipper while sitting on the beach or lake on a hot August afternoon.
















With Dinner prepared it was time to pour my one glass of the night, no worries, the rest of the wine is not going to waste.










It was a lovely rich red color and displayed characteristics of raspberry and wood on the nose. My wife noted black pepper. The flavor of warm red fruit, ultra smooth with mid tongue light tannins. It also has really earthy lingering finish. This wine is wonderful right now. It paired well with the creamy Gorgonzola, but equally well with the burgers. A versatile wine for red wine food. The great part is you can still get it for just under $20 a bottle at Ingleside or on-line through their wine store. Something that is rare at other wineries, selling wine that is five years old that is.

American Soldier is just following General's Orders...

Wow, it is going to be a crazy month for many reasons. Unfortunately, my blog will be the one that suffers most. However, this blog has been running through my head since the idea was presented Thursday. I have been working nights lately, and when I was to be relieved last Thursday it was abundantly clear I wouldn't be leaving on time. Turns out I was stuck doing almost a double shift and fought pure exhaustion on my 35 minute drive home.

Upon arriving home, I quickly passed out in preparation for my hard earned night off. I was awakened later than I had planned with a text from my wife. Quite simply it said, "Put wine in the fridge, Seriously!!!" We had pretty much given up during the week drinking as part of our pursuit to lose 50 Lbs this year, and for the most we have done real good. But seeing how the text came in almost an hour after my lovely wife was suppose to be off work, I figured it was one of those situations in which breaking the rules were in order.

As I perused our selection, I quickly sent a quick text to see if red or white was in order. I was told white via text. That was little tougher, tonight's dinner was to consist of spicy black bean burgers and homemade backed sweet potato fries, so I need something a little heavier with good acid to stand up to the planned dinner. I selected a wine from the Chesapeake Region, specifically the Northern Neck and a wine we had picked up earlier this year on our winter trip.

I put the General Ridge GRV White into the freezer to chill, while I headed out to pick up my better half from the metro. Arriving back home, I quickly got to putting dinner together, while my wife opened the bottle for a pre-dinner glass. My initial thoughts were a little lacking. There was no acid back that I was looking for and the wine itself was rather tasteless, but I felt it was a bit cold so I was optimistic that it would get better as it warmed.

With dinner prepared, I did some quick research on the wine as a refresher. It is a blend of chardonnel and traminette, steel fermented, with a light 1.5% residual sugar. A little warmer, I noted lush white tropical fruit on the nose. It tasted of straw and unripe pear with just a hint of sweetness and balanced acid finish. It went well with dinner and was a good mid-week wine. It was versatile enough it could pair with lighter picnic fair, but probably not big enough to stand up to cream sauce pasta.

After two tough work days, it was just what the general ordered to clear away the stress of the day.

Virginia Blogger is richly rewarded...

In my last blog, I shared our Friday evening dinner, and is per the norm, we finished our bottle of wine with our dinner. Not ready to turn in for the evening, we decided it was time for dessert. Friday's dessert was a special treat from another winery we visited over Easter weekend, and so I sent my wife downstairs to pick out a good wine to go with our chocolate.

For those of you who have not visited Glass House winery, come prepared. They offer a variety of common Virginia varietals, but also their owner, Michelle Sanders, is an exceptional chocolatier who makes delicious chocolates on the premises. On our most recent visit, we weren't particularly impressed with their current vintages, but were impressed that they have moved to all glass corks for their bottles. It will be interesting to see if more wineries go that route. We ended up sharing a bottle of their Pinot Gris with our lunch there, but were drawn into buying some there delectable chocolates.

Our choice of chocolates for Friday's dessert was their Earl Grey Tea chocolate. My wife selected another bottle we had picked up on our Easter weekend wine trip. It was from a fairly new winery, and one we had not visited since their pre-opening in 2010.

Our initial visit to Duccard Vineyard had us most impressed with their viognier releases. Viognier is one of those wines that can be very bad if not done properly so for a new winery to have hit one out of the park off the bat left us thinking they showed great promise.

On this visit, the Viogniers were still very delicious, but it was their 2010 Norton release that had most impressed us. Norton is a grape that we have really enjoyed from VA made into wine. We are very excited and we can get a good release so when my wife popped the cork out of one of the bottle we have brought back from Duccard, I couldn't wait for glass to pair with my chocolate.

The initial nose was a classic Norton, blackberries and earthiness with hints of nutmeg and cassias. The wine was a dark inky purple with good legs. This Norton exhibited warm red fruit and light tobacco. It was very dry and left the mouth with velvety feel. It had firm mid-tongue tannins, but did bottom out a bit on the finish, however you wouldn't know based on the lingering full mouth feel.

Unfortunately, the wine kind of over powered the earl grey tea chocolate but by itself the chocolate was smooth with hints of fresh tea leaves that linger after eating. Overall both the dessert and the wine were very enjoyable by themselves. Even if they weren't a rock star pairing.