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.