Friday, June 15, 2012

Arizona Stronghold Mangus

When I heard that Maynard James Keenan had gone to Arizona to plant a vineyard, my brain came to a screeching halt. The front man for the bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer was not on my radar for possible vintners of fine wines. It's not that I didn't think he would be capable of it, far from it. He is a master of complex projects. I had just never thought of him as anything other than the freaky guy in a wicked awesome band. Since I'm an avid wine drinker and a fan of Maynard's musical work, I needed to find out more about this project he was becoming involved with. I went to that Google thing and made some discoveries.
One thing that I found was a documentary about the vineyard and Maynard's struggle to keep all the things wine related running smoothly. The title of it is Blood Into Wine. Here's an IMDB link to it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1394383/  It gives a little insight into his partnership with former David Bruce winemaker Eric Glomski and their desire to make great wine from an interesting place. The film has some dark subtle humor in it, but rarely does it come from the stoic Maynard. I did often laugh at his deadpan stares. Patton Oswalt lends his opinions about the wine and what Maynard could do to market it. Maynard also sits through a mock interview with two imbeciles that hate both wine and Tool. I don't know how he kept a straight face during the whole thing.
I discovered for myself that Merkin Vineyards produces a lot of wine under the Arizona Stronghold and Caduceus labels. They have strategically located vineyards all over Arizona with the biggest being 120 acres in the southeast.  For the longest time, we couldn't get any of these wines in Oklahoma because our laws are backward and ignorant. However, someone finally came to their senses and got a few in the state. I got to try a bottle of AZ Stronghold "Mangus" recently and was thoroughly impressed with it. The Mangus is basically a Super Tuscan blend of red wines. The winemakers like to call it an Arizona Chianti because it has a very high percentage of the Sangiovese grape in it, about 71%. I poured a glass for my wife and myself as a warm up to a great dish of pasta with Bolognese sauce. Throw in a wedge of smoked Gruyere and I was in heaven. The wine was immediately giving off the rich cherry aroma that is typical of Sangiovese. I sniffed it a few times because I couldn't believe the concentrated aromas coming out of the glass. I took a sip and it felt like an explosion of cranberry and cherry. It's a fairly light weight wine that doesn't make your face pucker with too much tannin. Mangus is smooth, full of bright fruit, and really pairs well with the aforementioned pasta. I can't say anything about this wine that isn't blubbering praise. If our distributor in Oklahoma keeps it in the state, then we'll be fine. If they discontinue it, I'm driving to Arizona twice a year to pick up some more. I hope you like it as much as I did.

See more reviews at www.talkingsimian.com

http://azstronghold.com/
http://www.caduceus.org/

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