Elyse Winery - C’est Si Bon 2010

Every time I open a bottle of wine, I imagine that I’m going to have a great time enjoying a little vino whether I’m with friends or alone, out or at home, having dinner or sitting on the patio unwinding. Every bottle has the potential to dazzle me. Some do and some don’t. One that has dazzle written all over it is the Rhone style blend from Elyse Winery aptly named C’est Si Bon which is French code for It’s So Good.

I was invited to dinner with friends at one of their houses and the lovely hostess was gracious enough to tell me what she was preparing for the evening meal. She knew I was a wine aficionado. Well, her exact words were ‘wine nerd’, but I knew what she meant. She wanted me to bring something that would go with pork loin with a tart cherry sauce, wild rice and braised carrots. As soon as my mouth quit watering, I started going through the mental Rolodex of wines I keep in my memory. Cab, no. Merlot, no. Malbec, no. OOH! GSM! That would be perfect, but which one? There are some pretty tasty Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre blends out there, but I wanted something that would live up to the meal that I was going to be dining on in the very near future. I also wanted to retain my status as everyone’s resident wine ner…expert.

C’est Si Bon is, as I said before, a GSM. Luckily for some people, they provide the blend on their website. It is 43% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 17% Mourvèdre, 10% Cinsault, 7% Counoise, and 3% Viognier. Do you know what that means to the average wine drinker? Absolutely nothing. What does that mean to vino geeks? Deliciousness! The Grenache gives the wine a great fruity base, the Mourvedre adds depth with tannins and earthy flavors, and Syrah provides a touch of spice. Overall this wonderful wine has the flavors of plums, dark red berries, and hints of chocolate, pepper, and terroir/petrichor. (Petrichor is the aroma of earth after it rains.) This wine has a medium tannin presence, a wonderful bright acidity, and an even fruitiness which gives it a well-rounded, magnificent flavor. As luck would have it, everyone at the table thought it was the perfect wine to have with our glorious meal. Everyone agreed that the master chef was the queen of the evening. And they also agreed that I am, in fact, a wine nerd. As long as I keep finding wines like C’est Si Bon, I accept that title with pride.

Go see what else Elyse winery is up to. http://www.elysewinery.com/
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