Last night I opened a bottle of 2004 Hollick Coonawarna Cabernet Sauvignon.  I have had this sitting around in my “cellar” for a while now, I think I picked it up for Christas 2008 and just never got around to drinking it.  Last night I cooked up some striploin steaks with mushrooms and a quick pan sauce and I used the wine in the sauce.  So here is my attempt at a wine tasting:

Opening

First sniff: Berry aromas, and a bit of alcohol.

First taste: Strong spice, mostly pepper, there is a slight metallic flavour, the fruit taste is muted.

Served with: Pan seared striploin steak with sauteed mushrooms and pan sauce.

After eating

Second sniff: The alcohol aroma is gone, can really smell the spices now strong black pepper, not much fruit anymore.

Second taste: much smoother now, there is a ton of spice to this wine now, and the wine has a nice long finish.

Notes: Since this is a 2004 I think the wine benefits from some breathing time, I would even go so far as to say it would be good after decanting.  It’s a classic Cab Sauv, big big flavours, full mouth feel and strong finish.  It’s a great wine to serve with food, Steak, Lamb, Roast Beef.  The spicy-ness of the wine goes well with the steak I made, I like a generous amount of black pepper as well as allspice on my steak and the wine compliments these flavours very well.  The wine has a lot of “umami” which means the steak and mushrooms and are ideal to pair with it.

I really enjoyed this wine.  If I had tried it closer to when I had purchased it I would have gone back for another bottle or two to hold on to.  I am trying to build up an actual wine cellar, and I think this wine would have made a good addition.  It has enough flavour and tannins to handle aging well I think.

I am going to try and stick to this kind of format for each wine I try that way I will a good idea of each wine and I will be able to compare and remember what I like.

I will also try and make a point of posting the foods that I am pairing with the wine.  I will get my steak and mushroom recipe up soon.