Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Sleight of Hand Cellars - Spellbinder Red

After spending all day talking about wine and pouring wine, believe it or not there are days the last thing you want in the evenings is to think about the wine you are drinking. Okay, so all you want is to get off of your feet and relax. You want to relax with a good solid glass of wine - a solid glass that has all of the components you enjoy in a glass of hearty red wine.

I suppose I wasn't really thinking about the wine I was going to have that evening. However, I decided to "live on the edge" and blindly reached into a case of mixed wines, that I had yet to take the time to put away, and whatever wine I picked out from the case would be the wine of the evening. I reached in and pulled out the Sleight of Hand Cellars Spellbinder Red - 2009. I actually did think about the wine at the time of procuring it, as I won a door prize at a local fundraiser and I got to pick my own prize of many to choose from and the pack of two Sleight of Hand Cellars red wines with their "magical" labels reached out to me and screamed, "Pick me!"

It was almost a relief to see that the bottle had a screw top. I didn't have to take the time to screw with a cork and I knew my glass of wine was going to be without TCA. I could also safely screw the cap on without a fuss. Like I pointed out earlier - all I wanted was a glass of wine that I didn't have to think about - - and damn it, wouldn't you know, with first taste I started pondering this lovely blend.

The 2009 Spellbinder is a harmonious blend of 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Sangiovese, and 9% Syrah. The smell of espresso greeted my nose. The wine was full with notes of chocolate covered cherries with a hint of raspberries that completed it with just a bit of acid. A hint of spice made itself known, but without taking over the mellow fruit. The fruit was sourced from several vineyards in the Walla Walla, Red Mountain, Yakima, and Horse Heaven AVA’s. Lots of different terroir going on.

This is a great and affordable everyday sipping wine and I knew I needed a second glass of Sleight of Hand Spellbinder to go with the dinner I had been braising all day in the LeCreuset Dutch Oven (or is that "French Oven?") - a beef roast browned and simmered slowly with lots of onions, later shredded and with a brown sugary BBQ sauce added. This beefy and spicy goodness was served on top of an onion roll. I could not have blindly picked a better wine to sip and to pair with dinner, if I had reached into the case of wine with purpose.

1 comment:

wild walla walla wine woman said...

Yeah-yeah-yeah - "she's back." I don't want to hear it.

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