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A gem of a wine bottles in August of 2006, featuring a blend of 12 grapes, some of which are Carignane, Mouvedre, Petit Syrah, Barbera, Sangiovese, Syrah, Viognier, Pinot Noir and some more. It is a field blend with grapes from St. Helena, vinted and blended in open air wood barrels in Sean's backyard in Bolinas.
I was first turned onto this wine in Nantucket, with XII - no vintages, just batches (one a year). Sean is a real genius. We were lucky enough to get XII through XV for BONDA and a few cases for ourselves.
This batch is super smokey when first opened, revealing the Syrah and Barbera. With ten or so minutes, the wine mellows to raspberry, herbs, black cherry - a fresh mix of red fruit with a soft mouthfeel and mellow tannins. The Pinot Noir and Mouvedre showing through - the Carignane playing with the Viognier - light and intense. The evolution of the Pleiades is quite something to discover.
I made an dish for dinner that I learned in college. It is orzo cooked in chicken broth and herbs, briefly stir fried with yellow and red peppers, garlic and chicken. The flavors of the wok fried chicken went surprisingly well with the wine - the peppers adding interesting interplay as well. The thyme and rosemary in the orzo also complemented the Pleiades.
This is a wine I can drink all the time, with any dish, at any time of the day. I love it.
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1 comment:
This man is an evil genius (and I say "evil" in the highest regard). I love that this wine is a "field blend", blended to taste, because he most likely cannot remember what juice is in each barrel strewn about his property. We need more winemakers like him!
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