So, the other night, I was making a steak with my son Dylan, a trained, professional chef (lucky me, I started it, knowing he would never let me finish...LOL). I opened up a lovely piece of dark aged cheese from Holland and munched on that, sipping my wine, and waiting to eat my steak.
Barboursville is among my favorite wineries. Luca Pashina is the winemaker, and has been doing an incredible job for years now. And Fernando Franco is the vineyard manager. The winery is owned by Zonin of Italy, but there's no question that Barboursville is among the best wineries on the Eastern Seaboard.
One never knows what one is going to get when one lets a bottle sit for ten years. Sometimes, even the best wines, die off, or fall apart. I once had a 14 year old crianza that was spectacular. And a 5 year old Beajolais that was terrific. But it's always a crap shoot. More often than not, class shows through. I thought I would be safe on those grounds with Barboursville.
So, I opened the bottle an started sipping. It was incredible! This older wine had lots of dark cherry, as one might expect, given it's age. But it still had a lot of young cherry and raspberry as well. A slight, slight hint of fallen leaves did not over power the vanilla, and hints of lavender, and notes of cassis and jam. Great structure, balance, and tremendous complexity. Absolutely a lovely, lovely wine! A true sign of quality. I thought to myself that I could have let it sit another 3 to 5 years. On the other hand, I chided myself, was that I opened it just in time. for it went beautifully with the cheese and the steak as well.
Fantastic wine! Congrats to Luca and Fernando! Cheers!