Bonarda

There are a huge number of grapes in the world that lend themselves to wine.  Respecting the efforts of those folks growing these grapes and making the wine I feel it is my duty to drink what they produce.  At least that's my rationalization for adding one more grape to my tasting list, Bonarda.

In this case the wine is a 2009 Colonia  Las Liebres, or Colony of Hares, a wine out of Argentina.  The wine was a purplish color in the glass and the aroma was almost pure fruit.  There were raspberries, strawberries and some currant.  Those flavors were persistent in the wine and there was little to interfere with them.  There was good acidity, soft tannin, and a medium body.  The whole thing made for a pleasant little wine that went down very easy.  I could get no oak aromas or taste from the wine, but learned after drinking it that the closest this wine came to oak was the bed of the truck the grapes road in on their trip to the winery.

I liked this wine because it was just there for drinking and seemed to have no desire to be more than it was.  We drank it with a pan seared, oven roasted, small steak and some gnocchi tossed in the pan drippings while the steak rested.

A note on Bonarda:  The grape is thought to be of Italian origin and like Carmenere in Chile, a grape that is nearly extinct in its home area.  Some think it is the same grape as Charbono in California, and obviously some don't.  Until recently it was the most planted red grape in Argentina, now being surpassed by Malbec.

13.9% alcohol and a fantastic $9.