Mauro Veglio Barolo

One of the things I missed this winter was a good bottle of Barolo.  I remedied that situation a few days ago when there was a gift in the form of of a cold front that blew in from Canada. The wine was a 2001 Mauro Veglio, Vigneto Arborina.

I pulled the cork early in the morning and decanted a little more than half into a jug.  The remainder was put under vacuum.

As befits its age the wine was a brick reddish brown in the glass.  There was little to recommend the wine immediately so it sat until evening when a steak came off the grill.

The color had not changed but the wine was now full of aromas of raspberries and red currants and summer flowers.  It was a pleasure to sit and smell the wine.  The flavors were strong but not overpowering with the raspberries and currants predominating.  The Barolo tannins were in full force on the initial sip, but quickly mellowed.  Wonderful acidity cut through the richness of the steak.  At fourteen years it was singing a beautiful song.

Two days later I finished the vacuumed wine and noticed only that the tannins weren't as strong.  It was still a beautiful wine.

2001 Maura Veglio Barolo, Vigneto Arborina.  14.5% alcohol and $50 when purchased more than several years ago.

♪♫Summertime, and the Living Is Easy♫

...and the wine was delicious.

After many days of rain and clouds Mother Nature apologized to us yesterday with a beautiful, sunny day with a low humidity and a light breeze.  It was perfect weather for a rose' wine. One of the things I missed this spring with the medications making everything taste bitter and metallic was the joy of rose'.

The wine of the evening was a 2014 Domaine du Dragon from the Cotes du Provence area of France.  The wine is a mixture of Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache.  It was a very pale salmon color in the glass - just beautiful.  It smelled of strawberries and roses and citrus.  It tasted much the same and had a wonderful lightness to it that belied its 13.5% alcohol.  Sweet and yet dry, full flavored but light, it was just about perfect for the day.

There was a large rib steak from the grill and there was fresh corn, basil and red onion relish served at room temperature. 

2014 Domaine du Dragon Rose'.  13.5% alcohol and $16