Ménage à Trois Red `08 $10.00 (Not TJ's) ***(*)

Of course I have a lot of fun with the name of this wine - after all, wine is fun! Would you expect anything else? This wine is produced by a winery called Folie à Deux in California - I've had their whites, they are good too.  The discovery tonight was that this is a really delightful pour and it is also a bit of a chameleon.  I am not usually fond of blends, BUT this is a nice blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel. 

First pour:  Yummy.  Light and fruity with a long finish.  Fresh currant and raspberry, with a Cabernet Sauvignon slightly oaky finish.  WOW! A great wine for food. JPH helped me style this first picture.  What a beautiful purple wine.  There had been a breakfast pie baked earlier in the afternoon, and I wanted to show off JPH's handiwork (6:30am coffee is only made better by the promise of pie!).

After the vinturi: WOW - it opened up the wine so that it was light and deliciously fruity - the depth of the finish was gone, but it became sooo easy to drink. Of course as I was nibblish, a plate of goldfish made it to the table, and now I can say that this red goes really well with goldfish crackers!  This red changed dramatically after the vinturi, but BOTH ways, it is extremely palatable. It is also interesting that this wine is blended AFTER fermentation - the flavors don't meld until they are bottled - maybe that is why it is so distinctively layered (any why aeration blends the flavors so completely).


Then the deluge began.  I wish I had taken pictures of the torrential rain that was soaking the lawn and flooding the roads. Wow, it was raining, and I was safe and dry in the kitchen with really good glass of wine in my hand.  It was all good.


The rain slowed down and S went out to inspect the new plantings, then came back in muddied, but satisfied that they had survived and were enjoying a much needed watering.  I went to check on the dog  - she is an octogenarian and does not like thunderstorms - I found her blocking the door and shaking. That was when the lights started to flicker, and the adventure began.  By the time I asked about the power going out, it was out. Supplies were rounded up, candles were lit, plans were canceled and we all settled in for a beautiful Thursday night dinner - of course, I still had to cook it - thank goodness for gas stoves!!! It was my turn - and let's face it I'll trade cooking risotto for a fresh baked pie any day!!

It was late afternoon, but the storm  made it look like nighttime.  I poured another glass of wine, started making my notes by candlelight, JPH opened a beer, S checked on the garden again for storm damage and MEH provided the play list (iBook/iTunes) to set the ambiance. We played with shadows and flashlights. All of a sudden, a small dragon looked ominous.

We had Risotto by candlelight.  Poor traumatized Nell had a dinner of marrow bones, chicken and kibble. We sat around the table enjoying our meal, talking about the wine (there was mention of stocking up on it) and a good time was had by all.

This is a longer than usual review, because we happened to open this bottle on an eventful evening. What was originally going to be a simple dinner of Risotto with bone marrow and porcini mushrooms from Aosta, ended up being an intimate dinner in the dark of a power outage after a deluge of rain and NYC being forced to a grinding halt by tornadoes and thunderstorms. One person died in the storm and millions of dollars of damage was done.  Train lines were stopped and people were stranded in the city. We counted our blessings when the power came back on a few hours later and we saw the news.  We were safe, dry & well fed; and I get to review a very nice bottle of wine named Ménage à Trois.