Robyn made a great find yesterday at the market! We were picking up some provisions at one of our favorite shops, where in addition to great prices on groceries, they have a wide selection of quality wines at blow-out prices. We refer to this establishment as “Winevana.” You may know it as Grocery Outlet.
At any rate, we wandered into the well-stocked wine department. Alas, our Wine Genie, Jerry, was not working, so we wandered the aisles reading Jerry’s shelf-talkers instead. Suddenly, Robyn stopped, and blurted out “Bordeaux Blend!” She had stumbled upon (not into, thankfully) a display of Luke Donald Collection LDC Red wine. I’d never heard of this label, but when I read Jerry’s description, I agreed with Robyn. We had to take one home with us. Robyn also made a brilliant suggestion: “Let’s open this tonight with our burgers. So we did.
I’ve never been one to chase celebrity or athlete wines, and frankly, I didn’t know this was such a wine until I read the back label. Luke Donald is a British professional golfer, who partnered with Bill Terlato of Teralto Wines to create wines of excellence, that reflect Luke’s personality and style.
Here’s my Vivino review, describing what I thought of the wine:
This is a remarkable Bordeaux-style blend. Definitely New World, with a big, bold profile. Deep, inky purple color in the glass. Aromas explode from the glass on the nose, including blackberry, dark black cherry, ripe raspberry, and mocha. On the palate, flavors of Marionberry pie, ripe blackberry, black cherry, baking spice, vanilla, and toasty oak. A little hot at first but tamed with food. Tannins are firm and chewy, and acidity is medium and balanced. We had it with grilled cheeseburgers with tarragon-Russian dressing. Exquisite! The finish goes on for days, with dark berry and white pepper. 43% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot.
Oh, those cheeseburgers? They were no ordinary cheeseburgers. They were Cheddar BLT Burgers with Tarragon-Russian dressing. If you want to try them, you can find the recipe at Food & Wine. (Click the link!) OK, OK, the picture here is from the Food & Wine website. We’re eating low-carb, so we had these sans-bun in lettuce wraps. They really weren’t photo-worthy, but they still tasted amazing! If you close your eyes, you can almost taste the toasted brioche bun.
If you can find this wine, I encourage you to try it. Check your local Grocery Outlet, and maybe you’ll get lucky. This wine averages about $35 on the Internet. We got our bottle at Grocery Outlet for just $9.99!
Cheers!
- By Kent Reynolds, with credit and inspiration to Robyn Raphael.
Appetite for Wine 