Rusden Tasting

Yes, boys and girls we do have a Santa Claus who looks like John. We were lucky enough to enjoy a Rusden tasting sponsored by this season's Santa. Also, thanks goes to Barbara and Tony for their peppers and pasta, respectively. As always, the dessert was great. This lead to Tony giving me the finger for producing a bread pudding better than mine. Anyway, this is a wine blog so let's get to the point of this evening.

Overall, a very "pretty" tasting. The 2002 Zinfandel was a group favorite. Tony was in a heated discussion against this until he realized that he had his wines mixed up. The Matero by exclamation was second with a strong undertone of support for the $120 Shiraz. We did love the wines but the price point did give us pause. The cab blend was reminisent to the Mollydooker which at $25 was a better bargain vice $50. The Grenaches were all interesting. The 2002 was acidic with baked ruit flavors of blackberry and blueberry. The 2003 was all about sweet spice and candied fruit. The 2006 was the most food friendly match wonderfully with the peppers and pasta. The Matero was inky and forward but focused and rich. The 2002 Zin showed some age with a brick character. Zin the way we like it. The shiraz was the only wine that was decanted. It showed through was classic Aussie character. What was missing was the length and layers that would accompany a $120 wine.

Hmmm, time for more bread pudding.

Other class notes were truncated because of the discussion on the wines themselves. What have I done to the group?

I can manage with two
They've always been smooth
I thought it is was a good way to do this
I know the area intimately
WOW
Steaming like it is
Softer but different
You have no room
I didn't have time
I have some too
A little extra cheese?
Scratch and sniff?
None of these wines were lower than third.