Cumulative List Of Wines Posted (Circa 2016)

This is an update and continuation of the run-down I did for the wines I posted last year, which went to #37. The 13 I posted this year follow from there. Links are available for all of these in the Table Of Contents page, which can be accessed from any page on the HSC blog.

Rather than doing a year-end blog post, as I do on my hot sauce blog and as others in the so-called blogosphere do, this cumulative yearly post will instead serve as a sort of running list of names of the wines I keep on the official HSC wine list (see first couple of posts for criteria).

Please note this list is not weighted, so the numbers are just the order of chronological posting only.

01) Martini & Rossi Asti

02) Navarro Correas Colección Privada [Malbec]

03) Concannon Crimson & Clover [Blend]

04) Fat Bastard Chardonnay

05) Penfold Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet

06) Bouchard Chardonnay

07) Colosi Sicilia Rosso [Nero d'Avola]

08) Terredora DiPaolo Aglianico

09) Marqués de Cáceres Crianza Rioja [Blend]

10) A By Acacia Pinot Noir

11) Dark Horse Big Red Blend

12) Columbia Crest Grand Estate Merlot

13) Apothic Red [Blend]

14) Penfold Koonunga Hill Shiraz

15) Sean Minor Pinot Noir Carneros

16) Castello Del Poggio Moscato

17) Atrea Old Soul Red [Blend]

18) Meiomi Pinot Noir

19) Montebuena Rioja [Tempranillo]

20) Sean Minor Cabernet Sauvignon

21) Peralillo Arenal Carmenere

22) Zantho St. Laurent

23) Clean Slate Riesling

24) Gloria Reynolds Tinto Real [Blend]

25) Prunotto Fiulot Barbera D’Asti

26) Menage A Trois [Blend]

27) Fantini Farnese Montepulciano D'Abruzzo

28) Rosenblum Vintner’s Cuvée XXXVI [Zinfandel]

29) Sean Minor Sauvignon Blanc

30) Michael David Sixth Sense Syrah

31) Borja Borsao Tinto Seleccion [Garnacha]

32) 19 Crimes [Blend]

33) Fat Bastard Cabernet Sauvignon

34) Tait Ball-Buster [Blend]

35) Bouchard Pinot Noir

36) Francis Ford Coppola Claret [Blend]

37) Chaucer's Mead

38) Bogle Essential Red [Blend]

39) Terra-Bossa Shiraz

40) Juan Gil 12 Meses [Monastrell]

41) Terra del Nero d'Avola

42) Waterbrook Melange Red  

43) E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge [Blend] 

44) Château Damase Bordeaux Supérieur [Merlot]
45) Château Tour d'Auron Bordeaux Supérieur [Blend]
46) Delas Côtes du Rhône Saint-Esprit [Blend]
47) Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon
48) Chateau Giscours Petite Sirene [Blend]

49) Château Recougne Bordeaux Supérieur [Blend]
50) Menage A Trois Midnight [Blend]

Issue L: Menage A Trois Midnight Edition

Menage A Trois Midnight [Blend]

Somewhat of a milestone in a couple respects here. This is the 50^th entry on the HSC blog, itself now about 3 years strong and this is one of the few wines that I’ve found out of state and wasn’t available in Utah at the time I bought it (shhhh), though I expect by the time this is posted, it will be. In many ways, it is probably fitting that a variation of the wine I buy the most (Menaga A Trois, barely edging out Dark Horse), of a type I buy the most (blend), from the region I buy from the most (California), should be the 50^th entry. Perhaps I make too much of this, but I find it to be a kind of cool touch.

Often a wine will introduce a darker version, which we anticipate to be a similar, but a lot more robust blend, but in actuality, will turn out to be nearly undrinkable (looking at you in particular, Apothic – as an aside, I guess another sort of milestone is me both referencing and calling out other wines in the context of an entry for a different wine – ok, I’ll stop now), but here, the blend is exactly right. This is a deeper, much richer, much more vivid and weighty version of the much beloved Menage A Trois. In many ways, this is the ultimate, as it is different, but equal in terms of quality.

The blend itself, Merlot, Cab, Petite Syrah and Petite Verdot (should be Menage a Quatre, technically and if this stops being a limited edition wine, perhaps they’ll switch the name to that, though the inverse of the regular label works very nicely with the “midnight” motif), works very well together. A ton of rich, heavy varietals in the Syrah and Cabs, as well as the usual concentrated punch from the Verdot, also contributes nicely to the darkness of the actual wine. Darker fruit is in heavy abundance here, so blackberries, dark plums and a touch of currant, yet the presence of Merlot keeps things from getting too clunky. Despite the largely astringent nature of the various grapes here, this mellows out quickly and becomes both smooth and flavorful, with a very nice mouth heft to it, another similarity it shares with the Original MAT blend.

A wine this good, like the Original, particularly at the very soft price point, can’t be anything but a Standard, so this one shares that same facet with the Original. Both of these are among the strongest offerings this list has to offer and it wouldn’t be the worst idea to get a bottle of each to compare…