Rutherglen Rare Tokay

Calliope
RL Buller & Son
Australia

This was the dessert wine my aunt brought the night we enjoyed "The Problem Child". My aunt, who isn't necessarily a wine "fan", does enjoy ice wines and/or sweeter dessert wines. This treat was from my uncle's wine cellar. BIG flavors of: fig, caramel, baking spices.

Technically, this is a "muscadelle", unrelated to the "Muscat" family, but similar in that it is from a white wine grape with grape juice and raisin nuances.

I am NOT a fan of sweet or dessert wines. This particular evening, we were having snickerdoodle cookies for our dessert (a vanilla drop cookie with lots of cinnamon). Well, my aunt, my mother and I enjoyed our first sip of the Tokay prior to bringing dessert to the table. We each said "mmmm" in varying degrees, but definitely "mmmm" in general. I then picked up a snickerdoodle and took a bite. Uh-oh, I thought. I absolutely knew the next sip of Tokay was going to send me over the edge. It totally did - it was a match made in heaven. I informed my mother and my aunt that they were going to need to stop their conversation and bite into a snickerdoodle and then have a sip of the Tokay. There just were no words being produced from the three of us. We could only pronounce grunts like cave men.

Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight.
--I'm Looking Through You, Lennon-McCartney--


8.5 out of 10
18.0 % alc. by vol.
$40 / 375 ML

The Reunion

2006
Mourvedre, Shiraz & Grenache Blend
Rutherglen, Victoria
Australia





Hints of cherry, herb, and vanilla encompass this Australian blend. Although good on its own, it moves up a few notches when paired with aged Gouda. It especially tasted fantastic with gemelli pasta, vegetable tapenade, and shredded Gouda.




Twisted words
Falsified assumptions
A master retreat

Silence
Mind games
A cracked heart

A friendship severed and bleeding out

8.0 out of 10 (8.5 out of 10 with the Oakvale Aged Gouda cheese pairing)
14.5% alc. by vol.
$20 / 750 ml. bottle

Rutherglen Tokay

Campbells
Non-vintage

Tonight's blog entry was contributed by PasaRoblesCab (Thank You :).


The non-vintage Tokay, a light amber color in a 375ml bottle was the perfect end to a wonderful dinner. To add to the flavor of roasted nuts, white raisins, prunes, figs, caramel, and marmalade, its full-bodied sweetness is balanced well by acidity. Sweet, spicy, generous range of flavors, offerings with hints of apricot, pear and vanilla notes. I loved the slightly musky scents, it reminded me of the maple syrup lollipops my grandmother would make. Of course they were in the shape of a maple leaf. (We are Canadian French.) This with a 1 lb. bar of Hershey's special Dark or Wine Lovers 61% Cocoa Dark was a definite match. (My pallet was opened with Sophenia Cabernet which was enjoyed with freshly grilled Tilapia and more garlic than one should consume in a single sitting.) I would certainly recommend this to someone on a budget. $19.99 for a bottle, which, although small, will last in the fridge opened for quite a while. This is great when you don't have any dinner parties planned and you want something sweet after dinner with your spouse or alone. Give it a try, you wont be sorry. My rating (which I never do) would be a solid Robert Parker 92.




$19.99 / 375 ml. bottle