Black Swan South East Australian Merlot 2003

Not too sweet, lots of tannin, peppery, cherries and blackberries. Hint of caramel smell. Medium body. The wine on its own is good, but I had it with a tortellini (dark meat chicken with lemon filling and black pepper pasta) in a jar of garden vegetable (basil, zucchini, etc. very light) marinara sauce (Barilla Vegetariana – great sauce). Boy that tortellini had lots of lemon flavor! That combined with the tomato-sauce made a very tangy, zingy and brassy flavor, with the chicken filling in the tortellini and a bunch of parmesan on top rounding it out and giving it some bottom. It was really good with the Black Swan Merlot, the merlot was big enough to stand up to all that, the tannins really helped out and made a nice contrast with the acidity of the meal, the spicy pepper from the wine went great with the food, and the food (I think especially the lemon) really brought out the deep purple-black cherry-berry fruit in the wine. A very boisterous combo, loved it.

<>Drinking it the next day, at a cooler temperature, I note that it is smoother (the tannins are a lot calmer) and most of the spice is in the finish. Today I’m having it with smoked, salted almonds (if you haven’t tried them, you should – Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds.)