This weekend featured a wonderful event: a wine release party at Ruby Hill. We are club members at Ruby Hill, and it is entirely because of their release parties. Oh yes, their wines are great, and the club member discount is nice, but the parties, oh, the parties! This weekend was yet another reminder of why we remain club members.
This release consisted of the 2009 Elevato and the 2009 Sangiovese. Very nice wines, and yes, they were featured at the release party. But that was only the beginning. These wines were absolutely surrounded. Surrounded with food, surrounded with various related wines, surrounded with related bottle sizes and even surrounded with unreleased vintages!
The food didn’t disappoint. The Sangiovese was paired with an assertive black-bean chili. A lovely combination, with the spicy notes of the Sangiovese blended well with the “ambush” chili. It is an ambush chili because it starts out mild and unpretentious and then, once you are all relaxed, BAMM! you get the heat. The Sangiovese offset this with a nice zippy start with a smooth and fruity finish. Perfect!
The Elevato was featured in a number of ways. My favorite was a pouring comparison between the normal 750ml bottle and the double-capacity magnum bottles. I have tried this comparison before, but I was again surprised. The 750ml bottle pours a nice wine, no doubt. But the 1.5l bottle pours an even nicer version of the same wine. The wine was all from the same barrels, but the difference was in the oxidation experienced by the wine as it sits, corked, in the bottle. A wonderful advertisement for buying wine by the magnum. If only my amazing wine fridge handled magnums! Maybe its better that it doesn’t.
We enjoyed some 2010 and 2011 barrel tastings and finished up with some of their lovely port. Can’t miss the port, especially during cold season. Then we picked up our wine and went back home, happy that we were still Gem Society members. Thank you Ruby Hill!
About the Author: John grills a mean steak and is always in the market for another wine fridge. Believes that if a winery has more than 10 employees, it's probably too big. Buys wine faster than he drinks it, but who cares?
