Practicing Decanting Service with a 2004 Escafeld Petit Verdot – San Antonio Valley, Monterey County

I needed to practice for a Decanting Service Exam so I brought one of my older Californian wines out of my cellar, a 2004 Escafeld Petit Verdot – San Antonio Valley, Monterey County. I bought 6 bottles of this wine about 6 or 7 years ago when I was exploring the Bordeaux varietals individually so I could learn what they contribute in a Meritage blend. This was my only bottle remaining and the only reason I had not opened it is I just didn’t have the occasion for it.

It is an opaque red wine, dark ruby at the core with a touch of garnet at the rim. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of creamy strawberries, blueberries, mocha, layers of black licorice, a touch of mint, hints of vanilla. It is dry with well-integrated medium+ tannins, medium + acidity, medium+ body and alcohol with a very long finish that has lingering flavors of strawberry preserves and vanilla. This wine is DELICIOUS and it somewhat reminds me of some very nice Tempranillos I have had from Rioja. I opened the other bottles a long time ago and at the time I wasn’t all that impressed so this wine has definitely improved with age or my tastes have changed, or both! I don’t recall how much I paid for this wine, it was probably around $20 or so.