Jeff’s Corner 5-13-22

Vintage Update: 2015 Mosaic

A few days ago, I noticed a ray of sunlight falling on a seldom-visited wine rack and grabbed a towel to cover it when I spotted a very dusty bottle of 2015 Mosaic and my heart leaped up. This is perhaps my all-time favorite GCV wine, and I was surprised I still had one. I dusted it off, pulled the cork, and Kath and I headed to the porch to check it out.

It had more than lived up to my expectations, and was a textbook example of a beautifully aged red wine. The color was a mature medium garnet with some fading in the meniscus (rim), but it still showed a bit of clarity in the bowl.

Understated, graceful, and elegant, earthy aromas of dried cherry, cassis, hazelnut, cinnamon, and tanned leather came to life. On the palate, fruit flavors were keeping pace with beautifully integrated acidity and soft, sweet tannins. It was amazing, and if you still have one of these beauties, drink it soon…

Next, not surprisingly, let’s fast-forward and take a peek at our brand new 2020 Mosaic. Mosaic is our “Bordeaux-style” wine, and people often ask me what that means. Well, the phrase “Bordeaux-style” has no legal, regulatory definition, but it implies that the wine is a proprietary blend of grapes indigenous to the Bordeaux region of France. These grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

Consistent with the last few vintages of Mosaic, the 2020 features all five of the dominant red grapes from Bordeaux, with 55.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21.1% Merlot, 13.5% Petit Verdot, 5.7% Malbec, and 4.2% Cabernet Franc. The ABV is an approachable, food-friendly 13.7%, and the color is a medium garnet with a touch of ruby in the rim.

Very Old-World in style, lean and austere aromas of sweet, toasted oak are layered with ripe raspberry, black plum, blackberry, vanilla, nutmeg, and a hint of eucalyptus. These become more pronounced over time as the wine begins to open up in the glass.

The wine is youthful and exuberant on our palate as well, and the long, chalky finish and brisk acidity should allow 4-6 years of graceful aging. I would recommend a serving temp of about 60*, and decant time of 1-1.5 hours.

Finally, it’s time to brush off the Weber everyone, and serve this beauty with a fat, juicy ribeye grilled over Hickory and topped with a Gorgonzola compound butter. A side of Cremini mushrooms sautéed in garlic butter tossed with linguini might be a nice side.

Cheers to spring!