I got my first shipment from my WineFolly wine club via Wine Access. Yes, after years of linking to them on this site, I finally get them in my house!

This shipment’s theme was Famous Wine Blends. I cracked open the 2015 Three Wine Company Red Wine Contra Costa County. After decanting for at least 30 minutes (as recommended by the very nice notes included from the club), I took a sip and…

Whoa.

This is big.

Big big stuff.

It’s a blend of six grapes, primarily carignan, zinfandel, and mataro (also known in other regions as mourvedre). There’s also a little petit sirah to add even more backbone. Contra Costa County is its own AVA east of San Francisco Bay, the same area that produces some tremendous high-end zinfandels from Cline and Turley.

This bruiser is a stunning 15% alcohol. Even after decanting, it has a ton of structure. I get a woodsy nose with lots of blackberry. There’s leather on the palate and very black fruits. Tannin rises up to smack the back of the top of your throat and coat the back of your teeth.

I’ve had this open for over a week now, and all I’ve done to it is seal it with a VacuVin and store it outside on my patio in the slightly cooler air. (It’s weird when December weather outside is pretty much the perfect cellar temperature. But hey, there’s no such thing as climate change, amirite?) Trust me, even after a week, do not make any plans to go out after a glass of this. Stay home.

A wine this big requires big big flavor. Some really old aged cheese. A steak that’s been charred over a roaring fire. Salad? Nah. Maybe some grilled portobellos with balsamic vinegar. If you’ve got plans for roast beast on Christmas, this could work well.

One of my main objections to wine clubs are when they make proprietary wines that you can only buy through them, so if you find something you really like, you have to stick with them to get it again. I searched on Wine Searcher (link above) and couldn’t find this particular vintage again, but I easily found other wines from this producer. I can also go back to Wine Access’ site and buy more if I want. And I sure as heck might want more of this. I can’t wait to dive in to the rest of this shipment.

With that, I wish those of you celebrating a very happy Christmas. Stay positive and test negative, in the wise words of Constant Reader B.