Los Vascos Revisited

Between revolving bouts of flu/colds and bad allergy attacks, February has been a very rough month for wine drinking.  I fact this is both the first and last post for the month.  However, we hope to get back into the swing of things this weekend with the BHA's Third Annual Wine Tasting.

Despite everything, I did manage to get in a good meal and nice bottle of wine last weekend.  I worked up some skirt steaks from Thomas Heller's Ad Hoc at Home and cracked open a bottle of Los Vascos' 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile's Colchagua Valley.  The previous Los Vascos review was of a different vintage of the winery's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and you could tell the difference.  The Reserve was both more refined and bolder on the palate, but the standard Cab was still a good wine for dinner.

The 2008 Los Vascos Cab had a big nose with nice aromas of cherry, plum, and dark fruit.  On the palate it was slightly sweeter and thinner than its reserve counterpart.  Still, nice strong overtones of cherry and currant worked over the palate.  Despite being a nice Chilean Cab, the Los Vascos offered up a very mellow finish with nice soft tannins.

The Chilean Cab was tailor made for the skirt steaks, mashed potatoes, and salad with red wine/herb vinaigrette.  I know skirt steaks are fajitas, but these were cut into 6 ounce steaks; marinated in garlic, rosemary, thyme, and pepper infused olive oil; and then pan-seared and broiled to a perfect medium rare.  You could taste all the herbs in every juicy bite.  A stronger red may have overpowered the subtle flavors the marinating infused into the beef, so the mellowness of the Los Vascos was a perfect compliment.  All the flavors of a solid Cab were present, but they didn't overpower the meal.

We picked up the 2008 Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon at H.E.B. for about $12.  You can find out more about Los Vascos' wines at: http://www.lafite.com/eng/Other-Estates/Vina-Los-Vascos