2005 Beringer Private Reserve

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I have to say that I do not enjoy this time of year.  Living in Minnesota during January can be tough.  The winter months are cold and you cannot spend any time outside.  Any other time of the year Chris and I would be outside working on the gardens, or we would likely be at the lake.

As I write this blog (Sunday in January on a COLD day), both Chris and I are somewhat bored.  We have no more home projects and there is simply nothing exciting on TV.

We spent the night at friends and arrived at home around 10am.   We had a little bit of laundry to do, and I brought our home brewed Port (a blog in the future) down to the cellar.  The high outside was nine degrees!  I have to say I cannot wait for my next trip to Napa on the 31st with Chris, Nick and Bri!

I had brought a bottle of 2005 Beringer Private Reserve to share with our friends.  However, after a couple bottles I figured that the Private Reserve would not have been as appreciated.  So, I brought the bottle home.  Chris had planned on making a chicken dinner with perogies.  Earlier in the day I pulled the cork on that bottle so it would start getting happy.

photoIt was finally “wine thirty” and we decided to have a glass of wine before dinner.  By this time the cork was pulled for six hours.  Just to make the wine even better, I inserted the VINOAIR into the bottle to help decant the Private Reserve more.  I poured us both a glass and I started rating the 2005 Private Reserve.

Sight
I very nice garnet hue.  The Cabernet was clear and appeared deep in my glass.

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Smell
Very aromatic and fruity.  We could smell Oak, Vanilla, Blueberry and other dark fruit.

Taste
Excellent first of all!  The Private Reserve was slightly dry and full bodied.  It was very balanced.  The tannins we medium, with a slight burn as I swallowed it.  The tannins could be felt in my mid palate.  We could taste dark fruit, dark chocolate and vanilla (most likely from the toasting).  The finish was long and flavorful.

ABV: 14.5%

The Private Reserved paired excellent with the meal Chris had prepared.  We enjoyed a roasted beet salad, topped with candied nuts, feta cheese in a nice champagne vinaigrette with fresh Thyme.  The Entree included oven baked chicken, which was topped with a Parmesan pesto sauce and a crunchy Italian seasoned Panko topping along with pan seared perogies tossed in Basil Grape seed oil and tossed in the same homemade pesto as used in the chicken dish. 

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We rated the 2005 Beringer Private Reserve four glasses.  I look forward to drinking many more Beringer wines!

In Vino Veritas!

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