VinoDuo is Lisa & Gary. Engaged in Sonoma. Honeymooned in Napa. Vacationed in
Temecula (CA), Woodinville (WA), and other off the beaten path wine regions. We’ve married our love of wine with our passion for travel, visiting lesser-known wine regions throughout the United
States. We’ve got strong opinions about the pros and cons of each wine region and this is our forum for airing and sharing them.
Trip to Negril (yes, a great wine story)
Posted by Gary at 6/23/2006 6:54 PM 
Categories: Finding Wine in Surprising Places,Where We've Traveled
Categories: Finding Wine in Surprising Places,Where We've Traveled
When you go to Negril, Jamaica, you expect to find a few things:
gorgeous beaches, rastafarians, and, well, you know. You don't expect
to find a great French wine. Lucky us. We read in one of the guides
that the restaurant Choices had a stellar wine list, so we grabed a
taxi and went up to the Cliffs, an alternatingly scruffy and yuppie section high above the ocean.
When we got there and asked for the wine list, the hostess told us they had shipped all their wine "down to the beach" at their new cafe. When we whined (us??), we were told there were a few dusty bottles in a locked, private bar that hadn't been used in years.
Our ears perked up,and Gary followed the woman into the cellar. She showed Gary the few remaining wines; he selected the 1998 Cordier Medoc Bordeaux, from their Collection Privee. 80% Cab, 20% Merlot, it was a lovely accompaniment to Lisa's curried goat and Gary's jerk chicken platter. We polished off the bottle, then Gary asked the waitress if we could purchase the one remaining bottle to take home with us. For $25 we got a steal. It packed snugly in our carry on and has resided in our wine cellar...until tonight.
It's a steamy, tropical night in Boston. With memories of Jamaica in our heads, we opened the Bordeaux. So how was it?
What Cordier says on its Web site: The colour of this wine is a lovely deep red with dark tints. The nose is slightly oaky with notes of spices, plum, pistachio and cherry. A most successful wine that reflects the distinctiveness of its terroir.
What Gary says: When we pulled the cork on this dusty bottle of elegant Bordeaux, we couldn’t wait the requisite 2-hours that the Wine Spectator suggested. At first taste, we noted that the genie had not quite come out of the bottle, so we let the wine sit in our glasses (Riedel not required). After 20 minutes or so the wine started to open up and the flavors started to pop… This silky smooth Bordeaux is plum red in color. The aroma reminds me of dark cherry syrup. The wine has deep cherry and plum flavors mixed with oaky overtones. The finish is atypical of Bordeaux-style wines, as the dryness is absent (this is a good thing!) In a recent Google search, we found that a bottle of this stuff can be had for less than $85 in the US and it’s well worth the search!
When we got there and asked for the wine list, the hostess told us they had shipped all their wine "down to the beach" at their new cafe. When we whined (us??), we were told there were a few dusty bottles in a locked, private bar that hadn't been used in years.
Our ears perked up,and Gary followed the woman into the cellar. She showed Gary the few remaining wines; he selected the 1998 Cordier Medoc Bordeaux, from their Collection Privee. 80% Cab, 20% Merlot, it was a lovely accompaniment to Lisa's curried goat and Gary's jerk chicken platter. We polished off the bottle, then Gary asked the waitress if we could purchase the one remaining bottle to take home with us. For $25 we got a steal. It packed snugly in our carry on and has resided in our wine cellar...until tonight.
It's a steamy, tropical night in Boston. With memories of Jamaica in our heads, we opened the Bordeaux. So how was it?
What Cordier says on its Web site: The colour of this wine is a lovely deep red with dark tints. The nose is slightly oaky with notes of spices, plum, pistachio and cherry. A most successful wine that reflects the distinctiveness of its terroir.
What Gary says: When we pulled the cork on this dusty bottle of elegant Bordeaux, we couldn’t wait the requisite 2-hours that the Wine Spectator suggested. At first taste, we noted that the genie had not quite come out of the bottle, so we let the wine sit in our glasses (Riedel not required). After 20 minutes or so the wine started to open up and the flavors started to pop… This silky smooth Bordeaux is plum red in color. The aroma reminds me of dark cherry syrup. The wine has deep cherry and plum flavors mixed with oaky overtones. The finish is atypical of Bordeaux-style wines, as the dryness is absent (this is a good thing!) In a recent Google search, we found that a bottle of this stuff can be had for less than $85 in the US and it’s well worth the search!
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