Santa Barbara Winemakers.
Mosby. 2003, La Seduzione, French Camp Vineyard. 13.6% alc.
Mmmm. Here's a wine that perks the interest in a way that makes you wonder what the marketing department may have been thinking. Getting away from the superficial (pretty label, foreign language, pretentious descriptors, a la selling perfume to 14 year old girls) and instead looking at the meat and potatoes of what is in the bottle itself.
The grape is lagrein (pronounced la groin), the vineyard is French Camp in Paso Robles, the only other SB winemaker tackling this varietal is Chris Whitcraft.
So what's going on in here that merits such thoughts?
Seduction, la groin, girls, pretty labels, this is pretty much sex in a bottle. We're also recommended to have it with game to enhance the exotic flavours. I guess that it why we have arrived at this point.
We could go into the crass advertising of K-Mart selling whore outfits on Valentines' Day, you know the polyester black and red teddy combo slut wear that is in their cheap flyers? And for the aesthetes that might be enough for you to avoid this like a dose of pox.
But give it time, in England we practice foreplay (unheard of in the New World), so open this up, allow the juices to release naturally, allow for a steady breathing, and get yourself some game.
La Seduzione had about three hours, then some slices of venison on an avocado salad with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic and now we're in business.
La Seduzione is a woman, sophisticated, intelligent, cool but sexy. This is not a wine for Valentines but for a special moment, unexpected celebration of an anniversary beyond the obvious. Instead of chocolate and flowers get this wine and it will speak volumes. For the connoisseur, you will recognise our old friend Brett on the nose, but he won't enter into a menage a trois, nor infect the proceedings. The relatively low alcohol is an added bonus, this wine is about the juice, the midway point between grenache and syrah, a chloroform like numbness stops the tongue from allowing the brain to overstep the mark and keeps it in check.
Seduzione is romance, Sophia Lauren instead of Marilyn Monroe if you will (an Italian grape that should be successful in the US, definitely memorable). A bowl of medjool dates for dessert if you haven't yet finished this bottle will keep the evening alive.
If you need to get your head together after the wine you may want to have a little pick me up. Mosby also is the only winery in Santa Barbara County that makes grappa. Made from traminer and running at a monstrous 40% alc. it is the aniseed water of life indeed. One or two shots should get your pulse going, your head shaking and your palate cleansed. A couple of espresso shots should keep you going 'til sunrise. This is all about Lambrettas and not Vespas, Arthur Francis will give you face. This is Mantova and not Venice, Santa Barbara and not Vegas.
Cheers
March 13. 2007
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Last update November 2008. Santa Barbara.
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