This morning, I thought I’d review a wine we recently shared that is unique in many ways. While visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada earlier this year we came upon a brand new winery run by a Turkish couple, Icellars Estate. The fledgling winery is already making waves in Canada with top wine reviewers giving it high marks. We enjoyed our personal tasting with the couple, including their beautiful golden retriever!
One of the wines we tasted was called Arinna, named after the Hittite winemaking city in Anatolia, where the winery owners were born. The blend deviates from our #MerlotMe month wine tastings but there is 33 percent Merlot grapes in the wine, which is majority Cabernet Sauvignon. The red wine is interesting because when you first taste it, you taste something very familiar but you can’t put your finger on it. Then, you taste again and it hits you – spaghetti sauce! The matriarch of the estate calls it “spaghetti sauce” wine and it’s named appropriately. The full taste and interesting finish really is reminiscent of your Italian grandmother’s Sunday sauce.
We had been saving this wine for a special occasion, since it was on the pricier side and we knew we would not be able to source more of it here in the states. So yesterday, we cracked it open and enjoyed it with my spaghetti sauce. It was delicious. If you ever find yourself exploring the wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, please make sure you stop at Icellars Estate. You won’t regret it.
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