I’ve never found words that really help with the loss of a loved one, so when I read Merrill’s post about the passing of Sparkles, I brought a bottle of 2008 EMH Cabernet Sauvignon Black Cat to dinner Saturday night in honor of them both. It seemed like the perfect venue, as our group has noted in the past the curious coincidence that while none of us have kids, we all have cats.
It confirmed why I’m enthusiastic about Merrill’s wines. Beautiful pure currant fruit with a little spice, but even with a few hour decant, the tannin is a little rough, so it could use a little more time in the cellar. Another option is to drink it with sous vide Chateaubriand with goose liver hollandaise, as we did, and let the food buffer the tannin (it was a great dish, but both it and the wine were even better together than separate). At the end of the night, conversation shifted spontaneously to tales of the silly antics of our own cats and a comparison of the different tactics they use to wake us up.
I had about a quarter of the bottle left, so I finished it last night with a grilled Flannery strip steak. On day 2, the tannin has integrated, but the purity of the fruit remains. Just terrific.
The pure red and black fruit accented by a little spice seems to be the hallmark of Black Cat and each bottle I’ve tried has reminded me a lot of how the brilliant 1996 Pichon Lalande showed on release.