Honestly, I don’t know how this bottle even got into my cellar. It looks like something I would buy; (1) it’s Argentinian, so reasonably priced, (2) interesting grape and (3) just plain fun to say. Heh, kidding on number three. I don’t buy wines because they’re fun to say. Much.
Bonarda is a super-prevalent grape in Argentina and nowhere much else. In California, it’s called Charbono but doesn’t enjoy the same level of popularity. Bonarda (or Charbono) is used generally as a blending grape due to its ink-dark color and intense tannins.
Evidently Argentina is experimenting with single-variety Bonarda wines. Cool! Zolo is a wine brand made by Finca Patagonias; they mostly do Tapiz, and describe themselves as “one of the most technological wineries in Argentina.” Which, totally not trying to be condescending here, cracks me up. That usually tells me that they’ve got solid grapes, maybe always have, and now focus on the science of making large quantities of stable, crowd-pleasing wines. Fair enough.
The color is all Heart of Darkness, all the time in the glass. The nose is pretty hot, with stewed blackberries, jammy jam and dusty earth notes. The palate is spare – prunes are hanging around, and there are certainly tannins, but there’s also enough acidity to keep them from waking the baby. And then there’s that smoky, toasty, don’t-call-me-fruity-or-I’ll-punch-you finish. Something about this wine makes me think of… leather. Not black leather, as the color would lead you to believe, but the dark brown leather of good riding boots.
All the dark tones of this little goth number make me think of what to pair it with. Duck confit? chocolate coated pepper steak? boiled leather aux herbes? Actually, the chocolate isn’t far off the mark – I snuck some dark chocolate chips out of the freezer, and they’re a hit. But the smokiness of this wine makes it an excellent wine to go with my husband’s favorite food… Texas barbecue. Yep, 12-hour smoked beef brisket would totally make out with this Bonarda. They can get all intense and philosophical together, and talk about how they hate their parents. It’s a date.