WTN: Ouled Thaleb

Out to dinner tonight at Avec, I noticed that the bottle list included an Ouled Thaleb 2012 Zenata (Morocco) red wine, Aït Souala, a blend of a grape called “Arinornoa” (50 percent) along with 25 percent each Tannat and Malbec. I recognized the name from a note of Jenise’s, so we went for it — only later did I look up the note and see that Jenise had had whites, not reds. But no problem; this was excellent! Big, warm-climate flavors, but a medium-bodied structure, with propulsive acidity, not too much alcohol, and a food-friendly mouthwateringness. Aromatic dark fruit, herbs, and a little licorice. If this is oak-aged, it doesn’t show it. Delicious! And my first Moroccan wine, too. Looking forward to trying more.

[David M. Bueker]

Well that’s unusual.

[Jenise]

I'm now on the hunt for this wine. Doing a tasting on "Obscure grapes" in a few weeks and this is right in the pocket.

[David M. Bueker]

This thread should have been titled Zenata Mondatta.

There you go again, Policing everyone else's subject lines.

[David M. Bueker]

That’s a stinging rebuke.

Oh yeah? Well... well...

Stewart Copeland.

So there.

[David M. Bueker]

That's your copeland mechanism?

Perhaps you should take a summers break.