Ecosse Wine's Rouge

I picked up a mixed case of dry red wines from Mike the wine guy at John's Marketplace (http://www.yelp.com/biz/johns-marketplace-portland) last weekend, and found this gem in the lot.  I have not heard of Ecosse Wine before and found there is essentially nothing about the winery on the internet.  Their website (http://ecossewine.com/home.htm) is terrible and doesn't even have a completed 'About Us' section.  Also their Rouge is listed under the 'Coming Soon' section of the website... oh and there is no vintage year on the bottle.  Okay enough ranting, B and I decided to open this Columbia Valley red blend this evening and give her a whirl.  

B opened and directly poured two glasses, we let them sit for about 15 minutes and began to enjoy them.  Generally I aerate red blends like this, but surprisingly this red blend did not need it.  Eccose's Rouge is garnet in color and smells like a cab merlot blend might.  The swirl test produces very few light, thin legs.  Rouge starts strong with an almost airy yet dry finish.  Initial tastes include cherry, tobacco, spice and leather.  This wine rounds out mid pallet with buttery bursts of berry and finishes delightfully dry.  I found myself making little awkward slurping sounds after each swill to savor the dry finish... I then found B making fun of me for it :)

We drank this with our chili dinner and it went really well.  I think this is a very drinkable wine which would go well with most foods.  Ecosse's Rouge would be a great inexpensive option to serve at a dinner party.  Overall, I will purchase this bottle again.  I am not sure where else to purchase this bottle, but if you're in Portland, just stop by John's Market and try a bottle.

If anyone knows anything about Ecosse, I would love to learn more about the winery, so please write me.

Until next time...

xoxoxox
KEGW