Two words on this one: wow! Alright, disclosure time: 1. “wow” is not two words. 2. This isn’t really a grocery wine (unless your local grocery store is in an extremely well heeled area of Australia). We managed to obtain a babysitter awhile back and while sniffing around for a new restaurant to try out I came across a reference to a members only club in downtown San Diego. On a whim, I picked up the phone and asked if I could come in for dinner. After bouncing around to a few people on the phone the director of member services agreed to leave some guest passes for us with the hostess. Sweet! When we arrived, I was surprised to discover a jacket was required. Huh? Listen, you might think this makes sense what with the members only thing but this is San Diego. Dressing up here means wearing shoes instead of flip flops. Luckily, they had a very nice jacket available for me, which although it was three sizes too big, definitely lent an air of respectability to Amy and I, which was needed since all of the other patrons were old enough to be our parents.
Now that we were dressed up we realized we would have to take our dining selections and most importantly our wine selection up a notch. “Waiter! Please send over the sommelier!” The sommelier turned out to be a very cool guy who had recently returned from a tasting trip to Australia. “Australian cabs are where it’s at! And by the way, I know a tailor who can help you out with that jacket…”
The John’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon was selected so we rolled up our sleeves (literally in my case) and got to work. Again, two words: wow! Some hints of chocolate and mint were unexpected but awesome. Overall, extremely smooth and drinkable and a great pairing with our steaks. The restaurant’s price was $80, which definitely puts it outside our standard price range, but since I’d already got a free jacket out of the meal we felt like we could splurge.
I have no idea where this might be available here in the states (other than at select members only restaurants) but if you spot it somewhere please let us know. Even at $80 I would buy it again in a heartbeat!