Have you ever cooked with beef cheeks? I recently ordered beef cheeks from Two Rivers Specialty Meats and they are the perfect cut of meat for fall stews. When subjected to long, slow cooking methods, beef cheeks are moist, tender and easily shredded with a fork. This beef cheek stew, served with roasted vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes, was a great accompaniment for the 2016 El Esteco Cabernet Sauvignon.
2016 El Esteco Cabernet Sauvignon $22.95
The grapes for this wine were grown in the Calchaqui Valley in Argentina where they were hand-harvested before undergoing maceration in stainless steel tanks, at temperatures of 5°C. Both native and selected yeasts were used for fermentation, a process which took 25 days. The wine also underwent malolactic fermentation in first, second and third use, American and French oak barrels. It was further aged in the same oak barrels for 12 months before being bottled, unfiltered, and aged for 6 months prior to release.
After two hours in the decanter there are aromas of baking spice, plum, blackcurrant and licorice. This is a dry, full bodied wine with medium+ acidity and medium, grippy tannins. The palate offers good concentration with sweet black cherries, blackcurrant, licorice, baking spice and soft, herbaceous green pepper notes, which create a savory, medium finish.