Wine Review: Matchbook The Arsonist 2014 Red Blend

For information on Matchbook, you can read all about their great story in my article "A Brief History of Matchbook Wine Company".

The Arsonist is a subset of Matchbook Wine Company's Matchbook label. It's kinda like their higher tier of wines, and there's only two right now: Chardonnay and Red Blend. The labels feature Prometheus, the Titan from Greek mythology that stole fire from Zeus and gave it to us mortals. 

Back in 2015 I reviewed the 2012 Arsonist Red Blend and the 2013 Arsonist Chardonnay, and now in 2017 I'm reviewing the 2014 Arsonist Red Blend and the 2015 Arsonist Chardonnay.

The 2014 Red Blend is 52% Petit Verdot, 25% Malbec, and 23% Cabernet Sauvignon out of Dunnigan Hills, California. It was aged for 26 months in European and American oak. 7,100 cases were produced and it has a final ABV of 14.3%.

The color of the wine is garnet. On the nose it's exactly how I remember the 2012. So here's exactly what I said about it: Both toasty and clean-cut, fresh wood. There's also cassis, chocolate, dried apricots and... is that root beer? Yes it is. To me it's more along the lines of a Barq's than Mug or A&W. And now that's all I can think of when I smell it. Thanks, Obama.

In the mouth it's lighter than the 2012 and has more acidity. But what makes it better than the 2012 is the liveliness of its flavors on the palate. There's blackberries, strawberries, grape soda, chocolate, and root beer. On the finish the grape soda pops with the acidity, and there's a bit of heat that warms your mouth and belly.

It's such a good wine on its own, but it's got to be a great pairing with ribs. I recommend this son of a bitch.

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $22

Rating: 4/5 = Recommended (what does that mean?)

The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.