Drink Colorado wine

We’ve been waiting for months for a Colorado red to come out of Infinite Monkey Theorem’s Quonset hut. In early July, winemaker Ben Parsons bottled the highly anticipated 2008 petit verdot, sourced from Grand Valley grapes.

The wait to enjoy one of his Colorado reds is not over just yet, though.

This wine is showcasing the promise that has come out of every red from Infinite Monkey, but it is really young, still settling in the bottle. This isn’t a wine that will cellar for a decade or more, but if you have the patience to wait a year or three, methinks you’ll be rewarded big time. At a minimum, stash it until the fall since this big wine will be better suited for slightly cooler weather.

For those who don’t have the patience, air this wine out. Put it in a decanter. Let it sit on the counter (in an air conditioned room), glass cork popped, for a few hours.

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When you pour it, marvel at the color. Petit verdot has long been a blending grape in Bordeaux-style wines because of its deep, inky purple look. This petit verdot carries all of that thick coloring, making a wine that is purple, bordering on black. It's as see through as a brick wall.

On the nose is a punch of alcohol with a mulch, leather background. The black fruit is hiding beneath. Air and time will help bring the fruit out from underneath. The same goes for the taste. If you just buy this bottle, open and drink, the tannins will overshadow everything.

Let it sit — either by cellar aging or aerating — and the tasty blackberries and figs will start to come through, as will some herbal notes. The more air, the more complex the fruits become. Plus, a run through the decanter will wake up the long finish that is petit verdot’s hallmark. Think strong, dark French press coffee or uber dark chocolate, and expect it to stay awhile.

I'm excited to see where the progression of the rest of this bottle goes tomorrow.

Who will like this wine: Winos who aren’t afraid of some ink and a bold wine that’ll showcase some serious personality.

For more:
2008 Infinite Monkey Theorem Winery petit verdot
13.7% alcohol by volume
Grapes from the Grand Valley AVA
Price: $36
8.5 points on ColoradoWino.com’s completely arbitrary 11-point wine review rating system

Other Infinite Monkey reviews:

• 2008 Malbec
• 2008 Chardonnay

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