In case you have not noticed, summer has taken its leave. We may get another nice day or two, but the time has come, on the bright side, to put our minds towards big red wines. Burrowing Owl Estate Winery has by now a fairly long history of ground-breaking high-quality wines. The new releases of a cabernet sauvignon-syrah blend called Athene, $35, and their Bordeaux-style Meritage, $45, will do nothing but enhance their reputation. The Athene has luscious dark fruit flavours, already accessible, and wrapped in a great structure of finer tannins and a great finish. The Meritage has a bit more body, and has similar characteristics of dark fruits, but is at this point a bigger wine, denser, and a bit more powerful, with blackberry and ripe plum taking over from the Athene’s raspberry and licorice notes. Both well worth seeking out, and if you must drink it right way, please do decant. You won’t be sorry.
