Sofía. (Insert here emoji face with hearts as eyes.) One of my favorite wines, this bottle a gift from a dear friend for the last year of my twenties, more than worthy of my inaugural wine post.

When it’s up there among your favorites, you want to give it the attention it deserves, make sure you have something yummy to accompany this jewel. But when you’ve worked hard all day, you also want to go directly home and just drink it. So I came to a compromise with myself: I’ll buy something on my walk home. The fridge is always stocked with cheese, so I thought a baguette and some tuna would do just fine. A genius idea occurred that I could talk a sushi bar into giving me a chunk of raw tuna and I’d be set.**

Food prepared, bottle open, my new Riedel Pinot Noir glasses filled and my man and I together after a long day. This is Sofía’s ideal pairing.

My take: Sofía Pinot Noir 2013. The kind of wine that impresses, but one you don’t want to share between so many glasses, preferring a more intimate moment. A beautiful garnet coloring with fresh black fruit aromas and herbal hints. Cherry and blackberry flavors in the mouth are accompanied by spiced floral notes. This wine is all about balance, everything in sync to make a wine that stands out. It’s nice and fresh, but semi-serious, one that makes me happy. A Pinot Noir that needs food, a good conversation and soft indie music in the background. As far as cellar potential, yes, it can age, but never stays in my cava long enough for me to really find out… It’s got drinkability and elegance, an absolutely delicious wine from Chile’s Casablanca Valley.

The official WSET-style tasting: Sofía Pinot Noir 2013. Clear and garnet colored in the glass with a medium intensity. The nose is clean, of medium intensity and full of black fruit aromas such as blueberries, blackberries and black cherries with herbal notes. Developing. Dry in mouth with medium acidity, body and tannins. The alcohol and intensity are medium (+), with spiced floral notes in the mouth and fruity flavors such as cherry and blackberry with a hint of fig. Juicy with a medium length. A high-priced good wine with beautiful balance that is ready to drink, but can age.

Cheers!

**I know the sushi bar pre-portions out their tuna fillets for a sashimi order. I know this. So I’ll just buy it as if it were sashimi, but ask them not to cut it. Simple enough, right? Well you see, often in Chile, restaurants can’t think outside of the box. “But we don’t sell just the chunk, we sell the sashimi,” sushi bar dude says. “Yes, but as it’s already portioned out, and as it’ll save you time and I’ll be paying for the tuna, cutting price included, it’s really a win win situation…unless there is some type of health issue??” I reply. “No, not at all….but we don’t offer that on the menu and we don’t do favors…” dude says. I could go on, but I think the frustration is clear. SELL ME THE PIECE OF TUNA, UNCUT! IT’S SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT AND WILL SAVE YOU TIME. Chilean restaurants, get it together! In the end, I did get that piece of tuna and seared it to perfection to accompany my lovely Sofía, but I had to promise I would never come back and ask for that “favor” again…and in the end, I cut it into slices…