Hi, friends! 

At EDA, we’re always looking for new wine to bring into the restaurant. Owners Michael and Angelina Burke love wine, and are continuously on the hunt for original, delicious wines to offer our guests. Each season we re-evaluate our wine offerings, make some changes, bring in new vintages, and strive to make each iteration of our wine list better than before.

In this new wine profile series on the EDA Blog, we want to share with you our thoughts on new additions to our wine list, elaborate on why we choose each one, and how we recommend enjoying it! 

Today we wanted to share with you a new wine we’ve brought in all the way from Argentina! We’re excited for our guests to try it and make it a special part of your next meal with us -- we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

The Wine

This week we want to feature our newest addition, Antigal Winery and Estate’s Aduentus Mediterráneo 2015. It’s a bold, complex wine composed of three grape varieties: 40% Malbec, 30% Tempranillo, and 30% Syrah. The grapes for their Aduentus Mediterráneo are grown in the Uco Valley, in the Mendoza region of Argentina, on a family-owned estate.  

About The Winery

Antigal Winery can be found in the historic Mendoza region of Argentina, outside the city of Maipu on an estate dating back to 1897.

The owners completely refurbished the winery after purchasing the estate in 1997, and built a 21st century winery on the existing foundation of the original winemaking estate. From their first bottling in 2005, the winery has grown to produce a number of wines that feature the grapes harvested on their estate. 

Their vineyards can be found from 2,500-3,600 feet above sea level, and despite being right in the middle of the Andes Mountains, all of their grapes thrive in their warm, dry climate. Every vineyard is drip-irrigated from a reservoir that contains pure snow melt from the nearby mountains. The family-owned Estate has over 300 acres of fields, and continues to expand across the largest winemaking region in the country. Producing some of the most delicious red, white, and sparkling wines in the region, we are excited to offer the fruits of their labor! 

Each grape is handpicked and collected, and after harvesting the grapes are chilled, hand-sorted, and pressed. Once pressed, the juice is left to ferment in steel tanks and aged 14 months in oak barrels. The wine is bottled, stored to encourage additional fermentation, and then packed and distributed across Europe, North America, and Asia.

The winemakers pride themselves on using quite advanced wine making machinery that utilizes gravity-flow pressing of their grapes, which means no crushing using mechanical crushers and pumps. The winemakers say this results in a softer, more delicate press that ultimately yields more flavor and tannins and a richer color extracted from the grapes during press. 

Why We Love It + Tasting Notes

This particular wine just has something about it.

We enjoy the bold, deep red in the glass, and the blend of grapes results in a dry, intensely flavored red wine that is a pleasure to drink. 

The malbec grapes contribute a silky, luscious taste of tart blackberries and fruit, tempranillo grapes add notes of cherry, plum, dark and deeply rich cedar and tobacco, and the syrah grapes bring the spice, the inky deep tones and sharp finish. Together, this wine is well-balanced, and exactly what you’re looking for in a red blend. We’re huge fans of Argentinian wine, and can’t wait to try Antigal’s other offerings. 

Pairing Suggestions with Our Menu Offerings

We recommend pairing this wine with beef or lamb, and it can stand up to hard shelled cheeses like parmesan, or grana padano. Its earthy, spicy notes are especially delicious with roasted vegetables, as well. Enjoy this wine as a perfect compliment to a special dinner.

From our menu, we recommend the following:

Appetizer

To start, our Burrata and Tomato with grilled bread, and our Chop Board with our selection of fine cheeses and cured meats, is an excellent beginning to a meal with Antigal’s Aduentus Mediterranéo. We also love this unique wine with earthy, funky and indulgent truffle fries. 

Entrée

For a main course, our go-to pairing is our famous Braised Short Rib entrée. Slow cooked until our short ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, and served over creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes, our house-made demi glace has layers of deep, rich flavor perfect to stand up next to this wine.

Another choice, our Vegetarian Bowl, begins with roasted cauliflower and butternut squash, and served with a delicious mushroom duxelles (an addictive mix of finely chopped wild mushrooms, walnuts, herbs, and onion) over herbed brown rice. It’s all topped with creamy, cool avocado slices, cherry tomatoes for a burst of freshness, and grated Grana Padano cheese. 

Dessert

For dessert, nothing but chocolate will do! If you haven’t tried our Scrumpdiddlyumptious, now is the time. Our signature flourless chocolate cake, served with a raspberry sauce and topped with whipped cream, is to-die-for as a chocolate lover. The richness, and deep chocolate flavor, is the perfect accompaniment to your last sips of the 2015 Aduentus Mediterranéo. 

EDA Wine Boxes

It is also important to note that this wine will be available in our Red Wine Boxes this fall. We launched our wine boxes this summer in an effort to share our passion for delicious wine with our guests, at an incredible value. Since our dining room is closed and our dining experience has changed this year in the face of the pandemic, we wanted to bring our customers something extra. 

This fall, our wine box program continues to offer 6 hand-selected vintages from our collection, but this season we are concentrating on red wine. Available for purchase through ChowNow or by calling us directly, our red wine boxes are available for $99, well below its value! Enjoy some of our favorites and enjoy over a delicious meal, for a special occasion, or savor just because! 

We hope you enjoy this new addition to our wine list! Please let us know when you try it, and your thoughts. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

Until next time,

EDA Team