Mad Dogs & Englishmen 2005
Mad Dogs & Englishmen 2005, WBW #35
$9.99
Wine label said:
Southern Spain is HOT! Well bred wines like Mad Dogs & Englishmen can only be made with expert vineyard management. It is big, bold and beautiful in the modern Spanish style. By blending noble grapes with outstanding local variety, Monastrell, we have achieved elegance and structure on top of rare depth and ripeness of flavour. Try some… it won’t bite!
WebWino says:
Clearly I’m missing the joke in the name “Mad Dogs & Englishmen.” I mean, it is a clever name for a wine, albeit peculiar for a wine from Spain. If you Google the name you’ll discover Joe Cocker’s live album at Amazon, an improv comedy duo, an ad agency that closed its doors in 2005, a play written in 1932 lampooning British colonial life, a Doctor Who novel and it was even a movie.
Clearly there is some heritage to the name, Mad dogs & Englishmen. Aha! Thanks to Jerry Hall at WineWaves (shout out to a fellow Nashvillian), I have the answer to my quandry:
It was Noel Coward who penned the lampoon tune in 1932 what shares the name of this wine. The irreverant wit Coward was adept at poking fun at the snobbery of British aristocracy.
“At twelve noon the natives swoon and no further work is done, But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.”
Mad Dogs & Englishmen the wine is another of the “wine-antisnob” Peter Click’s imports, this one from Jumilla Spain. Jumilla is hot and dry, the kind of place where at midday one would be well advised to retreat and take a siesta.
Well, I can tell you this, it was a wise move to get crazy in the midday sun and work on the vines. This wine is pretty good. The blend is 50% Monastrell (otherwise known as Mourvedre grapes) 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Shiraz. At first I noticed the bite that the label told me wouldn’t happen, however as it opened up it really smoothed out. I tasted a fruitiness on the attack, and earthiness on the finish. Good ripe wine. Huzzah!
This wine review is a part of Wine Blogging Wednesday #35, Passionate Spain. Thanks to my trusty fellow reviewers, Wine Doc and Grape Lady (below) for sending in their reviews as well!