Tasting Notes

A Napa Cab…from Mendoza??

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Well, obviously not. But this has all the traits of a quality Napa Cab without the high price tag… Check out my tasting notes below.

Catena 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, High Mountain Vines, Mendoza

Catena 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, High Mountain Vines, Mendoza:

Better known for their arsenal of Malbecs, this High Mountain Cab from Catena is some pretty serious juice! The nose is super aromatic showing black currant, cola, plum and tobacco notes. It’s a big and coating wine on the palate displaying its youth. Yet the tannins are fairly smooth and the finish is long and dry. The best review I can give is that my wife thought this was a pretty expensive Napa Cab…and she knows her Napa Cabs!

More on this wine:

From Bodegas Catena Zapata comes this rich, dense 100% Caberent Sauvignon that they call “High Mountain Vines.” The grapes are sourced from three of their vineyards at very high elevations; La Piramide Vineyard, 3,117 feet, Domingo Vineyard, 3,675 feet and Adrianna Vineyard, 4,757. The high altitude means brilliant sunlight for ripening and cool temperatures at night for slow, even development of flavors and complexity. The Catena family has been producing outstanding Argentine wines for four generations and they have learned the best methods for handling these grapes. No cold fermentation and a 12-16 day maceration followed by 16 months of aging in French and American oak about 30% new.

What’s The Deal With These High End Chilean Reds?

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Recently I had the opportunity to taste some of the “best” wines that come out of Chile. Many Chilean wineries will produce a high end Carmenere red blend that usually includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and possibly some Petit Verdot, Malbec or Syrah. Caremenere was one of the original grapes allowed in the production of Bordeaux wines, but after falling out of favor in France it has found a new home in Chile. It can exude the softness of Merlot, but is typically a little more rustic and spicy. The inexpensive Carmenere wines tend to be dirty and chewy while the high end wines can be super smooth and lush carrying just a pleasant hint of that earthiness.

After tasting a variety of these top tier Chilean reds (such as the Montes Purple Angel, Vina la Rosa Ossa, Errazuriz Kai, Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta and a handful of others) I am left with one reaction… Meh. For you Simpons fans, I need not say more. For the non Simpsons fans, Meh is a feeling of indifference or boredom…a verbal shoulder shrug if you will. Aside from the Clos Apalta, these wines were all just OK. They were rich, smooth and good expressions of the Chilean terroir (a word that encapsulates soil, climate and location), but they also tend to be super expensive! These wines can range anywhere from around $50 to over $100…so for them to just elicit a Meh reaction is frankly not good enough.

For a $50-100 wine I want to be wowed, I want to be excited, I want my taste buds to dance and sing and to praise me for having put something so delicious into my mouth. But most of all I want to feel like I am getting my money’s worth, and at the end of the day I don’t think that’s the case. Granted, I didn’t actually buy theses wines… but if I did I am fairly certain I’d be more than a little pissed off. Having shared some of these bottles with friends and family, most people thought these wines were in the $20-25 range. So to rationalize price tags 2 to 4 times that amount is just not realistic.

So aside from the Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta, which is probably Chile’s finest juice, stick with the value reds from Chile. For $15-20 you can grab some great Cabernet and Carmenere wines from these same wineries that are not that far off from the quality level of their top tier offerings. Some of my favorites right now are The Seeker Cab, Veramonte Primus, the Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexandre line, Santa Ema’s Reserve & Ampus lines and the Santa Rita Medalla Real line of wines. Remember, just because a wine is expensive doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily great, just that it was intended to be.

Another Killer CDP (Chateauneuf du Pape)!

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Brotte Collection Châteauneuf Du Pape DOMAINE BARVILLE

This is a wonderfully true expression of CDP. It seems a bit guarded on the nose, still a young wine. But all of the dark brooding fruit, peppery spice and hints of olive and smoke show themselves on the palate and keep on going through the long and dry finish. It is a big and powerful wine now with dense fruit and gripping tannins, but you can tell this is going to be fantastic over the next decade or longer!

Fun Facts: The Brotte family runs the largest negociant firm in Chateauneuf. Bottlers of the Pere Anselm brand among others, they also are owners of a few prime Domaines in the region and this is one of them. Domaine Barville is a 36 acre vineyard located on the heights of Châteauneuf du Pape, with two of the oldest and best terroirs of the appellation. The vines are 50 years of age now and give full expression. Famed Oenological Consultant Philippe Cambie oversees the winemaking. A blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre, aged for 12 months in foudres.

Chateauneuf du Pape 2010 Domaine Barville, Brotte

California Wine Classification of 2012

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Recently I have been teaching a wine class along with a colleague of mine (Josh Farrell of Wine Express) and we were going over the 1855 Bordeaux Wine Classification. For those who don’t know what that is, over 150 years ago professionals from the wine industry ranked the wines of Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the most prominent grapes used) according to a certain Château’s reputation, price and of course on the quality of wine.

However there were some politics involved and many equivalent quality wines did not get the top distinction because they didn’t have the brand recognition nor did they demand the ludicrously outrageous prices. Four wines at that time (now five wines) were awarded the elite distinction of Premier Cru Classification and this system is still in tact today. After discussing this in class my friend Glenn had a great question…”so what are the Premier Cru wines of California?” That got me thinking…

While California has never classified wine this way, there are certainly a small group of wines that are considered elite. If you have ever heard the term “Cult Cab”, many of those wines would fall in that top classification category. Cult Cabs are typically an extremely low production, high quality wine that you cannot even purchase unless you wait years to get on a mailing list or go to auction and pay 2-3X what the winery retails it for. They can cost anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars and while they are some of the best wines you may ever taste in your life, they can also be the most disappointing.

The reason being is the expectations are set so high for a wine of this nature, that it is almost impossible for it to deliver. Think about the first time you were able to afford to go to that fancy five star restaurant that you had heard so much about. By the time you finally were able to dine there, did it live up to everything you had envisioned? Usually the answer is no… how could it?! With expectations that high, unless it is an utterly life changing experience it almost has to be somewhat of a disappointment. That’s not to say these wines are disappointing, as they are arguably some of the best wines produced in the world. But when shelling out that kind of dough, it’s tough to monetize the level of enjoyment of a wine.

With all of that said,  I have listed below what I consider the “Premier Cru” Wines of California, the “Grand Cru” Wines (a small step below in terms of quality, price and a bit larger production and availability) and my “Value Cru” Wines ($20-25 wines that over-deliver on a Quality-Price Ratio, or QPR, and are consistent values every vintage). The Value Cru Wines are readily available at most Westchester wine stores as well as online.

Premier Cru

Harlan/Bond Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville

Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Joseph Phelps Insignia, Napa Valley (Top Pick)

Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville

Verite, Sonoma

Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag’s Leap District

Grand Cru (2nd Growth)

Ridge Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains

Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville

Pride Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa/Sonoma (Top Pick)

Opus One, Oakville

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley

Duckhorn Merlot, Napa Valley

Value Cru

BV Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Rodney Strong Estate Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma (Top Pick)

Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma

Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Buehler Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Sterling SVR(Platinum) Reserve Red, Napa Valley

The Latest Red Blend from the Creative Minds of BV!

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Beaulieu Vineyard Beaurouge Napa Valley 09

For those BV Tapestry fans out there, you don’t want to miss the latest red blend from Mr. Stambor. It has a softer feel to it, and the fruit is a little more approachable rating it higher on the drinkability scale than the Tap, which usually needs a bit of aging to develop. Lots of lush dark fruit blend in nicely with the vanilla, smoke and notes of brown sugar and mocha. The tannins have already softened a bit making this just a smooth and lovely wine.

Fun Facts:  Here’s the latest from Beaulieu Vineyards; a red blend from all of their vast vineyard lots throughout Napa Valley. Winemaker Jeffrey Stambor put his blending skills to the test with this very unique and delicious cuvee. The blend starts with 32% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Zinfandel. Then he adds 9% Syrah, 6% Petite Sirah, 5% Sangiovese plus a dash of Carignan, Grenache, Petite Verdot and even a touch of Touriga Nacional. All of the varietals are carefully vinified and the blend is aged 12 months in 50% American, 35% French and 15% Hungarian oak barrels.

BV BeauRouge 2009 Red Blend, Napa Valley

One of the Best Under the Radar Chateauneuf du Pape’s in town!

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Chateauneuf du Pape 2010 Cuvee Capelane, Domaine de L'Arnesque

This is truly an intricate and delightful CDP from l’Arnesque. The intense aromas are full of ripe raspberry, black cherry and peppery spice with hints of smoked meat. It is somewhat delicate yet has a dense core of fruit that carries from the palate through the long and lovely finish. It’s drinking well as a young wine now, but this should evolve for several years with age. – WWG

Background info: The Biscarrat family have been wine growers in the area for 6 generations. Marie and Julien Biscarrat (sister and brother) took over the domain in 2005 and changed the name to Domaine de l’Arnesque, after the famed lieu-dit Arnesque in Chateauneuf du Pape. This is where their 12 acre vineyard is located, on the southwestern hill-side of the Mont Redon plateau. The Cuvee Capelane is made from very old vine fruit from that vineyard, up to 100 years of age. 100% Grenache aged in oaks vats for 12 months.

Chateauneuf du Pape 2010 Cuvee Capelane, Domaine de L’Arnesque