Tag Archives: cabernet sauvignon

Wine of the week: Stephen Vincent Cabernet Sauvignon 2011

stephen vincent cabernet sauvignon 2011The Wine Curmudgeon has fond memories of the Avalon cabernet sauvignon, which carried a Napa appellation and cost just $10 or $12 in the bad old days before the recession, when great cheap wine was becoming increasingly difficult to find. The Avalon is closer to $15 or $17 these days, replaced by a $10 or $12 California appellation version which isn’t quite the same thing.

Fortunately, the Stephen Vincent ($11, purchased, 13.8%) does a fine job of doing what the old Napa Avalon did. It’s a solid entry-level cabernet, with lots of black fruit and a flavor somewhere toward the back that can be described as chocolate for people who look for that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, there are enough tannins and acid to be varietally correct, so that it’s more than just another tarted up wine designed to please a grocery store focus group. The Vincent’s great strength is that is well made enough so that those of us who want cabernet quality in their cabernet will probably enjoy just it just as much as people who want their red wines to be “smooth.”

Drink this with any red meat dish, and especially summer beef grilled on a backyard barbecue. And don’t be afraid to chill it a touch, so that the wine isn’t the same temperature as the back yard. Otherwise, you’ll miss some of the qualities that make the Vincent so enjoyable.

Winebits 339: TechCrunch on wine and more lawsuits

techcrunch wine ? What about those wine menus? TechCrunch, for those of us who are sort of computer geeky, offers mostly reliable tech news, reviews, and the like. Which made last week’s post about the WineGlass phone app so odd, and not just because Josh Constine, who wrote it, kept referring to restaurant wine lists as wine menus. The couple of dozen comments (including one from CellarTracker’s Eric LeVine) were at times snarky and mean, and included plugs for other phone wine apps. It’s as if I reviewed a wine here, and everyone who makes similar wine saw it and recommended their wine instead. The other thing that was fun? The quotes from the app’s creator that his effort will help end restaurant wine ripoffs. At the risk of sounding especially curmudgeonly, there’s about as much chance of that happening as there is of me writing for the Wine Spectator. For one thing, none of the hundreds of previous wine apps have made a difference; for another, most restaurants don’t care, or the system would have changed years ago.

? Doing the duck walk: The lawsuit between Duckhorn, the high-end Napa winery, and a Long Island winery called Duck Walk, which was settled 11 years ago, has reappeared, reports On Reserve, a wine law blog that is essential reading for anyone who gets a giggle about these things. The details are, not surprisingly, difficult to understand, and seem to have something to do with whether Duck Walk is complying with the terms of the settlement. And, lest those of us who aren’t attorneys become even more confused, this complaint is completely different from Duckhorn’s current action against Duck Dynasty.

? Don’t count on .wine just yet: The Wine Curmudgeon, who recently checked to see if he could buy the winecurmudgeon.wine domain name, has run into a hurdle — the French. They are furious that anyone will be able to buy a .wine name, which they claim violates the spirit of the various trade agreements they have negotiated to prevent non-French producers from giving their wines French names, like Argentine Bordeaux. For instance, what would prevent someone from selling non-French sparkling wine under the champagne.wine domain? This would imply they’re selling French wine, even though trade agreements mandate that only sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France can be called Champagne. Boycotts have been threatened, which will probably dissuade me from buying the name. I want the French to read the blog.

Expensive wine 63: Volta Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Volta Cabernet Sauvignon The email was straightforward: Would the Wine Curmudgeon review the Volta cabernet sauvignon ($60, sample, 14.5%), even though it wasn’t the kind of wine usually featured on the blog? “A review in your monthly expensive wine feature would be great if that works out for June,” wrote the winery representative. “I wouldn’t dare insist it be a positive one, only that you share your true thoughts with your readers.”

Which is what the Wine Curmudgeon does anyway, so a few considerations about the Volta cabernet sauvignon:

? It’s a good example of this kind of pricey Napa Valley wine, rich and full with a burst of sweet berry fruit, very smooth tannins, and a chalky finish. The grapes are top quality, but you’d expect that from a wine at this price. The oak is relatively subdued, and it’s not as over-extracted and over-ripe as many similarly priced and styled wines from this part of the world. Having said that, it’s not subtle, either, and is firmly part of the post-modern wine movement.

? The wine is hot, which means the alcohol shows more than it should. It’s most noticeable when you smell it, when there is a whiff of something that isn’t fruity; and on the finish, when it’s almost like a sharp bite. This isn’t unusual for this kind of wine, because it’s made with very ripe grapes that have more sugar to be turned into alcohol during fermentation. I don’t like hot wine, but many people consider it a good thing. I don’t know any, but I do know they are out there.

? This bottle did not hold up well after we opened it. After 30 minutes in the glass, the wine started to fade and it lost much of its fruitiness. I don’t know if it was just this bottle, or if the vintage has started to get old. This style of wine, given the grapes’ ripeness and the techniques used to make it, doesn’t always age well.

Wine of the week: Errazuriz Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserva 2010

Wine of the week: Errazuriz Cabernet SauvignonThere is almost no way that this red wine, from a well-known Chilean producer, should have impressed me. It’s too old for a cheap wine and too many cheap Chilean wines these days are dumbed down for the so-called American palate.

But the Errazuriz ($11, purchased, 13.5%) was neither of those. It was great Chilean cheap wine from the old days, a decade or so ago when you could go to any supermarket and pay $10 for a red like this or a sauvignon blanc like Veramonte and get more than your money’s worth. Chilean wines were always candidates for the $10 Hall of Fame in those days.

But not as much anymore. For one thing, the quality of the grapes used to make the wines declined as Chilean wine became more popular and more grapes were needed. For another, the marketing wise guys got their hands on the wines, and focus grouped them to death, so that they started to taste the same.

The Errazuiz didn’t have as much black fruit as I expected, but it was still more new world in style than old — save for the fact that it is heavy enough that it needs food. Plus, it was mostly balanced, with tannins and acid in the right places, another pleasant surprise. This is a nice value, and especially for an older $10 wine. Shows what Chile can still do when its winemakers aren’t busy chasing trends.

 

Mini-reviews 54: Beaujolais Nouveau, Cousino-Macul, McManis, 14 Hands

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month.

? Georges Dub uf Beaujolais Nouveau 2013 ($8, purchased, 12%): Much better this vintage — less banana and more oomph, including acidity that hasn’t been there for several years. It’s still not as grapey as it should be, but decent enough cheap wine. Good to see that this annual tradition is worth buying again.

? Cousi o-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon Antiguas Reservas 2010 ($17, sample, 14%). Chilean red has more in common with California Central Coast style, meaning lots of juicy black fruit and a little herbal aroma, than it does with many Chilean wines.

? McManis Viognier 2012 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): Oily, very fruity (peaches?), and a little bitter on the back — decent enough, but not near the quality of the rest of McManis’ wines. California and viognier continue to be a difficult combination.

? 14 Hands Hot to Trot White 2010 ($10, purchased, 13%): Nowhere near the quality of the 14 Hands red blend, this Washington state effort has an unpleasant finish and is uneven and disjointed, with an odd fruitiness. Very disappointing.

Expensive wine 51: Stags’ Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2010

Stags' Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2010One of the the things that California winemakers rarely have to worry about is weather. It ?s almost always ideal for growing grapes, and is one reason why the technical quality of California wine is the best in the world. Never a flaw, never a missed beat.

That wasn ?t the case in 2010, which was unusually cool and even wet. This meant that winemakers couldn ?t let the fruit stay on the vine until it ripened and then ripened some more, the process that helps produce the telltale richness and fruitiness that expensive California wine is famous for.

Some winemakers made up the difference with their bag of tricks; I ?ve tasted reds and even whites with high alcohol and extracted fruit from the 2010 vintage, which wasn ?t supposed to happen. But we need to get those scores, don ?t we?

And then there are wines like the Stag ?s Leap ($53, sample, 13.9%), which tastes like one would expect given the weather: less fruity and less rich (though, in keeping with the winery ?s style, still reasonable alcohol levels). It smells like typical Napa Valley cabernet, fruity and spicy, but it doesn ?t taste like it. The black fruit is subdued and the tannins are subtle and stay well in the back. The wine lacks a red Bordeaux ?s earthiness, but tasting this blind might confuse more than one person.

This is red meat wine for Father ?s Day — and especially for dads who don ?t judge wine before they taste it or expect all pricey California reds to taste the same every time. Vintage difference is not necessarily a bad thing.

More about Father ?s Day wine:
? Father’s Day wine 2013
? Father’s Day wine 2012
? Expensive wine 44: Patricia Green Yamhill County Pinot Noir 2010

Mini-reviews 32: Beaujolais nouveau, Mondavi, Martin Codax, Kung Fu Girl

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

? Georges Dub uf Beaujolais Nouveau 2012 ($8, purchased): Grape juice, and not especially good grape juice. No varietal character; perhaps the most poorly made nouvueau in decades.

? Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($135, sample): Aged well enough — 15 percent alcohol isn’t noticeable, lots of dark fruit left, and acid still shows — but anyone who paid three figures for this five years ago is probably very disappointed.

? Mart n C dax Albari o 2011 ($15, sample): Spanish white is always consistent and varietally correct, though there are $10 albarinos that deliver similar clean, soft citrus results,

? Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2010 ($10, purchased): Look for lemon-lime fruit and even some oiliness, but always tastes too sweet to me (which is odd for a Charles Smith wine).