Tag Archives: Wente

Mini-reviews 135: Bonny Doon, Bota Box, Wente, Cameron Hughes

Bonny DoonReviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month; four California wines for July.

• Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare 2019 ($15, sample, 13.5%): Something is missing in this rose, released after Randall Grahm sold his legendary company in January. It’s not bad – some watermelon fruit, some minerality – but it’s not the top-notch rose of vintages past.

• Bota Box Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($18/3-liter box, sample, 12.5%): Decent California white that works out to less than $5 a bottle, though it’s nothing more than that. Not sweet but not especially tart, either, with a bit of green herb and citrus. There’s an odd grapiness in the back that makes me think it was blended with something like French colombard to stretch the sauvingon blanc.

• Wente Cabernet Sauvignon Southern Hills 2018 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): Ordinary (if well-made) supermarket-style California red from a quality producer. Not much in the way of tannins or acidity — just lots of very ripe black fruit, lots of oak, and that sort of smooth finish that focus groups prefer.

• Cameron Hughes Lot 676 2016 ($14, sample, 14.3%): Heavy, rich, hot, and full California white blend, made in the classic “Trying to get 94 points” style. There’s some fruit (stone, lime?), and a surprising amount of oak. Given its age, the style, and that Hughes buys what other producers can’t move, this may well be a pricey bottle that was sitting in a tank somewhere, unloved and unsold.

Photo: “Summer Hols Day 3 – Rain and Wine” by Ian Livesey is licensed under CC PDM 1.0

Wine of the week: Wente Sauvingon Blanc Louis Mel 2016

wente sauvignon blancThe Wente sauvignon blanc is a California white wine that speaks to terroir and quality

The Wente sauvignon blanc is a top-notch California white wine that’s widely available – even in some grocery stores. So why has it been seven years since it appeared as the wine of the week?

Blame it on the wine business.

Pricing, for one, is incredibly screwy. The suggested retail price is $18. It’s $16 on wine-searcher.com, $15 at wine.com, and as little as $11 in Dallas. Given that I try to keep the wine of the week at less than $15, and preferably $10 to $12, how do I decide what the real price is so I can use it?

This time, though, quality wins out. The current vintage of the Wente sauvignon blanc (sample, 13%) is classic California sauvingon blanc, the kind of wine that speaks to terroir but has been shunted aside in the rush to make everything taste like a New Zealand sauvignon blanc grapefruit.

The Wente is so far removed from New Zealand — and even some French sauvingon blancs – that many people won’t believe that’s what it is. But that’s exactly what it is, in all its grassy aroma glory – the smell of a freshly mowed lawn. It’s crisp and refreshing, but not simple, and there is just enough citrus flavor (lemongrass?) to hold the wine together.

Highly recommended, and areminder that not all wine has to taste alike –and that it’s not supposed to taste alike.