Rock & Vine Three Ranches 2005 Cabernet

To be classified as a Cabernet Sauvignon,  California wines must contain at least 70% of that varietal.  This one has 79% cab, 13% merlot, 5% cab franc, 2% petite verdot and 1% malbec — truly a blend.  And, the grapes are from three ranches are in Solano, Napa and Sonoma Counties… hence the name.

Tonight, we decided to just pop this one open and enjoy while we relaxed watching the last few NCAA Football games of the day… so, alas, no food pairing to mention with this one.

This wine has a beautiful rich, dark ruby color and was rather stingy to give away anything on the nose other than vanilla (yep, oak… and remember, this is a California wine).  I didn’t decant this one, but rather poured through the Vinturi which usually opens them nicely…. this one, however, held tight.  After a good bit of swirling, trying in desperation to infuse as much air as I could, it finally gave up a hint of dried cherry.  Mind you, this was not easy to find.  I felt like I had gone spelunking in some pre-historic cavern only to find a single piece of dried cherry… honestly, that’s just how tight this was.  Made me wonder if I’d get anything on the flavor other than tannic oak.

But, thankfully, I did.  Of course, the first and heaviest thing I got was a huge piece of oak to chew on.  Granted, this was a very smooth piece of oak — it instantly had me thinking of a gorgeous oak executive desk.  You know, the type of desktop that you just want to sit at and glide your hand over?  Wonderful in furniture, not so great in my glass.  In fact, only once I managed to get past the oak did I finally find a smoky dark fruit/chocolate profile that was lead by that dried cherry.  So, let’s make that a burnt oak desk that had a handful of dark fruit in a drawer, most of which are dried cherries with some dark chocolate chips.  That should paint a pretty good picture for you.  And then……………… the tannins hit.  POW!  Really dry…. really, really dry.  Wow.  This is a wine that will make the inside of your cheeks feel like  you’ve sucked on gauze for several hours.  Pretty much tells me that this one will sit for a good while… that is, if you consider 5-7 years a good while.

Doña Paula Shiraz-Malbec 2006

Another quick little blog note:

Like the Zolo, this wine is from the Argentinian providence of Mendoza, and the dark ruby-violet color had me hoping for dark fruit in this one.  I’m happy to report that it doesn’t disappoint. This is one of those wines that I could spend all day just simply smelling…. tons of blackberry, plums, spices and black licorice.  The flavor profile to me was interesting because the initial flavor is rich, dark chocolate and then it reveals the blackberry, plums and licorice.  It very much had me thinking of biting into a boutique piece of chocolate candy that has that ultra-thick layer upon layer of rich, dark chocolate that encases a center of oh-so-yummy fruit.  Godiva couldn’t do better if they tried.  Nice tannins, not too over-powering, and a short yet smooth finish leaves me saying that I need to make sure that I have a bottle or two of this still around for those friends who don’t favor those “big” wines, yet want something a little more mid-weight.

Have you had this one yet?

 

Estampa Reserve 2005

This was suggested to me by my ‘wine guy,’ Pat, who suggested that I try it out to compare to the right-bank Bordeaux I’d had a few weeks earlier.  He also shared this interesting little fact: the predominate varietal in this Chilean blend is Carmenere which was once thought to have been extinct.  For years, this little vine was mistaken for Merlot despite the fact that the leaves weren’t the same.  Only after botanical testing was is discovered that this hearty vine in the mountains of Chile was, in fact, Carmenere.  So, take *that* to your next trivia game and impress your friends.

Camenere wines are supposed to be Chile’s answer to Bordeaux.  Hey, if you’ve got a varietal that’s been mistaken for so many years as Merlot, why not?  And, because of that, Pat wanted me to see how it compared to the 2003 Chateau Tournefeuille La Lande de Pomerol I’d had a few weeks prior.  Unfortunately, as of this writing, I don’t have my notes on the 2003.  I just enjoyed that one without making any notes (forgive me, please), so I’ll have to see if he has another bottle just so that I can truly compare the two for you.  Until then, let me share with you the impressions this little gem gave me…

This is a blend of Carmenere, Cab Sauvignon and Cab Franc and has an intense scarlet-ruby color which opens nicely with raspberry, chocolate and coffee on the nose.  Initally, you get beautifully ripe raspberry that reminds me of a fabulous raspberry jam.  Also, a wonderful herb blend of rosemary, thyme and marjoram that transitions to dark chocolate and dark-roasted coffee flavors.  Its semi-dry, not real heavy on tannins and has a short but no drop-out finish.

The fun thing with this wine, however, is the chameleon-like quality it has.  I found I liked it much more when paired with food.  It lost the inital ripe raspberry and uncovers a wonderful focus of earthiness that must have been over-shadowed by the fruit.  The herbs intensified, as did the chocolate and coffee flavors.  This is what mimicks the Bordeaux.

But, then… I decided to go the opposite and see what this wine would do.  So, I tried it after having a very small piece of 85% dark chocolate and… tah dah!…. it changes once again.  This time the raspberries and chocolate were so magnified that I felt as I’d just scooped a bit of that jam right out of the jar and topped a chocolate lava cake with it.  All of the earthiness was gone and I was left with just dessert….. fabulous!

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for something different.  Its not the “fruit-bomb” that so many people are looking for… that is, unless you have it with a chocolate dessert.  The versatility that I found in this $14 wine impresses me and the fact that its a winery that should be widely distributed makes this a 4-star recommendation from me.