Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week. This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

“There are no shortcuts in the vineyard. Our wine’s best friend is time,

with patience being a gift you give to yourself.” William A. Seavey

Overview

I saw this wine sitting on the local wine store’s shelf for a few weeks. There were several time I almost grabbed a bottle but for some reason purchased other wines. One day I saw the store had the wine on sale and finally just pulled the trigger and grabbed a bottle. I just had to wait for a nice day to grill up a steak and enjoy the wine on the deck. That day has finally arrived.

The current vintage of this wine, the 2011, has a suggested retail price of $55. The 2009 vintage which is covered in this post is available direct from the winery’s “Wine Library” for $65. I don’t know how much of this vintage is still on store’s shelves, but obviously at least one store was still selling it in April. I see the wine is available from at least a few internet based stores for around the original release price.

To order this wine direct from the winery, please click here.

To find the wine on Wine-Searcher, click here.

The Winery

In 1979, William and Mary Seavey purchased the historic estate originally founded by the Franco-Swiss Farming Company in 1881. One century after the first vines were planted, Seavey Vineyard was established. Once again, the land would be groomed to grow world-class wines, not to satisfy modern trends, but to honor age-old winemaking traditions. The Seavey Vineyard Wine Library maintains wine from each vintage produced on this land and provides close friends of the winery a chance to taste back through twenty years of Cabernet Sauvignon.

In 1989, the Seaveys renovated the original 1881 stone dairy barn as their winery and tasting room. In 1990 they made their inaugural vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay under the Seavey Vineyard label. They added Merlot in 1994 and their second Cabernet label, Caravina, in 1999. The success of their early vintages encouraged them to expand production, especially of Cabernet Sauvignon, requiring construction of a second winery building in 2000.

In 2003, the Seaveys installed one of the first solar energy systems used by a Napa Valley winery. The project eliminates 24,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Much more information on the Seavey family, the winery and their wines is available by clicking here.

2009 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Caravina – $39.99

This wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was aged in 100% French oak, 50% of which were new. This was the winery’s 11th release of their second Cabernet Sauvignon. Seavey produces the wine with the intent to provide an accessible, yet very cellarable, Cabernet Sauvignon.

This wine has 14.9% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark ruby red color. The stunning nose has cassis, black cherry, mint, licorice, smoldering wood embers, baking spices, tobacco, dark roast coffee and a touch of dark chocolate. This has medium to full body with moderate to solid tannins and very nice acidity. Nice fruit and spice jump out first on the palate with mint and minerals coming in quickly. On the fairly long finish dark roast coffee and dark chocolate make an appearance. This is on the young side but already tastes very good with some air. (93 pts)

2009 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Caravina

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Cheers!

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines. I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar. I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com. Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear. There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase. I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive. I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount. Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges. None of the prices include the sales tax.

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.