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.

 

The Winery

In 1971 Charles F. (Charlie) Wagner and his wife Lorna Belle Glos Wagner asked their son Charles J. (Chuck) Wagner, who had just graduated from high school, if he would be interested in joining them in starting up a winery.  If Chuck declined the offer, Charlie and Lorna were planning to sell out of their ranch in NapaValley and move to Australia.  Chuck accepted his parents’ offer to launch the winery, Caymus Vineyards.

 

The Wagners produced their first vintage in 1972, consisting of 240 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon.  Since then, Caymus has focused their efforts in the production of quality Cabernet Sauvignon.  Today’s production is 65,000 cases.

 

Caymus Vineyards remains 100% family-owned by the Wagners.  Charlie, Lorna Belle, and Chuck worked together as a remarkable team for over 30 years building Caymus Cabernet.  Today, Chuck, his two sons, Charlie and Joe, and one daughter, Jenny, have joined the family team. Farming grapes remain the priority with the family farming about 350 acres of choice Napa Valley land.

 

The Wagners took the name Caymus from the Mexican land grant known as Rancho Caymus, given to George Yount in 1836, which encompassed what eventually became the town of Rutherford and much of the surrounding area.

 

 

The Wine

Caymus Vineyards produces two Cabernets Sauvignons, the generic Napa Valley and the “Special Selection”.  The “house style” for Caymus is a dark, rich, supple wine with smooth tannins.  The winery uses extended “hang time” to achieve their style.  The technique, which risks the loss of crop if an early winter sets in, is simply allowing the grapes to “hang” on the vines as long as possible.

 

Caymus Special Selection is the flagship wine of the Wagner family.  Even though the winery says this wine is not produced in difficult years, the last vintage the wine was not produced was 1993.  Both the “Napa Valley” and “Special Selection” Cabernets are produced under the winemaking hand of Chuck Wagner.

 

Caymus has long been one of the benchmark Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Napa.  Caymus Special Selection is created by selecting the best barrels of wine from the vintage.  The grapes for this wine come from various vineyards scattered around the NapaValley.  In this vintage the appellation breakdown is Rutherford 32%, Atlas Peak 15%, Oak Knoll 14%, St Helena 9%,  Yountville 6% and 24% from lesser known areas in the valley.

 

 

2008 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection – $91.04

After 35 years of being a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine, this vintage included 14% Merlot.  I was able to buy my bottles at a very special price; this wine is generally over $100 a bottle.  On the current auction market, this wine is close to $125 a bottle.

 

This wine has 15.4% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark purple color.  The very nice and inviting nose has cassis, roasted herbs, baking spices, fresh ground dark roast coffee, dried herbs, cherry, dark chocolate, vanilla and a touch of eucalyptus.  This has medium to full body with moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  The wine is rich and plush on the palate with loads of crushed berries, baking spices, and dark chocolate.  Dried herbs and cherries come in on the back end filling out the palate and adding depth.  The finish is long and rich with vanilla coming in as well as some eucalyptus and dark chocolate.  This is delicious right now but with all the richness, I don’t know if this will be one to hold long term.  I’d advise enjoying over the next several years.  (94 pts)

 

 

What would I pair with this wine?  How about a thick, medium rare New York Strip Steak with some freshly made herb butter served over a bed of crisp French fries.  Add a few pieces of grilled baguette and you have a perfect dinner for two.

 

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

If you like this post, consider joining Cliffs Wine Picks Wine Blog on Facebook and giving me a Like.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

Breaking news from Klout:

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

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.

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 Overview

Lacuna is a winery I “found” only because Morgan Twain-Peterson is their wine maker.  This would have probably gone unnoticed until Morgan’s name jumped out at me.  Morgan Twain-Peterson is the owner/winemaker for Bedrock Wine Company.  He also is the son of Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame.

 

Don’t miss the special deal the winery is offering below in the Special Bonus Offer area. 

 

The Winery

Our small partnership group is comprised of 3 industry friends.  None of us with any claim to fame so our names remain in the background behind our rock-star winemaker!  One of us operates a Burgundy and Bordeaux import company, the other two of us are active in the sales and marketing efforts of several wineries in California.  We’ve all worked as wine consultants.  I have worked as a sommelier in what now seems like a past life!  We all have young children and work very hard to balance the demands of juggling multiple jobs (including Lacuna) with being attentive fathers.  We are fortunate to work in our field of passion and interest and feel absolutely privileged to have the talents of Morgan Twain-Peterson on board.  He is just as enjoyable of a person as he is talented a winemaker!

 

The Wine

The 2010 is a slightly atypical wine for Lacuna.  We experimented with a much higher percentage of Petite Sirah(42%)  from 120 year old Sonoma vines than we ever had before and likely will ever again.  Not that we were entirely unhappy with the result but given our cool vineyard sources for our Syrah, Lacuna certainly exists in a more savory band-width than many other wines based on this varietal.  Our goal that year was to add some structure to the wine which philosophically all the partners at Lacuna agree is one of the cornerstones of serious red wine.  The classic European wines that we are drawn to all have an elevated element of structure (both acid and tannin).  The old vine Petite was a successful addition to achieve this but our discovery was that it sent the wine in a backwards direction on the palate took quite some time to get to an optimal “drinkability” state.  In subsequent vintages we used techniques like whole cluster fermentations with our Syrah to achieve desired levels of spice and added structure.  We found this to work ideally for us in every way and have continued with high percentages of stem inclusion in the ’11, ’12 & ’13 vintages.

 

 

 

2010 Lacuna Wines Proprietary Red Blend – $28.99

This is a blend of 58% cool climate Syrah and 42% Petite Sirah from 120 year old vines.

 

The wine has 14.3% alcohol by volume and the bottle is closed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep purple color.  The very powerful nose has blackberries, smoked meat, dying wood embers, licorice, roasted herbs, dried violets, blueberries, warm baking spices, vanilla, black peppercorns, and a hint of eucalyptus.  This has a full body, a solid wall of tannins and good acidity.  On the palate the smoked meat, pepper and roasted herbs initially grab hold before slowly and reluctantly allowing some fruit and spice to enter the picture.  On the back end the smoked meat and wood embers re-emerge.  The finish is surprisingly long with layers of tannins clinging to your palate.  Give this monster a few years in the cellar or as they say, “serve it with a slab of rare brontosaurus”.  (94 pts)

 

In Summary

Don’t open this expecting a soft, fruity, easy drinking California Syrah, you’ll be disappointed.  If you set your sights on a big, meaty, chewy Northern Rhone bottle of Syrah, you won’t be disappointed.  The large Petite Sirah content adds considerable muscle to this wine and helps push the fruit component a little into the background.  The fruit is there, just not up front and in your face.  In my opinion, this is very drinkable today with a chunk of rare to medium rare meat, but I like a solid wall of tannins.  That said, this will be much better down the road.  If you can, stash this in the back of your cellar for a few years, you will be very handsomely rewarded for your patience.

 

Special Bonus Offer

This wine was previously thought to be sold out but the partners found a few cases in their personal “library stash”.  The wine is not on their website, but is available to readers of Cliff’s Wine Picks.  The wine is available for $28.99 a bottle (plus shipping and applicable taxes) by e-mailing info@lacunawines.com.   That price is the same as the winery’s current release.  Like I said, this wine is not available on the winery’s website.  This is coming from their personal library and is available only via this offer.

 

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

If you like this post, consider joining Cliffs Wine Picks Wine Blog on Facebook and giving me a Like.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

Breaking news from Klout:

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

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.

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

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.

 

 

 

It may be feeling like Spring in some parts of the country, but in the Midwest and Northeast, we can tell you it’s still Winter.  What’s better on a cold, snowy evening than a nice plate of pasta with a thick meat sauce?  The perfect pairing for this dish or even a nice pizza is an Italian Chianti.  This week’s wine of the week is a 2010 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico.

 

 

The Winery

The name ‘Isole e Olena’ was conceived in the 1950’s when two adjoining estates, ‘Isole’ and ‘Olena’ were purchased by the De Marchi family and were combined to form one.  Today the Isole e Olena estate is run by Paolo De Marchi and his family.  Paolo comes from a family with three generations of winemaking experience in the northern section of Piedmont .  He was raised in close contact with the wine world as he has always enthusiastically followed the development of his grandfather’s estate located near Gattinara, Villa Sperino, where Lessona wine is produced.  The traditional 4-grape Chianti Classico blend was gradually altered to diminish the quantity of white grapes present until complete elimination.  Thus the Isole o Olena Chianti evolved from being a light, young wine to the fuller-bodied wine of today, which is destined for cellar aging.  Simultaneously Paolo began experimenting with the production of a wine made exclusively of Sangiovese grapes.  His efforts in this direction have yielded the resultant wine named Cepparello.  In 1980 he produced the first Cepparello.

 

Many of the wineries in the Chianti Region double as tourist attractions.  Not Paolo De Marchi’s Isole e Olena; when you turn right at the main gate and drive by the burnished steel fermentation tanks, you will come to a muddy square where you may find someone working on a wagon with an arc welder.

 

“We don’t have time for tourism,” says Paolo.  “It would distract us from our wines.” His dedication is our gain; Isole e Olena’s wines are superb.  In addition to Chianti Classico, there is Cepparello, a pure Sangiovese of towering complexity and finesse, and a breathtaking Vinsanto.  The winery also produces a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay, and L’Eremo, a Syrah.

 

 

The Wine

The wines that emanate from the Isole e Olena winery in Tuscany are some of the most sought after in the region each vintage.  Run with a rigorous attention to detail and quality by Paolo de Marchi (whose family united the “Isole” and “Olena” wine estates to form Isole e Olena in the 1950s) past tasting results make it easy to see why the wines of Isole e Olena remain so sought after.

 

80% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 5% Syrah in the 2010 vintage, Isole e Olena’s Chianti Classico is probably the wine (along with the 100% Sangiovese Isole e Olena “Cepparello”) for which the Isole e Olena winery has become best known.  Fermented in stainless steel tanks, this 2010 Isole e Olena Chianti was then matured for one year in primarily older oak (the typical capacity of the barrels used was 4000 litres).

 

 

 

2010 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico – $18.59

This has been a favorite since a friend suggested I give it a try.  In the seemingly never ending Wisconsin winters, pasta and a good Chianti always makes it feel a little nicer no matter how cold it is or how hard it is snowing.

 

This wine has 14.0% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a nice ruby red color. The very enjoyable nose has cherries, plums, baking spices, dried herbs, violets, and a touch of earthy underbrush. This wine has medium body with ripe tannins and very good acidity. On the palate the wine has nice tart red fruit and spice up front with some earthy elements coming in later adding depth and complexity. The finish has good length with the tart fruit, spices, and earthiness held together nicely by the acidity. If you can find this for under $20, stock up.  (91 pts)

 

 

In Summary

Even though it makes up only 5% of the blend, the Syrah adds body, dried herbs, and a hint of darker fruit to this wine.  This is a very serious Chianti Classico that would excel with just about any Italian dish with meat included in the preparations.  The typically outstanding acidity from the predominant Sangiovese helps the wine stand up to any dish with tomatoes.

 

It looks like the 2011 vintage is the current vintage but the 2010 vintage is still readily available either on your local wine store’s shelf or via Wine-Searcher.

 

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

If you like this post, consider joining Cliffs Wine Picks Wine Blog on Facebook and giving me a Like.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

Breaking news from Klout:

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

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.

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

2008 Jean Edwards Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Seventy Four – Forty One Napa Valley

 

 

 

 

The Winery

New Jersey natives John and Karen Troisi are the owner/vintners of Jean Edwards Cellars.  If you’re scratching your head wondering how John and Karen arrived at Jean Edwards for the name of their winery, the answer is simple, they used their middle names.  The third member of the Jean Edwards team is Kian Tavakoli, their consulting winemaker.

 

Karen and John started producing wines commercially in 2004.  The first wine they released was a 2004 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  A few months after the wine was released, Wine Spectator asked them to supply their magazine with a sample.  A little while later, they awarded the wine 92 points.  A couple months later, Wine Spectator included them in an article titled, “Twenty new cabernet producers to watch” in their annual Cabernet issue.

 

After dabbling in the Syrah/Rhone Ranger camp for a period, the winery is now focused only on Napa Valley Cabernets.

 

Jean Edwards Cellars uses the “custom crush” facilities at the Michael Mondavi Family winery in southern Napa.

 

Much more information on the winery is available on their website by clicking here.  The winery is also very active on Facebook and Twitter.

 

I highly recommend joining the winery’s mailing list by clicking here.  Members of the mailing list are never under any obligation to buy a specific amount of wine to stay on the mailing list.  Members of the mailing list get a very nice “Friends and Family” discount.

 

 

The Wine

Karen and John are bi-coastal, having residences in New Jersey as well as in the Napa Valley.  The name for this wine, “Seventy Four – Forty One” was named after the coordinates of their east coast residence.

 

This 100% Cabernet is a blend of grapes from a few vineyards in the Napa Valley.  Even though the vineyard names cannot be used for contractual reasons, they can disclose some geographical information.  The major component of this wine is from a Howell Mountain vineyard.  This is combined with grapes from a vineyard in Rutherford and one in Coombsville.

 

The wine was aged 24 months in French oak, 50% new and 50% one year old.

 

This vintage is sold out at the winery.  The current vintage is 2010 and has a price of $65.

 

 

 

2008 Jean Edwards Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Seventy Four – Forty One Napa Valley – SRP $65

This bottle of wine was purchased by me and stored in my cellar since release.  This is not a winery supplied sample.

 

I’ve been a fan and customer of the winery for a few years and love opening bottles of their wines for friends to sample.  These are extremely high quality wines sourced from some of the best vineyards in the Napa Valley.  The fact the wines are also sold at very consumer friendly prices is a great bonus.  This is one of the winery’s higher end offerings.

 

The wine has 14.8% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep ruby red color.  The nose is a show stopper, it is filled with cassis, dried herbs, tobacco, mint, cedar, warm baking spices and dried flowers.  This has medium body, moderate to solid tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate the cassis and mint initially carry the load, slowly allowing spice and dried herbs to slip into the picture.  On the back end some spicy oak shines through in the background.  The finish has very good length with a nice mix of fruit and savory elements.  This tastes very nice now but a few years in the cellar will be greatly rewarded.  (93 pts)

 

In Summary

In a couple of years, my rating will probably be laughably low.  As with most wines that are predominantly made from mountain fruit, they take a few years to fully open up and express their full potential.  Patience will be rewarded.

 

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

If you like this post, consider joining Cliffs Wine Picks Wine Blog on Facebook and giving me a Like.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

Breaking news from Klout:

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

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.

 

 

 

Cheers!