Washington State Claret Scores

2003 Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon

Quite a while ago now, I won this bottle in a contest at Josh Wade’s Drink Nectar wine/coffee blog. Josh is a huge proponent of the burgeoning Washington State wine scene, and he raved pretty good about Kiona and their cabs, especially.

When the bottle arrived, I popped the cork, eager to see what it had to offer. That bottle, however, offered me little more than a bitter, vinegary sensation. It looked like the rigors of travel… and a loose cork (these things happen)… had done the wine no favors whatsoever. It was undrinkable.

I told Josh about the unfortunate result, he told the folks at Kiona, and they happily sent out another bottle. Good thing they did, because this is a wine I’m glad I got to try.

The Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon is a Washington State blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, a very Left Bank Bordeaux-style combination (in the UK, red wines from Bordeaux are sometimes called “Claret,” hence my use of the word in the title. No, I’m not British).

The wine is a ruby red color at its core, and there is a slight orange-brown rusting to the edges. The nose shows off a bit of heat (though its modest 13.8% ABV keeps this from getting Lodi Zinfandel levels), but a plentiful bouquet of raspberry, blackcurrant, and white pepper.

The 2003 Kiona is a medium-bodied wine. The tannins start off a bit sharp, but smooth considerably with just a little time in the glass. There is some good structure, but this is a wine to be enjoyed, not to be cellared. The dominant notes on the palate are smooth black cherry, and toasted oak that comes off a bit smoky.

All in all, very enjoyable. And for $12-$20, a very good value.

Verdict: B+

2003 Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon

2003 Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon

Better Than Jug Wine

2007 Tre Cellars California Cabernet Sauvignon

Tre Cellars is the supermarket-bound, $10-price-point wine label of Guglielmo Winery, in Morgan Hill, CA. Not a ton of wine is made in the Santa Clara Valley home of Guglielmo, certainly not as much as in the Napa and Sonoma valleys to the north, nor the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south.

Even Guglielmo’s premier label, Guglielmo Private Reserve features just three wines (Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and Rosatello) that are marked as “estate bottled & grown,” leading one to the natural conclusion that Guglielmo buys a lot of grapes from grape growers, and is primarily a winemaking outfit. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

However, wine is as much about where it’s from as what’s in its bottle. In order for an American wine to use an AVA designation on the label, 85% of the grapes in the wine must have come from that AVA. Which is why when I see a label name its home as simply “California,” I get just a little nervous. What’s in the bottle? Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the cool heights of Howell Mountain above the Napa Valley is going to be very different from Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the sunbaked fields of Lodi. Et cetera.

Not surprisingly, this wine has very little character. It says very little about itself. The color of the wine is a bit tawny in the glass, especially around the edges, but it does get nice and ruby red near the very core. The nose is a bit hot, but features some black fruit notes, and a nice spice note, like cinnamon, that, while I don’t normally attribute such an aroma to Cab Sauv, was pleasant.

The wine is medium-bodied, but lacks any complexity whatsoever. Some very basic red fruit spars with some alcoholic heat (a bit surprising considering the wine clocks in at a modest 12.5% ABV), and there isn’t much else there.

That having been said, the wine is $9.95. It’s far superior to jug wine and lots of other California supermarket wines. It’s just not something I would choose to drink or can recommend.

Verdict: C-

(full disclosure: I received this wine as a press sample from Folsom & Associates)

2007 Tre Cellars California Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Tre Cellars California Cabernet Sauvignon

Dunn Howell Mountain, Through The (Recent) Years

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to taste a vertical selection of Dunn Vineyard’s Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon with cellar master and assistant winemaker, Mike Dunn.

I tasted the wine from the 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 vintages, and I have notes to share on each. What I can say at the very least is that Dunn is some very good wine. If you haven’t had it, get your hands on it. There are two labels: Dunn Howell Mountain and Dunn Napa Valley. The former is the more prestigious of the two, with 100% of the grapes coming from the Howell Mountain sub-AVA, whereas the latter will include up to 15% grapes from the Napa Valley floor.

Also a word of warning: these wines aren’t cheap. You’d be hard-pressed to find any of these vintages for less than the $75-$100 range per bottle. So keep that in mind as well. On to the wines.

2002 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

A dark ruby red in the glass, this wine really has the Cali Cab look to it. On the nose is a wonderful wet stone note, a general earthiness, marked with a very dark fruit note (perhaps rhubarb). On the palate are notes of raspberry and cranberry, and while I found the wine nicely structured, the tannins seemed a bit rough for a wine already 8 years from harvest. Perhaps it needs just a bit more time.

Verdict: 86/100

2003 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Even darker-looking in the glass than the ’02, the 2003 Dunn is a dark, dark red. The nose is pleasantly subtle and complex, with notes of black fruit mingling with a leather note. On the palate, this wine felt more mature than the 2002, with softer tannins, good acidity, and subtle notes of raspberry. This is a pretty fantastic Cabernet, and not at all bombastic like some California cult wines seem to be.

Verdict: 91/100

2004 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Speaking of darkening wine… the ’04 is almost black at its core, though it shifts to a brighter red at the edges, a more extreme shift in color than the first two wines showed. The nose here is a bit hot, either its youth or the 2004 growing season showing its stripes, but it is a bit hard to get around. The nose also shows off some red fruit and a dulled, almost like cooked, blackberry. The wine is clean but strong on the palate, with notes of red fruit and leaves. It’s still a bit too hot, and needs some years, but will probably be very good after some more time.

Verdict: 88/100

2005 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

This vintage shows off a bit more in the glass, the color is a rich ruby red in the core, and fades to an almost pastel color on the edges. And this wine is different from the previous three in other ways, as well: the nose is full of forest floor, mushroom and bark, and pine needles. Awesomely stinky in a way. On the palate this wine shows a lot of structure for its relative youth, soft tannins, a good balance of alcohol and acid, with pleasant notes of smoky leather, red cherry, and earth. My favorite of the bunch by a smidge, I think the 2005 Dunn will be exceptional in 10 years’ time.

Verdict: 92/100

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelyndurston/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)