2005 Marita’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Meet Marita

This, my dear friends and people who read me because they hate me but want to see what I’ll do/say next, is some friggin’ Napa Valley Cab.

Marita’s Vineyard Special Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (say that fivefold fast) is a pretty fantastic bottle of wine, if I do say so myself (and I do). Limited to 225 cases, this 100% hillside cabernet sauvignon is something everyone should try.

Legit Juice

Unfortunately, by virtue of the fact that it runs a buck-and-a-half per, not everyone’s going to be able to. C’est la vie, n’est-ce pas, mes amis?

First off, the wine comes in one of the heaviest glass bottles I’ve ever encountered. Seriously, when I opened the box the bottle came in, I thought for a second it was a 1 liter bottle or something. It’s not, it’s a standard 750, but a good 10% taller and maybe 20% wider than most of the other 750s I have in my cellar. And heavy. Even empty (and hooo boy did I finish this one) the bottle felt like it might be half full.

I know the point of thick, heavy glass bottles is to lend a measure of elegance, perhaps even gravitas, to the wine. I couldn’t help thinking about the environmental impact of all that extra glass. Extra energy to make the bottles, if not recycled properly, extra glass in the trash/landfills and all.

It’s the exact opposite delivery mechanism mentality from the NPA, for instance.

But whatever, I’m not actually that concerned about it. Much more concerned about the juice, so shall we?

2005 Marita's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Marita's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

First things first: the wine is damn near black in the glass. It lightens to a rich ruby at the very edges, and mine showed just the slightest hint of tanning near the edge as well.

The nose is incredibly nicely balanced between some fruit aromas—mostly blackberry and rhubarb—and the other side of the cabernet aroma world, namely hints of leather and cigar box and cedar. On the palate, the wine is full bodied, and announces its presence with authority.

But it’s not a fruit bomb. It doesn’t “punch” you, as it were. And at 14%, it isn’t overly alcoholic for its robustness and size. It’s well balanced, all in all. The finish is long, the entire experience is lustrous and smooth, with soft, lush tannins and an overarching elegance that just rocks. It fucking tastes good, too, with fruit aromas of blackberry and black cherries that dance around.

Altogether, this is elegant, grown-up, still delicious wine, with lots of nuance and incredible balance. This is Napa Valley cab, writ large.

Verdict: 93/100
Price Point: $150

(full disclosure: this wine was provided to me as a press sample from VinTank)

2005 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino

Wine That Will Make You See God

I’m not even being all that facetious with the title. Nor am I saying this will make you “see God” in the way that spinning around really fast over and over and over again and tripping over the railing at the Grand Canyon and smacking your head on the way down, or overdosing on heroin, will make you “see God.” That’s too literal.

But there is a reason that wine is made on this planet. There is a purpose, there is a source of inspiration for it. I don’t know if that is “God” or what one person, or another person calls “God,” or if it’s just in some people’s blood, and in some terroir‘s dirt and clay, to make really goddamn good wine.

Whatever it is, this is it. This is the kind of wine, exactly the kind of wine, that makes people into winedrinkers.

Some people ask those of us in the wine blog whateversphere what wine “turned us” really on to wine. I still think for me it was a 2002 Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir I had on Valentine’s Day with my new-at-the-time girlfriend, later-to-be wife shortly after my 25th birthday, but it would have been this wine if I’d gotten to it a half decade earlier.

It’s good.

The ’05 Uccelliera is ruby red throughout the glass, with little to no change towards the edges. I think this is supposed to tell me something, perhaps even something specific, about the wine (newbie alert!!). On the nose is the slightest hint of heat, but only at first, a bit more vigorous swirling and it left and didn’t come back. Two major, major notes run roughshod over the nose: black cherry truffle, and espresso.

It’s so good.

Soft, lush tannins abound in this medium-bodied wine. Notes from the nose are present, but translated: more of a stewed cherry with the espresso, plus the introduction of an unmistakable—and, frankly, eminently elegant—cigar tobacco note. This wine, in part, tastes like the very best cigars smell.

Yum.

Oh, it also pairs orgasmically (ah, wait, no way, you’re kidding… he didn’t just say what I think he did, did he?) with oxtail—which, by the way, I was tricked into eating. It’s the greatest trick anyone ever played on me, ever, but still, a trick regardless.

Verdict: 97/100

2005 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino

2005 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino

Pimento? Pimento.

2005 Clos Pegase Napa Valley Merlot

pimento

Every once in a while, I come across a descriptor I haven’t used before, or at least haven’t used for a particular varietal wine. I drank this wine last night, in fact it is bumping back a handful of fantastic Italian wines I have to review, because I just wanted to get this one out there.

Pimento. Pimento? Yup, pimento.

You may remember Clos Pegase (ok maybe not, but I do) as the creators of the wonderfully stinky sauvignon blanc I drank in Walt Disney World’s upscale California Grill restaurant in Orlando, Florida, last December.

Last night, the same four people (myself, my wife Heather, and my parents) were enjoying dinner together at a decidedly less tut-tut dining establishment, the impressive Chow in Danville, CA. I noticed a Clos Pegase merlot on the wine list, and as I intended to get a burger, this seemed to make sense as a quality choice.

The wine came to the table (a generous pour), and I sniffed and sipped without intending to review it, but then I was hit by something that took me a second to place. It was pimento.

Just a hint, mind you. The wine looks just like a merlot should, a dark ruby that doesn’t lighten too much to the edges. On the nose is a mix of dark cherry and raspberry jam, with a hint of vanilla, all in all this merlot gives you no surprises to this point.

Then, you sip. There is an earthy quality, a hint (very slight) of toasted oak, some good rich cherry jam, and there, on the tip of your tongue, at the front of the palate, is a slightly sweet, slightly peppery pimento note.

I liked it. It was more different than great, but it certainly wasn’t bad. The wine would score higher if I felt like it had better structure or more complexity to it. Still, it’s one I won’t soon forget, and this bit of nuance gives it a character you simply don’t often see in merlot. At $20-$30 per bottle, I’d say this is the wine for you if you’re in a merlot funk and have lost faith in this classic grape.

Verdict: B+

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