Freemark Abbey Cabernet

Freemark Abbey
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, California
2004
14.2%
$31.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with a slight purple tinge
Nose: Loam, berry patch on a hot day
Body: Full
Front: Cherry
Middle: Kale, licorice, plums
Back: Cedar, a little cinnamon, tannins
Burns clean?: It would have, if I hadn't drunk almost the entire bottle
Cap: Cork

This is a delightful wine, and a good bargain, given its complexity. It's plenty tight on opening, so don't judge it right away. In fact, I would guess that more time in the cellar would be a good thing for this bottle. I like this blend, but must admit to being a big fan of Freemark Abbey's single-vineyard Sycamore Cabernet, which is a bit more like the Sattui Morisoli and the Faust Cabernets that I've reviewed earlier.

This is a French-style Cabernet; it's soft and complex, never quite ascends to fruitiness but gets brighter as it opens up. It's like reading a Balzac story; it has good characters, and it tangibly enjoys its own patient unfolding. I'm listening to Dave Brubeck as I drink it, and there's beautiful cross-media harmony happening.

Note: It's now two hours later, and I'm enjoying a final glass with a smidgen of chorizo (a classic KY-Latino dessert). It is a stunning combination; the wine gets almost chocolate-sundae-like in response, and the smokiness of the chorizo shines through the spices. More cross-media harmony, on a cool Texas night.

Thorpe Reserve Cabernet

Thorpe Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon
Reserve
McLaren Vale, Australia
2004
14.0%
$25.99 at Carolina Wine Co., Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Dark reddish-purple
Nose: Violets, clove, Fernet Branca
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries and eucalyptus
Middle: Pepper; a hint of anchovy
Back: Rosemary and caramelized onions; after an hour or so, dusty tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is one of the most herbal Cabernets I've tasted. Very interesting, right out of the bottle. Good after a couple of hours, too, and the (comparatively) low alcohol content means you get to enjoy it the entire time. Lively and quick, just like St. Nick! Actually, it's not quick; it's got quite a long delivery. The mintiness goes beautifully with both French onion soup (with Parrano cheese) and the latest record from The Ditty Bops.

Fascinating too is that Thorpe Wines's parent company is a drilling company. No, my fellow Texans, not that kind of drilling--they drill for water. It is, after all, Australia. I hope the water they find is as good as the wine they make.

Catena Cabernet Sauvignon

Bodega Catena Zapata
Cabernet Sauvignon
Mendoza (Agrelo and Tupungato)Argentina
2004
13.9%
$19.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Medium red with purple tinge
Nose: Blackberries and anise
Body: Full
Front: Plums, honeysuckle
Middle: Pepper, licorice
Back: Cedar, gear-shift handle
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

I have to no time to write tonight, yet write I must. This is a good deal in a Cabernet, and to some palates, will seem to be a great one. It's austere, a little French and a little New World. Yet it went better with the Bawn in the Mash I was listening to this evening than it did with the tomato-and-avocado salad.

Mollydooker Two Left Feet

Mollydooker Wines
Two Left FeetShiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$21.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep red with purple tinge
Nose: Blueberries and mocha
Body: Full
Front: Buttery berries
Middle: Peppery basil
Back: Chocolate, olive
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Continuing my pilgrimage through the Mollydooker collection, I linger at Two Left Feet for a moment. This has the profile of all the Marquis wines: bigness, forwardness, unabashedness, and then, after it's opened up for a bit, complexity. It's a lesson in befriending certain kinds of personalities. Wait for it, go with it, watch carefully, and you might be rewarded. Spend too much time with them, you get really smashed. They're cheap, and crowd-pleasers. How far can we take this metaphor? It's okay, I'm done.

This one is a bit better with food, I think, than some of the straight shirazes. It was stunning with a brisket I brought home this evening, and not bad with kalamata olives, either.

Hahn Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

Hahn Winery
Cabernet SauvignonCentral Coast (Monterey)
Soledad, California
2006
14.2%
$13.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep purple
Nose: Blackberry, mocha, cardboard
Body: Full, but soft
Front: Strawberry
Middle: Pepper, cedar
Back: Chocolate, spice, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A delightful bargain of a wine. It's leftover night at the ranch, and this is a great pair with cold steak and an apples-and-cheese appetizer. Once it opens up a bit, it gets fruitier, but stays subtle--it doesn't bowl you over off the bat, but opens slowly with a bit of contemplation. The nose is lovely. If you like Andrew Will wines, this one will please at a fraction of the price; the grapes are, I think, actually Paso Robles in origin, which is a good thing.

Educated Guess Cabernet

Roots Run Deep Winery
Educated Guess
Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley
Oakville, California
2005
14.1%
$21.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep red with a tinge of purple
Nose: Blueberries and celery
Body: Full
Front: Cucumber
Middle: Cassis, spice
Back: Licorice, balsa
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

The stock market appears to have gone off its meds, an insightful person told me today. So tonight I experimented oenophilically, on the cheaper end of the spectrum than I've been working of late with Cabernets, and with a wine whose name seems rather to describe the economic theory that got us into this mess. The experiment was not a complete failure, but it was a bit disappointing, much like capitalism may come to appear to have been in a few months.

Educated Guess is a large, fruity Napa Cabernet, and a good deal at this price or cheaper. But don't go borrowing on margin on it; there's a weird sort of taste in the front that I can't quite enjoy, and though most of the 2005s are supernal, I think this one might not hold up quite as long, given the not-so-stout tannins. Still, maybe I'm just off my palate today. I cut up a cucumber to test my taste theory on the front of this wine, and sure enough, it did make it more cinnamony and vanillaish by cancelling out the vegetal attack. But then, the cucumber sort of tasted fishy when I ate it after the wine, and that ain't right. I hope. "And so the universal thump," writes Herman Melville, "gets passed around."

There was a bit of the Mollydooker Boxer from yesterday left over, getting a trifle oxidized, so I made a wine sauce out of it the ol' French way, with butter, shallots, stock, a smidgen of garlic and a smidgen of flour. Fantastic: rich, intense, layered stuff, owing not a little to the wine.

Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz

Mollydooker Wines
The Boxer
Shiraz
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$23.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Inky strawberry
Nose: Berries, graham cracker, a little heat
Body: Full
Front: Cassis
Middle: Ice cream sandwich
Back: Blueberry, pepper
Burns clean?: Yes, if you don’t drink too much
Cap: Screwcap

This another excellent wine made by Sarah and Sparky Marquis (which I think is pronounced markwiss). It’s a whopper, true to its name. But the metaphor breaks down quickly: this is not one to go into the ring with alone. Bring friends and tag team unless you are a Fight Club aficionado. Strong as it is, the texture is soft and sparkly.

Like most things, it needs to breathe a bit. Once it opens up it’s astonishingly complex. If you get a newer one, consider this unusual recommendation by the winery. And I’m serious about the ice cream sandwich, by all that is holy. Oddly a good combination, all things considered, with the Stilton I’m eating tonight from the world-famous Wheatsville Co-op.

Note, 13 January 2010: I tried the 2008, with a chicken and chorizo stew. Raspberry jam, black cherry, pie, a little hint of mint, and plenty of oak lending a nice creaminess (like the 2006), without too much of a milk flavor. I think I like this more, actually, than the 2006, and it has enough fruitiness in there to develop for a little while.

Paraduxx

Duckhorn Wine Company
Paraduxx
Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
St. Helena, CA
2005
14.5%
$49.99 at Whole Foods, Evanston, IL

Color: Deep raspberry
Nose: Blackberries, anise, pepper
Body: Medium to full
Front: Plums
Middle: Chocolate
Back: Cedar, banana
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A few years ago, my good friend Todd introduced me to this wine. Todd is a lover of what most of us would call bad puns. His favorite joke is the old standby, “A horse walks into a bar…” etc. So I was taken a bit by surprise when this wine with a silly name turned out to be astonishingly good, complex, rich, evolutionary. Todd’s jokes turned out to be funnier than I thought; the world seemed to be a more recoverable project; the birds were all lightness and splendor; and even the squirrels seemed full of wisdom.

That was the 2003, I think. The 2004 was better; the 2005 is stunning, too. Though it’s largely Zinfandel, this is Silverado Trail wine, so it can stand up to serious food. This wine is a catalyst for joy.

Strong Arms Shiraz

R Wines
Strong Arms Shiraz
Shiraz
McLaren Vale
Eastwood, Australia2006
15.5%
$11.99 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep red
Nose: Blueberry with a hint of cinnamon
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries
Middle: Dirt, creamy vanilla
Back: Cedar, okra?
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

One of my bloggin' colleagues writes that at some point in your wine-drinking days, "you stop following individual grapes or regions and begin chasing individual winemakers and importers." I believe we're on the same page when I say that it's not that the latter two entities are a better indicator of quality--but that you're probably in tune with their taste. Tuning is more important, because wine is for pleasure.

The first time I really asked with interest who an importer was, it was just after sharing a bottle of Henry's Drive Shiraz with my friend Todd. Good lord, it was good, and I'd never seen it before. THE GRATEFUL PALATE, OXNARD, CA. Watching for this on the back label has never led me astray, and it didn't with Strong Arms Shiraz, either.

A lot of wines have groovy packaging and not much else. In the case of this wine and the others imported by Grateful Palate, it's an attention to style that extends to every part of the operation, apparently, from grapes to fact sheets to leveraging value: good luck finding another $12 wine with more complexity, subtlety, and intensity than this. Everyone seems to benefit from this outfit; it's like magic--check out not just the label art, by Mel Kadel, but the way Grateful Palate took the time A) to go for six different images and B) make a separate PDF out of each.

(I've seen Kadel's art compared to Sendak and Gorey, but it seems to me perhaps as much like a Kathe Kollwitz, cheered up by Roald Dahl, collaborates with Shel Silverstein type of thing. Sick, wrong, and lovely!)

Food matters to The Grateful Palate. The best sign of their attention to detail is that they have not only great wines, but a Bacon of the Month Club. I didn't do justice to the wine by pairing it with cajun roasted chicken (though the onions came out splendidly), but with edamame (also lightly cajun, just to be perverse) the shiraz was harmonic.

Ryan Patrick Rock Island Red

Ryan Patrick Vineyards
Rock Island Red
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Columbia Valley
Rock Island, WA2005
14.3%
$13.88 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Violets and a lovely gaminess
Body: Full
Front: Strawberry
Middle: Chocolate, mocha
Back: Ripe cherry
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine is a delightful surprise. It's an ideal tertulia wine. The Spanish have this custom, the tertulia, where on Friday afternoons you get together with a small group of friends, eat lots of stunningly good food, drink appropriate wine, and decompress from the week. The conversations range from art to politics, and usually blend the two in ways it's hard to describe. It takes a good wine, but a wine great with food, to make the tertulia happen properly, and this is one. For example, it shows a delightful mintiness with the heavily spiced pasta with tomato sauce I'm having. It stands up both to the young parmesan and the rock-hard, paprika-and-pepper laden chorizo that I don't seem to be able to put back into the fridge.

This is a new winery (first vintage 1999), but with stuff like this it's going to stay on my list. It's not very tannic, so it may not be one for the ages. One thing: it's a bordeaux-style blend, Merlot-heavy, but I wouldn't go into it thinking about that comparison. This wine is its own thing--a good thing, with layers and depths all its own. And, at least for the moment, it's a bargain.

Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon

Robert Keenan Winery
Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
St. Helena, CA
2004
14.3%
$40.15 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Rich, jammy red
Nose: Apricots, bananas, berries
Body: Full
Front: Pepper, spice
Middle: Early tannin attack, plums
Back: Licorice, and bread or pencil lead, way out there
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

You have to be paying attention when you drink this one. It's not an explosive wine, though it has the strong character of Napa Cabernets. It's spice-imbued, not fruit-imbued. Leave it open awhile before drinking it; or leave it closed for a few more years, since this I'm thinking will age for a good while longer and just become more interesting. The nose is great, so you nasally oriented types can smell it while your tongue-oriented friends wait for it to open up and it'll be a perfect collaboration.

I was told about this wine's high marks by a manager at the perfectly stocked Pastiche Wine Shop in Tucson, Arizona. It doesn't disappoint, but it deserves more than just a number and a few stock adjectives.

Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon

Frank Family Vineyards
Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
Calistoga, CA
2004
14.4%
$31.14 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Rich purpley red
Nose: Cassis, vanilla
Body: Full
Front: Ripe berries
Middle: Vanilla, cinnamon
Back: Cedar, cumin
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I had this wine first at the winery (across the road from one of my favorites, Larkmead), where things were a little carnivalesque in the tasting room. I remembered it being classic California: huge fruit, embracing, but with a hint of complexity that keeps it from being Hi-C. The pourer pointed out that it took it awhile to open up, and said I should buy an older vintage than the '05. I thought it was pretty damn fine as it was.

The next time I had it, I was sitting at a table with three dudes who have been or are GMs at major international luxury hotels. We drank two bottles and everyone went home happy; don't be surprised if the next time you stay at a $500+ per night hotel in Miami (like ya do), you see it on the menu.

Tonight it's glorious instantly out of the bottle (I got the 2004, since I'm trying to take people's advice more often these days). It's lush, embracing, and with a hint of complexity that says, "I have been drunk by people smarter, more experienced, and better looking than you, but I still love you, so let's spend the night together."

Delaunay Pouilly-Fuisse

Delaunay et ses Fils
Pouilly-Fuisse
Chardonnay
Pouilly-Fuisse, Bourgogne, France
2006
13%
$17.14 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Light limey yellow
Nose: Lime, sunflower
Body: Light to medium
Front: Lemony
Middle: Apricot, butter
Back: Wood, orange
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a layer cake of chardonnay loveliness. There's way more going on in the palate than I can describe. Sometimes it's like opening a closet in your grandmother's house, the sweet smell of nostalgia and the elusive mystery of years of some sort of something making itself known, unforgettable, but not identifiable either. Sometimes it's like opening the door to your dad's old Corvette with the leather seats, the cracking dash, the years of exhilarated sweat and open windows. Cooking a delightful leek and cream sauce chicken dish gave me the excuse to open this one and now I can't believe I put 5 tablespoons of it into the pot.

Tudal Napa Valley Cabernet

Tudal Family Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Napa, California
2003
13.8%
$24.84 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Deep strawberry jam
Nose: Cherry, earth-after-rain, wet leather car door panels in the nose. The nose is really one of the best things about the wine
Body: Medium to full
Front: Tart cherries
Middle: Caramelly cedar
Back: Spice, coffee
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

At this price, this is a sensational wine. It’s a blend of four different sources, including Oak Knoll grapes, and it’s got all the great stuff Napa is known for, but more old-world character than is common there. The fruit is noticeable up front, but then it gets Bordeauxy in the later stages of the palate. I’m having it with thin slices of cold mesquite-grilled sirloin left over from Austin Land and Cattle restaurant (which carries BV’s Tapestry by the glass, fantastically) while listening to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and it’s making for a great evening.

La Crema Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

La Crema Winery
Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast
Healdsburg, California
2004
13.5%
$19.95 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC

Color: Medium strawberry
Nose: Cherry, cassis
Body: Medium
Front: Cassis
Middle: Smoke
Back: Blueberry and cognac, cedar sawdust
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I've been spoiled lately, by virtue of drinking two of the best American Pinot Noirs I've ever had: Red Car's Amour Fou and Daedalus's Labyrinth. But this isn't bad--it's got earthy notes in it, a little smoky in the middle, which tempers the fruitiness beautifully. I like a little imbalance in my pinot, apparently, and this is as even-tempered as an IBM service representative. But it's also just as competent. I have a feeling that, like good service representatives, it's benefited from age; it certainly got better with about a half-hour of air.

Chateau de Barbe Blanche Bordeaux

Chateau de Barbe Blanche
Merlot, etc.
Cuvee Henri IV
Lussac St.-Emilion, Gironde, France
1998
12.5%
$19.95 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC
Color: Dark strawberry
Nose: Blueberry, mint
Body: Full
Front: Berries
Middle: Leather, clove
Back: Mocha, smoke, more berries
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

A couple of years ago I bought this wine and loved it. I put a few in the cellar and this one I wrote "2008" on at some wine-illuminated moment of planning for the future. It's a really great wine: complex, old-world, structured, and slow to reveal its beauties. After it had been open about 2 hours it finally relaxed into its full richness, where it stayed for a long time. So I think this one will age even more.

Mount Veeder Napa Cabernet

Mount Veeder Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Rutherford, California
2003
14.5%
$38.00 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Blackberry, eucalyptus
Body: Full
Front: Plums
Middle: Tannins, graphite, blackberries
Back: Mocha, cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is an extraordinary cabernet. It's complex, well structured, evolutionary, and balanced. I had a bottle of this as a guest on the Thompson Publishing expense account back in December 2007 and thought, this is a ludicrously good bargain they're getting--so I had no regrets about not ordering the Opus One. It still is a great deal, and it'll age plenty, I reckon. It benefited from decanting, this time, as compared to the last time I drank it.

V. Sattui Preston Vineyard Cabernet

V. Sattui Winery
Preston Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford
St. Helena, Napa Valley, California
2005
14.8%
$45.00 -- V. Sattui Winery, St. Helena, CA

Color: Deep ruby
Nose: Blackberry, shrimp creole, eucalyptus
Body: Full
Front: Dried cherries
Middle: Tannins
Back: Graphite and wood
Burns clean?: More or less
Cap: Cork

This wine has won more prizes than Annika Sorenstam. It's darker than Tim Burton's imagination. It's richer than shrimp creole. It's tastier than chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. And it's better for you than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Cliff Lede Claret

Cliff Lede Vineyards
Claret
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot
Stag's Leap District
Yountville, Napa Valley, California
2005
14.8%
$35.00 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Beautiful deep garnet
Nose: Rich berries, damp leather, maybe a little bay
Body: Medium
Front: Cedar and spice
Middle: Blueberries, licorice
Back: Apricot, dust
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a complex, evolutionary wine. It got really stellar after decanting and sitting for about an hour. Early on there's some heat, then right before it got good there was a little celeriac hint. But I think it'd pair well with stew, with its dusty but not overpowering tannins.

NB: For the uninitiated (as I learned by saying it incorrectly), I believe it's pronounced "Cliff Lady."

Elizabeth Spencer Pinot Noir

Elizabeth Spencer Wines
Pinot Noir
Special Cuvee
Sonoma Coast
Calistoga, California
2005
14.3%
$45.00 -- Elizabeth Spencer Tasting Room, Rutherford, CA

Color: Rich medium strawberry
Nose: Young strawberry, beef jerky
Body: Medium
Front: Tart cherry
Middle: Strawberry, pine smoke
Back: Peat, clover
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a delightful Pinot Noir. I like it because it doesn't have the fruit-solo taste many Pinots do; there are layers in here, strata of interesting, strange flavors on the heels of the fruity taste. The delivery is long on the palate, too. Check here for a fact sheet on the wine, but don't read too much if it will delay your ordering bottles and drinking them.

Note: still tasted great the next evening.

Keenan Merlot

Robert Keenan Winery
Napa Valley Merlot
St. Helena, Napa Valley, CA
2004
14.3%
$44.50 -- Pastiche Wine Shop, Tucson, AZ
Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Cassis, mocha, smoke
Body: Medium to Full
Front: Berries
Middle: Spicy
Back: Leather car seats
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Give it air! It comes out a little tight, even after years in the bottle. This is a little more French than I'm used to in a Napa Merlot. Hear hear. It's well-built, economical, and will run smoothly for years; plus, who doesn't like leather seats?*

I'm amused to find that this is the first Merlot I've reviewed.

*No animals were harmed in the writing of this review.

Maryhill Winemaker's Red

Maryhill Winery
Winemaker's Red
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc
Columbia Valley, WA
2006
14.2%
$14.50 -- Pastiche Wine Shop, Tucson, AZ
Color: Medium strawberry red
Nose: Cassis
Body: Medium to Full
Front: Tart cherries
Middle: A little spice, chocolate
Back: Light tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I don't seem to have reviewed many Washington wines, but this one is more than worth it. It reminds me a little of one of Andrew Will's Bordeaux-style blends. It's smooth, chocolatey, but brooding, without being mean or overbearing. It's like having a little-known poet over for dinner. And like that, too, it's a real bargain in terms of entertainment for the money. Please show this post to your favorite under-published poet friends.

Speaking of the under-published, this wine goes fabulously with the music of the jazz/country trio Swamp Rat, especially the two songs with "Stella" in the title.

This reviewer found it tarter than I did, which makes me think it might have settled down a bit in the intervening months. If so, that's a good sign.

Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy

Mollydooker Wines
Blue Eyed Boy
Shiraz
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$45.50 -- Pastiche Wine Shop, Tucson, AZ
Color: Deep creamy red
Nose: Raspberry, brambles, heat
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries, cream
Middle: White pepper
Back: Plums, jam, perhaps a little cocoa
Burns clean?: Somewhat; don't drink too much at a sitting.
Cap: Screwcap

This is a big, playful wine, true to the Sparky Marquis style. If there are tannins, I can't taste them. It's not the synesthetic experience that a wine like Possum is, but it's spicy and jammy and dark out of all proportion to what is normally understood to go by the name of wine. Let it sit open a bit; it's hot and tight out of the bottle.

Elizabeth Spencer Chardonnay

Elizabeth Spencer Wines
Wente Clone Cuvee
Chardonnay
Sonoma Coast
Calistoga, California
2006
14.2%
$40.50 -- Elizabeth Spencer Tasting Room, Rutherford, CA

Color: Rich yellow
Nose: Pear, damp sawdust
Body: Full
Front: Lime, fig
Middle: A little butter, clover
Back: Grapefruit
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

"'8 Barrels Made'?" my mother says; "They should have made more." It makes a wine writer's job easier when half of his reading audience declares an opinion. This is an excellently balanced, nicely structured chardonnay that's long on the palate, but I think I'll have to drink some more bottles of it before I launch into any poetics about it. It goes well after a swim in the pool on a hundred-degree day with a little fruit and cheese before dinner, that's for sure.

Crane Brothers Brodatious

Crane Brothers
Brodatious
Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah
Crane Ranch Vineyard
Oak Knoll, Napa Valley, California
2003
14.5%
$39.00 -- 58 Degrees, Tucson, AZ

Color: Dark red
Nose: Eucalyptus, raspberry
Body: Full
Front: Cherry mint
Middle: Leather, spice
Back: Oaky, peaty
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a huge, beautiful, Bordeaux-style blend. Crane Brothers doesn't make a lot of wine, but what they make is sick-and-wrong-good. They graciously make available a hefty amount of information about this wine. But you don't need it. It evolves as it's open, going from a dense mint-fest to a chocolatey brooding lurker, to something more laid-back and yet sophisticated for which I lack a simile that isn't laughable. I admit I was going to say "like James Bond."