Domestic Cabernet Sauvignon VS Bordeaux Happy Hour Wine Tasting

Wine is wonderful stuff. But so many people are put off by the snobbery of it.

John Cleese


Or they simply can’t afford the good stuff…and you don’t have to be a billionaire to drink well at the Wine Watch we have great wines at every price point.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grape is a relatively new invention it is the result of the combination of a white varietal Sauvignon Blanc and a red grape Cabernet Franc crossed by some mad grape scientist in southwest France in the 17th century.  Because of its thick skin and relative ease of cultivation this varietal has spread around the world and makes high quality full bodied red wines in many parts of the wine world.

We have conducted several studies on Bordeaux already this year, and we also hold a lot of tastings featuring the top Cabernet Sauvignon blends from California and Washington state.  So, I thought it would be a good follow-up to show some California and Washington state Bordeaux blends alongside Bordeaux to see how the “New World” wines stack up to the wines of “Old World”. 

This Happy Hour wine tasting will feature some top level wines from California, Washington and France including current releases and wines that go back 30+ years.  The fee for this tasting is $95 per person + tax.  To make reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Domestic Cabernet Sauvignon VS Bordeaux Happy Hour Wine Tasting
Thursday, September 5th
6pm

Domaine and Estates Wines

2021 SNOWDEN CABERNET SAUVIGNON THE RANCH NAPA VALLEY
Price: $75.00     Sale $66
(94 Points) Alder smoke and warm earth lead the way, with a core of steeped black currant and blackberry fruit following closely behind. This is dense from start to finish, offering hints of savory, worn cedar and tar that add range and grip through the finish. Leans old school in feel. Best from 2025 through 2040. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 795 cases made.  Wine Spectator

2021 SCHUG CABERNET SAUVIGNON SONOMA VALLEY
Price: $45.00                     Sale $39.60
This supple and generous Cabernet Sauvignon blend is hand-crafted in the classic Bordeaux style that Walter Schug pioneered in the 1970s as Winemaker of Joseph Phelps Vineyards.
The rich mouthfeel highlights ripe dark cherry and plum flavors framed by a fine tannin structure and a touch of spicy oak. It has a classic bouquet bursting with black fruits, blueberry, and hints of chocolate. Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot are blended in to add depth and elegance, further enhancing the rich berry flavors and lively acidity.
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot

2021 FERRARI CARANO TRESOR, SONOMA COUNTY, USA
Price: $49.00                     Sale Price: $39.00
71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 8% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc,and 6% Petit Verdot

2020 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon Napa, USA
Price: $36.00                     Sale Price: $29.00
Sourced principally from our five family estates in Yountville, our 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon displays red cherry, baked strawberry, and vanilla aromas with hints of fig and coffee bean.  This medium-to-full bodied wine showcases a rich mix of berry, chocolate, and buttery caramel flavors set against a backdrop of toasted oak; all leading to a seamless, long finish of currant, blueberry, and warm oak.

2019 EHLERS ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY
Price: $87.50                     Your Price: $77.00
(94 Points)  This supple, saturated and delicious wine is only a small step behind Ehlers' flagship 1886 wine that is twice as expensive. It overflows with dark chocolate, cooked blueberries and black cherries while fine-grained tannins surround and support them for further aging. — Jim Gordon  Wine Enthusiast

2019 ECHOLANDS RED WINE RUBRUM WALLA WALLA VALLEY
Price: $39.00                     Your Price: $34.32
(90 Points) The only thing more fun than repeatedly saying “Rubrum” is drinking this wine. There's some funky earthiness here, with aromas of crunchy dried fall leaves and wet clay mixing it up with ripe blackberries and tart cranberries. The wine's tangy acidity and crisp mouthfeel goes hand-in-hand with flavors like tangerine and more blackberry. The tannins are nicely integrated at this point. — Michael Alberty  Wine Enthusiast

2018 GRAMERCY CELLARS CABERNET SAUVIGNON LOWER EAST COLUMBIA VALLEY
Price: $39.00                     Your Price: $34.32
(94 Points) Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a tiny bit of Petit Verdot unite in this youthful wine. Its raspberry and black-cherry aromas are complemented by the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans. Flavors of dark chocolate, orange zest and seared steak go on seemingly forever. It’s full of great acidity and grippy tannins. Editors' Choice  Wine Enthusiast

2017 Akrasia Cabernet Sauvignon Line of Fire Vineyard Rutherford
Price: $65.00                     Your Price: $57.20
2017 was an incredible growing season for the Napa Valley. Because we are focused on producing a more balanced Cabernet, where we allow the terroir and the season to define our wines, we harvested prior to the fires and so our grapes did not suffer from smoke taint. Warm days and cool nights again yielded near perfect growing conditions.  This full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon has a complex palate of dark fruits, black cherries, and spice with wonderful aromas of blackberries, butterscotch and anis.

2013 Cote Bonneville Carriage House Red
Price: $50.00                     Sale Price: $24.50
(91 Points) The 2013 Dubrul Vineyard Carriage House is another outstanding wine, and in 2013 it’s 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. Brambly herbs, red and black fruits, spice and a touch of graphite all emerge from this rich, beautifully textured, elegant red from winemaker Kerry Shiels. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

1995 Jessandra Vittoria Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma
Price: $55.00                     Your Price: $48.4070%
A year of weather extremes marked the 1995 vintage, which saw winter floods, spring rains and a June hailstorm. The dramatic weather events got the growing season off to a late start, and although summer heat pushed grapes to maturity, harvest was late and yields were down. Moderate Indian Summer temperatures permitted extended hang time for red varieties, important to the development of rich flavors and deep color. Overall, vintners characterized the year as late, light and luscious. -napavintners.com

Twenty One Wines

2021 Clos Floridene Graves
Price: $36.00     Your Price: $31.68
(93 points) Bright and lively in the glass, tangy and sharp but so well balanced with intensity yet softness, getting the liveliness and energy but also complexity of flavour - lemon, pineapple, apricot and peach - sharp, almost sour, so tangy and zesty in the glass just shining brightly. This is extremely aromatic and flavourful with a persistence that lasts the whole way through. I also like the really soft honeyed lemon touch that runs underneath the more overt acidity. A solid effort. Tasted twice. (GH)  (3/2022)  Decanter

2021 Chateau Cheval Blanc 'Le Petit Cheval Blanc' White, Bordeaux, France
Price: $225.00                   Your Price: $198.00
Composed of Sauvignon with a touch of Sémillon, this beautiful Bordeaux Blanc is an aromatically complex marvel, with a zillion tiny nuances… green apple, lychee, and mango interweaved with citrus and white flowers.

2018 Clos Floridene Graves Rouge
Price: $29.50                     Your Price: $25.96
(91 Points) Stylish, with a mix of cherry, currant and plum notes that glide through, supported gently by a kiss of toast and notes of red tea and tobacco leaf. Ends with a subtle iron twinge through the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2028. Wine Spectator

2019 Chateau La Grave Figeac Grand Cru Saint Emilion, France
Price: $65.00                     Sale Price: $49.00
(93+ points) The 2019 La Grave-Figeac sports a deep garnet-purple color and fragrant notions of warm black and red cherries, mulberries and stewed plums with hints of woodsmoke, baking spices and lavender. The medium-bodied palate has a fine backbone of grainy, approachable tannins and invigorating freshness supporting the tightly wound, mineral-laced fruit, finishing with a lively lift. Impressive showing!  Wine Advocate

2019 Prelude a Grand Puy Ducasse Pauillac
Price: $42.00                     Your Price: $36.96
(93 points) This is the second wine of classed growth Grand-Puy Ducasse. With half-and-half Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, it obviously has much of the Merlot that did not make the cut for the top wine. That means the wine has smoothness and accessibility and will mature relatively quickly. The wine is full and dense with fine smokiness as well as tannins. *Editors' Choice* (RV)  (9/2022)  Wine Enthusiast

2018 Château Cos Labory Saint-Estephe 5eme Grand Cru Classe
Price: $66.00                     Your Price: $58.08
(93 Points) "The 2018 Cos Labory has a deep garnet-purple color, bursting from the glass with bold notes of warm cassis, blackberry compote and Morello cherries, plus suggestions of roses, unsmoked cigars and tree bark. The medium-bodied palate has a very sturdy frame of firm, grainy tannins and tons of freshness supporting the rather delicately played fruit, finishing long and earthy/minerally. The structure stands out a little now, which I enjoy, but for those preferring softer, rounder expressions, give this a good 3-5 years in the cellar and drink it over the next 15-20 years." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Advocate (3/31/2021), Drink: 2025-2045

2016 Chateau Gloria St Julien
List Price: $84.0               Your Price: $73.92
(93 points) "The 2016 Gloria is showing brilliantly and appears to be entering the beginning of its drinking window. Offering up a deep bouquet of sweet crème de cassis and blackberries mingled with sweet spices and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with fine concentration, ripe tannins and bright acids, it's a vibrant, precise wine from this sometimes rather flamboyantly styled estate, impressing for its purity of fruit and structural seamlessness." Wine Advocate

2015 La Sirene De Giscours Margaux
Price: $63.00     Your Price: $55.44
(89-91 Points) The 2015 La Sirene de Giscours is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. It has a crisp, quite pure black cherry, raspberry coulis and cedar-scented bouquet that gently unfolds in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with good depth for a deuxième vin, the 30% new oak nicely integrated with good depth and grip on the graphite and spice-tinged finish. This is worth seeking out - the best La Sirène de Giscours to date, but those with a wise head will give it 2-3 years in bottle.  -Wine Advocate-Parker

2015 La Fleur Saint Georges Lalande de Pomerol
Price: $29.25                     Your Price: $25.74
This is high quality at a low price from the famous Boüard family, from Château Angelus 1er Grand Cru Classé. A medium-bodied Bordeaux possessing an intense nose with aromas of spicy mulberries and blackberries, finishing with a subtle hint of mint and soft fruit. The wine is made in a new winery entirely run on gravity to ensure only soft tannins are extracted. Fermentation occurs in specially constructed stainless steel tanks with natural yeast and spends up to one year in barrels coppered on-site.

2003 Chateau Talbot, St. Julien
Price: $115.00                   Your Price: $101.20
(88-90 Points) “soft, forward 2003 is nearly ready to drink. Tasted on three occasions, it reveals extremely low acidity (to the point of almost being flat) as well as a deep ruby/garnet color, and a big nose of berry fruit, dried herbs, new saddle leather, and earth. Round, fruity, and charming, but lacking structure and depth, it should continue to pull itself together and reveal more weight and richness as it ages in barrel and bottle. It will be ready to drink early in life. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2014. The Wine Advocate Issue 152

1989 Chateau Meyney Saint-Estephe
Price: $179.00                   Sale Price: $135.00
(93 points) Dark-colored, sporting loads of minty, berry and chocolate aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, with plenty of velvety tannins and a long, rich finish. Built for aging. *Highly Recommended, Top 100 Wines of 1992* (5/1999) Wine Spectator

Menu
Charcuterie Pizza
Truffle Fries with Mayonnaise Dipping Sauce
All American Sliders
Duck Confit Spring Rolls with Plum Dipping Sauce
Avocado Tartar served over Brie Toast
Mini Tuna Tacos with Wild Mushrooms and Basil Aioli

The fee for this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.