All posts filed under: Cabernet Sauvignon

Decoding the Origins of Wine Aromas

Published by

If you detected the familiar aroma of coconut in a young Merlot wine, you might surmise that it was derived from barrel aging and characterize it as a secondary aroma. Likewise, if you perceive dried-fruit aromas of figs or prunes, you might conclude that those tertiary aromas indicate the wine had considerable bottle age. Yet the aromas of coconut and dried fruit that we typically associate with secondary and tertiary development can also be found in must and young wine. In a July 2023 study by Alexandre Pons, a research scientist at the University of Bordeaux and Seguin Moreau France, the compounds responsible for those aromas in must and young red wines were identified as furaneol and homofuraneol. The concentration of these compounds as well as that of γ-nonalactone, which is reminiscent of coconut and cooked peach, depends on vintage conditions and the amount of sunlight grapes receive during ripening, with the highest levels of γ-nonalactone being found in Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. When grapevines are stressed by heat or by Uncinula necator, a fungus …

Five Decades for the Class of ’72

Published by

Of the California wineries celebrating their 50th birth year in 2022, six gathered to mark the occasion with a retrospective tasting at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena. Each dazzled us with three wines while reflecting on five decades of harvests and providing a snapshot of their current vintages.

Retrospective tasting with Penfolds’ Peter Gago

Published by

In keeping with Gago’s practice of tasting verticals of older Penfolds vintages alongside panels of expert tasters, I’ve amended my tasting notes to include the historical perspective documented in Penfolds: The Rewards of Patience. This consummate guide to all things Penfolds provides invaluable hindsight through the lens of the world’s most highly-regarded palates.

Falling hard for Petrichor

Published by

INTERPRETING OUR ATTRACTION TO THE SMELL OF WET ROCKS

Beyond the Bar: Wine country visits that take you beyond the tasting room

Published by

Gone are the days when wine tasting was synonymous with standing at a bar. Wineries are now offering tasting experiences that include such activities as hiking with your dog, appreciating a world-class sculpture garden and breathing through a yoga class. If you think a standard wine tasting at a bar sounds more like drudgery than a dream day, these four non-traditional wine tasting experiences are for you.

Cabernet with a twist

Published by

The practice of finishing whiskey in wine barrels has been around since the 1860s, when scotch producers first utilized Sherry butts as a means of transporting their spirits. But, the tables have now turned and winemakers like James Foster of Stave & Steel currently seek out whiskey barrels – Kentucky bourbon barrels, specifically – as an alternative oak-aging regime for its wines. This approach is hardly new: By the 1970s, Scotch producers had switched almost entirely from Sherry butts to bourbon barrels. They had also started experimenting with still-wine barrel finishes, although the practice didn’t become an established part of the single-malt market until 2004.  A short decade later, the first whiskey barrel-finished wines – primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Shiraz – hit the shelves. While wine barrels can add fruitiness, body and even sweetness to whiskeys, it’s what bourbon casks can add to wine that intrigued Stave & Steel’s Foster. Foster who is Senior Director of Super Premium Wine for Livermore, Calif-based The Wine Group selected “freshly dumped” Kentucky bourbon barrels and ran trials …

Micro-lot Cabernet from Napa’s rockiest site

Published by

Cobbles reminiscent of the kind you find in the Southern Rhône aren’t the first thing you typically encounter in a Napa Valley vineyard. At Game Farm vineyard, owned and managed by Alex Vyborny and son Ben, it’s what differentiates their site from many others in Oakville. That cobbled terroir drew Goosecross Cellars winemaker Bill Nancarrow who sources fruit for the independent C. Elizabeth brand to the site like a bee to honey. 

Imagery repeats as CA State Fair California Winery of the Year

Published by

In a repeat performance, Imagery Estate Winery founded by Joe Benziger in 1985 has been honored for the second year running by the California State Fair as the 2018 Golden State Winery of the Year. Benziger, who was at the helm for the 2017 award, has now retired but serves as guide and mentor for his second daughter Jamie Benziger, 31, who stepped up as winemaker in 2018.

Incredible bulk: The changing nature of the international bulk wine market is creating opportunities

Published by

It’s estimated that roughly 25 percent of the world’s wine production is sold as bulk wine, a segment that’s described by one broker as the industry’s “soft underbelly” and exists for most consumers in the form of virtual brands. With the rise in popularity of bulk wine-derived, private label brands (brands developed for retailers, hotel chains, and restaurants, which sell them directly to consumers) and more producers entering the market in recent years, bulk wine has shed its low-rent image and become a hot commodity. With a healthy 6 percent annual growth rate for the last six years—and no signs of lagging—capitalizing on the continuing growth that’s predicted for the global bulk market depends largely on where you sit in the value chain. Identifying opportunities means navigating between the supply side of producers, brokers, and contract suppliers, and the demand side that includes retailers and on-premise operators. Short-term supply outlook Staying one step ahead of expansions and contractions of the bulk wine market is key for short- and long-term planning. Increasingly, brokers and contract suppliers …

Q & A with CEO Sid Patel, The International Bulk Wine and Spirits Show

Published by

San Francisco continues to be one of the world’s most important destinations for leading players in the wine industry, so it’s no surprise that a major conference dedicated to the private label and bulk trade is making its way to the city on July 26-27.