Dark, inky purple core with a glass-staining fuchsia rim. Gamy and meaty aromas of brown sugar glazed ham stalk over fresh herbal anise, dark blueberry and ripe blackberry fruits. Wild yet impressively restrained blueberry and huckleberry on the palate are backed by ripe black cherry. Thick and mouth filling with enough acid for balance. The dense fruit gives way to wisps of smoky ham and brown sugar on the finish.
A blend of 79.1% Petite Sirah, 9.5% Syrah, 9.1% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2.3% Valdiguié
The wine is an opaque deep purple in the glass surrounded by a tiny bright ruby rim. Warm, rich and opulent aromas of blackberry and chocolate are wrapped in crème de cassis and accented by a touch of wet stone. Black cherry and cassis jump on the front of the tongue, and are nicely balanced by the acid. Ripe, soft tannins support the body yet make it approachable now. A touch of cedar and toasty vanilla come in on the finish.
A blend of 77.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22.5% Petite Sirah. Aged for 18 months in 100% new French Oak barrels.
Bright medium lemon core with a clear rim. Good intensity on the nose with bright lemon and lime softened by ripe yellow apple. The whole nose has a sweet orange blossom note lifting the aromas out of the glass. Very floral on the palate. Round and full-bodied yet with great balancing acidity. Oranges, lemons and limes are softened by the yellow apple. Just a touch of oak and cream rounds out the finish.
Dark ruby core with purple highlights, surrounded by a bright ruby rim. Intense, fruity nose of ripe blackberry, raspberry and red cherry wrapped in rich milk chocolate. Lush entry onto the palate: juicy red and black cherries with ripe raspberry are supported by roasted coffee and dark chocolate. The tannins are fully yet ripe and approachable, supporting the fruit through the finish. A touch of cedar spice leads to lingering cherry and mocha on the finish.
Soft lemon yellow hue with a clear rim. A touch of oak and butter floats on the nose over bright citrus and green apple. Lemons and limes fill the front palate, and are matched by a slightly sweet hint of yellow apples. Clean finish with a lingering touch of oak and cream.
Bright, rich gold core. Very deep aromas of dried apricot, peach, pear and beeswax with a hint of earth and mushrooms. Rich entry into the mouth. Round and full, yet maintains a steely minerality and crisp acidity. Rich flavors of apricot, yellow pear, apple and a hint of lemon lead to cream and nutmeg on the finish.
Just released, Kalin Cellars holds their longer than just about any winery in California. Some of the most outstanding wines made in California; particularly the Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Pinot Noir.
Medium lemon green color with tons of very persistent, tiny bubbles. Raspberry aromas flow from the glass and are quickly surrounded by biscuit, lemon, yellow apple and a touch of wet stone. Creamy entry in the mouth with a hint of raspberry followed by lemon and lime zest. The little bubbles fill the mouth, and the flavors linger with a touch of toast and vanilla.
Intense black and purple core with glass coating bright fuchsia color. Very intense aromas of black raspberry, black cherry and boysenberry syrup. Thick and jammy on the nose. Very different on the palate: much more refined and balanced with white pepper and earth around licorice, black cherry and a touch of game.
This is very much an Australian Shiraz on the nose but a Rhone Syrah on the palate. Only 272 cases produced.
Medium ruby color in the glass from the core all the way out to the rim. Very spicy aromas with a nice punch of white pepper around dark blackberry, boysenberry and a sweet touch of caramel. Fairly substantial in the mouth with very juicy blackberry and raspberry fruits, again accented by the white pepper. Low tannins and good acidity make this easy to drink right now and able to go with many types of foods from a burger to ribs to pizza.
A blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah.
Mike Supple from SuppleWine.com goes through easy steps so you can read and recognize key information on a wine label for a Californian wine.
Transcript
Matt: Hi. I’m with Mike Supple of SuppleWine.com, and we’re here to talk about how to read labels. We’re starting with California.
Mike: Alright. So reading a label is something that’s fairly easy if you know what you’re doing. It’s also fairly important if you don’t know what you’re doing, so if your friend invites you over for dinner and says, ‘Hey, come over to my house; bring a bottle of Cabernet,’ you don’t just sort of sit on the other end of the phone going ‘duh…’. You want to be able to go into the store and kind of know what you’re doing. Maybe ask a few questions, but get yourself there.
Mike: So here’s a California wine label. Start out with an easy piece of information: they always have the name of the producer. This one here is Canyon Road. Second thing: the most popular style of wines in California are the varietal based wines, and that means what they say on the label is the main grape in there. This one right here: Cabernet Sauvignon. That means it’s at least 75% Cabernet Sauvignon. That’s a law in the United States; it’s got to be at least 75% to have that name on the front.
Matt: 0% beer though.
Mike: Yeah…at least in the US!
Mike: The important thing: they can put 25% of whatever else they want in there. It does have to be made from grapes, it has to be wine, but it can be anything else they want. It can be white grapes, it can be red grapes. Basically, the better producers are going to put in whatever they think makes it taste better. Some producers are going to use 100% Cabernet Sauvignon; some might think it tastes better with 10% Merlot - it might make it a little softer. But basically that’s what you’re looking for: the varietal name.
Mike: They’re also going to have a region on each label. This one just says California. That just means that the grapes came from anywhere in California. They didn’t go with a specific region that tastes like certain things. They can blend some grapes from Napa, from Sonoma, from the Central Coast.
Matt: Oakland?
Mike: They could blend some grapes from Oakland, San Francisco Bay. You never really know what’s going on in those ones.
Mike: What other pieces of info? They always tell you the alcohol by volume. That’s important because it’s really a tax thing. Certain levels of alcohol get different tax rates. So if it’s below 14% they call it “table wine” and it’s a lower tax bracket. Above that they call it “dessert wine” and it’s more expensive for tax purposes - not for you, but for the winery.
Matt: Alright, so that was California. Now we’re going to get a little more specific and go with something you know. We’re talking about Napa.
Mike: This is still a wine from California, but the information on the label is a little bit different. Again, you’re going to have the producer. The name of this producer is Trefethen, which happens to be one of my favorite Napa based wines, but that’s not important right now.
Mike: A few other things you might see on here: at the top, Estate Grown. That means that they actually own the vineyards and they grow the grapes that they use to make this wine. That other one we were looking at doesn’t say that, which means they could have bought the grapes from anybody. A lot of people do this. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad if they buy the grapes. Some people have long-term contracts so they buy the same grapes from the same guy in the same place for 20, 30, 40 years, but when it’s estate grown it generally means since they own the vineyards they have a little more control over the entire process. It’s usually going to mean that it’s a little higher quality.
Matt: And probably more expensive as well.
Mike: Well, right. Every time they spend more money and there’s more quality, they bump the price up. Whether it’s better or not, the price goes up.
Mike: Again, you’re going to see the year the wine was made. This was made in 2004. This is also a Cabernet Sauvignon, which means it’s got to be at least 75% Cabernet. This particular wine blends, I believe, Merlot, a little Petite Verdot, maybe a little bit of Cabernet Franc in there. It says Estate Grown, which means they own the vineyards these other grapes are from, but it’s not necessarily all Cabernet Sauvignon. And they do this because they feel adding those grapes just gives it a little more complexity, a little more nuance, etc.
Mike: The other major difference here is that this says ‘Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley’. It doesn’t say California. That’s called an American Viticultural Area, or an AVA. These are designated regions in the United States where the government and the growers have decided that certain wines from these vineyards always have specific characteristics. And so they put that on [the label] - Oak Knoll District is an AVA within the Napa Valley. It’s something a little extra, a little more designated, so it generally means the quality is going to be a little bit higher than something that just says California, and it also means it’s going to be a little more expensive.
Matt: So basically what you’re telling us is that you start out with the state, then the larger region and then the AVA. The smaller it gets, the farther you go down the line, the more likely you are to have something very distinct. Also, as Mike told you, they can name the varietal on the label if there is 75% or more of the grape, but sometimes there’s nothing on that label at all.
Mike: That’s true. Again, the most popular styles of wines in the United States are varietals - they will tell you what the wine is on the label - but they don’t all. For example, this wine right here, the Inglenook Reunion. Now, you see: name of the producer, and 1986 when it was harvested. You see “estate bottled” which means they bottled it on their property where the winery is - they did the bottling themselves. Some people outsource bottling. It doesn’t say the name of the grapes though, it just says “Reunion” and a little trademark (they copyrighted that name). And it says underneath that “Red Table Wine” from Napa Valley. So this did come from Napa, a specific area within California, so it makes it a little bit more expensive, a little bit more nuanced with specific characteristics, but all they’re telling you is that it’s red wine. That’s all they have to tell you. They don’t have to tell you what’s in it. We do happen to know that this is a blend of Cabernet and a few other things. When a winery does something like this they’re trying to brand something, trying to build a name for themselves, so you think, “When I have this I’m not drinking Cabernet, I’m drinking Reunion”.
Mike: In a nutshell, that’s California. Oh, it also always says somewhere on the bottle how big the bottle is. A regular bottle size is 750ml, and it has to say that on the bottle. It can be in tiny letters, it can be on the front, it can be on the back, but it’s got to be on there somewhere. Not really important, but that’s on the label.
Matt: If you know how big the bottle is, you’ve got a good start.
Mike: That’s about it. That should get us through California, so get out there and drink some good wine.
