“Wine
is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages.” … Louis
Pasteur
Can anyone discuss the taste
of a Cabernet Sauvignon without mentioning cassis? Well, it’s obviously too late for me to do
that, so I’ll put off that description for a moment and instead talk balance.
Balance as in a wine of balance; a flying Walenda of balance. This is my second tasting of the Left Bend winery’s offerings; the winery being a collection of small vineyards scattered
throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. (For more on this AVA and the winery,
see: http://www.winemizer.net/2013/12/left-bend-2010-syrah.html
I opened the Cab without
decanting or aerating and was impressed with its immediately pleasing and
balanced nose: no sharp single notes; instead a harmony of scent: black berry,
black cherry and cassis …. oops,
there’s that word again. It’s deep
purple in the glass, proud to be a Cabernet Sauvignon and showy of it. This is
a viscous wine, silky and smooth in the mouth, luxuriously coating the palette
like plum juice, but not one-dimensional. Instead, the wine offers tastes of
its own nose with taste of black berry, black cherries, plum and … yes, cassis.
I guess I’ll just have to deal
with that cassis issue. Cassis is the
berry fruit of a shrub not allowed in the U.S. My instinct is that some people
using that term to describe the taste of Cabernet Sauvignon do so out of rote,
not experience: Hear it, read it, repeat
it and pass it on and have someone else do the same. Cassis is another gift in
the world of pleasing tastes and you don’t have to leave the country to enjoy
it. You can buy (see photo) cassis liqueur (not crème de ….. unless you want to
imagine what the taste of cassis and dairy combined with wine taste like). And
doing so will give you the advantage of actually having tasted cassis, instead
of just having read the word in a wine review.
Anyway, there definitely is
cassis in Left Bend’s inaugural release of their 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. It is most pleasing, but even more impressive
is how it is in balance with the wine’s other notes. And while cabs tend to be
tannic (and good for aging) this wine having aged 27 months in barrel offers
smoothed tannins and can be enjoyed now. It has a lingering but clean finish
that develops and builds in the mouth then ends nicely with clean acid.
Somebody has to absorb the
cost of French barrels and the cost of cellaring, and it can’t forever be the
winery if you expect them to remain in business next year. So you’ll find this
wine at about $45. Value being a relative thing, I would value this wine along
with cabs I have tasted that cost more. As
I do with most wines I taste, I vacuum pump the bottles, store them in a cool /
dark place and taste them again the next day (oh, the work of it all). Unlike Left Bend’s Syrah, the Cabernet
Sauvignon did not improve. So the bad
news is you may have to finish the wine in its first day. And the good news is
that you may have to finish the wine in its first day.
The biggest challenge to
enjoying this wine is finding it. With production limited to 30 cases (not a
typo), it is unlikely you will find it locally or at any “big box” retailer. Contact winery directly for information.
Cheers!
……………. Jim
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Left
Bend Winery
12255
New Ave.
San
Martin, CA 9504
* Sample was provided by winery for review
TECH SPECS FOR THIS WINE:
Clones: 4 and377
Alc: 13.8%
TA (acidity) 6.3 g/l
pH: 3.57
Hand harvested, sorted and
destemmed
100% whole berry fermentation
Punched down twice daily
10% oak cooperage (66% new
[French} 40% neutral)
27 months barrel aging
Natural malolactic – 100%
Not filtered or fined
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