I’ll start with just a bit of background, though I have more background on my latest blog entry. This is a new project set to release its 2007 vintage this fall at $45 per 750 mL. Aaron Pott is the winemaker, while fruit is sourced mostly from Hyde and Beau Terroir vineyards in Carneros. I received this as a sample from proprietress Emily Richer, and honestly I’m rather fond of this style of wine with a hint of green and more of a medium than full body.
This was paired with a rather straightforward meal of grilled pork chops, corn on the cobb, and salad with blue cheese. Interestingly, the blue cheese was a very good pairing. If I could take a mulligan, I’d probably go for a salad with goat cheese, dried cranberries and walnuts, while using some kind of herb-based marinade on the pork chops. The layering and elegance of the wine should open it up for some rather interesting potential food synergies.
Getting on the soapbox, this price point seems to me to be right on target. This is more like a New World Pinot with a degree of restraint than a Napa Valley Cab, and the $45 price point falls right in with reserve/SVD Pinot price points. It’s a different flavor profile, but the style and weight probably lend themselves to many of the same uses.
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2007 Virage Vineyards - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros (8/28/2010)
On initial pop and pour taste has savory/meaty quality, currant, cedar and mint. A fair amount of oak shows in the mouth, but it seems to be high quality French and integrated as a fine grained texture. Not quite opaque, between crimson and purple in color. Definite beginning, middle and end on the palate.
Decanted, then consumed over several hours. Savory aromas dissipate, while tobacco and floral aromas emerge. Palate is layered with plums and currants up front, a bit of creaminess on the mid-palate, and tobacco and herbs on the finish. A complete wine with genuine complexity. Oak does show rather strongly on the palate, though perhaps this will integrate better over time. This is not an especially chocolatey, coffeed or toasty style. The acidity is slightly mouthwatering but approachable, while the tannic structure is very fine. Medium to med/full body with firm but integrated structure. Dry, though not austere.
There’s a palpable tension between a subtle herbaceous undercurrent and the fruit and oak components. A layered, multi-faceted wine that was best on its last sip. The oak on the palate is a bit distracting ultimately, but on the whole it is complementary and doesn’t obscure other aromas. Shows a well-polished cooler-climate Cab Franc profile.
I had guessed a pH of 3.6-3.7, with around 50% new (French) oak. Actual numbers are 3.75 and 40%, so not too far off. TA is 5.8 g/L, near the sweet spot where a wine is fresh but approachable. 71% Cab F, 24% Merlot, 5% Cab S.
Posted from CellarTracker