Haven’t seen too much about this wine. We visited the winery in the fall, directed there by the Franks Family tasting room manager, Dennis. Didn’t love the wines when we tasted them at the winery. They were Coravined. Opened the bottle below over the weekend, and it was really excellent. A really nice Napa QPR at $75.
Anyone have thoughts on Bremer?
2009 Bremer Family Claret- USA, California, Napa Valley (2/12/2016)
Really enjoyable Claret from Bremer Family. This is 42% cab franc, 29% merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% petite Verdot for good measure.
Being seven years old, and a rich blend, there is no harshness here. The Tanins and the fruit are beautifully integrated and partner with each other very well. The red fruit shows nicely with depth and roundness, supported by the lovely oak and tannin structure. Some blue fruit, cassis, and vanilla on the nose and palate as well. Nice long finish.
This is in its sweet spot now, and will remain probably here for another five years. (93 pts.)
Alex, I picked up some 06 Bremer some years back. I’ll pop a bottle every year to see how the Claret is doing. I must say that the wine has held up and still has good balance. I remember visiting with the wine maker, I believe his name was Bob and he was from Kansas.
Another under the radar winery that is fun to have in the cellar.
Had another bottle of this 10 months later. Even more impressed by it… Under-the-radar, released aged, and still available!
2009 Bremer Family Claret- USA, California, Napa Valley (12/7/2016)
Really excellent right now. Beautifully layered and nuanced, yet each of the three major grape varieties are clearly discernible. This is a big but soft wine, almost voluptuous. The soft tannin provided plenty of structure and backbone but integrates beautifully with the fruit. The nose is layers of strawberries, cherries and light oak. He palate, as the previous reviewer said, starts with merlot, continues with Cabernet, and finishes with the Franc. It’s a fascinating progression of each grape variety. I really think this is an underrated, under-known winery doing really good work. If they marketed better, there would be long wait lists. I also don’t think it helps their business that they hold their wines back until they are aged a few years before they release them. But I very much appreciate Bremer’s commitment to their vision of what good Napa Cabernet based wines should be. Bravo! (94 pts.)
Hi Alex - I visited the winery a looooong time ago and bought a lot of the 2002 Claret at the time. I recall that I really liked it, and until you mentioned it, I totally forgot about this producer.