2007 Scherrer Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (10/12/2019)
Just an amazing '07 Alexander Valley cab. Elegant and complex, still singing with layers of primary fruit mainly black and red cherry with a hint of chocolate. Tannins are fully resolved and silken and the acidity is bright. This went great with a grilled filet. (93 pts.)
Hard to go wrong. That ‘04 the other night was stunning.
I used to drink quite a bit of Scherrer Zin and Cab - need to get more! I’ve missed the Alexander Valley Cabs most of all
Never had Scherrer before but that note reminds me that Alexander Valley Cabs with some age really can shine.
Excellent Pinot Noir producer, too.
Cellartracker shows I still have one of these. Now I have to find it. Great note.
Excellent everything. Chardonnay and Zin are both great too
Tell me about it! This was awesome the other night.
And Zinfandel. A 2001 Shale Terrace over weekend was still quite enjoyable.
I opened a 2001 Scherrer Cab Alexander Valley this weekend. It was stellar. Showed no signs of age, had a soaring aroma, everything in harmony and balance. It was served at a dinner party with two women present who were interested in wine but largely buy big bottled, big blends from Costco. The Scherrer followed, of all things, an '02 Kay Block 6 that I also brought. They opened the Kay first because they figured that with a screw cap, it could not be that special and brought it out to the patio where I was sitting with the men drinking scotch. First they reveled over the Kay and then the Scherrer. I found that amusing.
Per Mike, ditto the older Zins. We just had a 2001 Shale Terrace Zin at a blind tasting that fooled us into being an 80s Bordeaux or an older higher-end Beaujolais. Wonderful juice. My note:
“Tomato leaf, currant, tobacco. This is fine and nice–acid pops all over the mouth. Good structure, some rhubarb for me. I say France, 1985, can’t decide between Bordeaux and Beaujolais–I haven’t had an old enough one. Oh wow. 2001 Scherrer Shale Terrace Zin This is a marvelous discovery. We all loved what this was.”
Mike
Wonderful wine - I drank mine a while ago. I still have quite a few of Fred’s zins on hand, which I also love. But I need to start buying his cabs again.
The 2015 cab appears to be available on their website, $66.
Which is my “problem”. As good as the above referenced 2001 was, I have a hard time paying $66 for an Alexander Valley Cab direct from the winery. I am not saying that the price charged is elevated, I am only talking about my own sticker reaction. As we all know, we all have radically different comfort levels. All of the Scherrer wines have gone from being bargain-priced to being right at the point where I look elsewhere. In fact, only four or five years ago I was paying $45 for Scherrer Alexander Valley Cab from a bar/restaurant here in town (The Rossi, Short North, Columbus). The fact that I stay away from virtually all Cali pinot does not help. I hope for Fred’s sake he is able to sell all of his wine. I have no idea what his retail/direct to consumer mix is but I would guess it is roughly 60-40 based on what I see on restaurant wine lists here in Ohio (common) and on retail shelves (uncommon but present) versus hearing from other enthusiasts that they buy direct.
He gets a certain amount of praise here for his Zins and Cabs, and Todd had already mentioned the Zin in this thread. Interesting to hear about his Chard in David’s response - I haven’t ever seen one, but should keep an eye out. Anyway, I was thinking about waxing on more than just saying excellent. Maybe another way to put it is if I wrote up a short list of who I think are the best CA PN producers, he’d be on it.
I have to admit that as much as I love his cabs and zins, I am always amazed with what he does with pinot, top of my list is the Hallberg Vineyard pinot, have yet to find a weak vintage, incredible fruit and fantastic wine.
Took a trip up with a bunch of friends and met GregT and his +1 to do a tasting with Fred a couple years ago. He must have opened 15 bottles and all were very good. I buy my usual Zin futures spilt case and whatever else strikes my fancy each year. At the tasting a bunch of us left with his Helfer vineyard chardonnay which was exceptional. Regular chardonnay bottling also very good.
So on Winesearcher, I see the following listed:
Scherrer Alexander Valley Cabernet
Scherrer Sonoma County Cabernet
Scherrer “Scherrer Vineyard” Cabernet
Are these indeed separate and distinct wines? Or is Winesearcher just listing them by slightly different names but they are really the same wine?
This might be a dumb question but I often find that Winesearcher has multiple listings for wines by slightly different names that are in fact all the same wine.
They are all the same, all Fred’s Cabs are Estate fruit.