The recent Santa Barbara Vintner`s Spring Weekend included a special seminar entitled Cabernet Sauvignon & Blends: A World View. Held at Brander Vineyard and sponsored by Fred Brander, 22 participants enjoyed a blind tasting and panel discussion followed by a luncheon prepared by, popular local chef, David Cecchini, served in the outdoor courtyard at the Brander Winery.
Top quality examples from classic regions around the globe such as Bordeaux, Tuscany, Australia, California, and others were presented in such a way as to show the diversity of terroirs that bring out the best characteristics in the so-called King of Grapes.
The tasting and discussion, which included local examples, was led by Peter Koff, MW, and Patrick Farrell, MW. Both have received the quite challenging designation, Master of Wine, from the London based Institute of the Masters of Wine founded in 1953. It is considered the leading organization in the world for wine education and after a glance at the arduous 3 year program and examinations and the very low number of designees, 312 from 24 different countries [188 in the UK], I am humbled by their achievement and honored to be in their presence.
They were capably joined by 2 other panelists, Alfredo Koch, director of the Department of Enology and Viticulture at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, CA and Jeff LeBard, enologist at the local Gainey Vineyard. The moderator was Fred Brander.
One area of specific discussion had to do with pyrazines in wine, more specifically 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine, and in this case, primarily for Cabernet Sauvignon. This is one of the main categories of compounds responsible for creating the herbaceous and vegetal character which leads to green pepper/ green bean aromas. Mr. Koch is intimately involved in some of the research on this subject which is memorialized in the document, ucanr.edu/seek/profileFiles.cfm?filenum=100. The science is much more detailed than what I will address herein, but it is very interesting and certainly is an issue winemakers have to consider and deal with and for us as wine consumers to be aware of.
Our tasting was set up with 3 flights, 2 of 4 and 1 of 7 glasses poured in advance. We were initially provided with 2 handouts:
1] a list of 14 different global regions including information regarding climate, diurnal temperature variation, growing seasons, geology and soils
2] a blank page for the 15 wines tasted for each of us to note the producer, vintage, variety[ties], country of origin and region of origin.
After the tasting and making self evaluations, an interactive discussion was held. We then received a handout listing the complete information for each of the 15 wines.
I struggled to identify the region of most of the wines and most of my notes were made before any post discussion or identification. For this review, I`ve added in the producer information and details in the order tasted blindly from #1 through #15:
FIRST FLIGHT OF 4:
2010 WYNN`S BLACK LABEL CONAWARRA AUSTRALIA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- 100% Cabernet; early on fruit forwardness with an inviting nose that had a hit of talc in it; by mid palate, nice spicy red cherry prevailed with a touch of red currant peaking through; it was delightfully soft and elegant; I had no idea what the origin was, but I sure liked the wine.
2010 ERRAZURIZ SINGLE VINEYARD ACONCAGUA VALLEY CHILE SAUVIGNON- 100% Cabernet; the aromatics were inundated with herbal, bell pepper and violets; it seemed a little on the green side and also had some green tea leaf character; Id had some Cabernet in the 80s and 90`s from nearby Ballard Canyon that this reminded me of so I guessed the local region option-wrong.
2009 STELLEKAYA STELLENBOSCH SOUTH AFRICA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- 100% Cabernet; the nose was very fruit forward topped with cinnamon and Asian spices; nicely concentrated with a taste profile that included some smoke and dark chocolate; it finished somewhat dry; again, I had no idea where this came from.
2010 GAINEY VINEYARD LIMITED SELECTION CABERNET SAUVIGNON SANTA YNEZ VALLEY SANTA BARBARA COUNTY- 83% Cabernet, 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, [? remaining blend]; the nose offers some less that attractive vegetal, green olive that fortunately fades and bows out to the very pleasant
spicy, chocolate black cherry that has a bit of toast and vanilla suggesting oak influence, but not to a fault; we later learned it was aged in 40% new oak for 17 months; this was more than decent and after learning it was from Gainey, who I have tasted through for over 3 decades, I was pleasantly surprised; I did not pick the region.
SECOND FLIGHT OF 4:
2010 CATENA ZAPATA AGRELO MENDOZA ARGETINA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- 100% Cabernet; this was one of my favs of the tasting; it was spicy good with big, wonderful fruit character shining through which was joined by cigar box, cedar and chocolate in a perfect marriage; it had good balance and structure as well as length along with a great mouthfeel; I thought this had to be a Bordeaux; surprise, surprise, the learning curve is going up.
2009 BRANDER RESERVE SANTA YNEZ VALLEY LOS OLIVOS SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CABERNET SAUVIGNON- 100% Cabernet; the deep dark color and inviting nose of fresh floral and ripe fruit notes is followed by, almost on the sweet side with out RS, fruitiness with an accent on cherry and a great softness on the palate; it is very pleasant with all of its treats being delivered in a mellow manner; I assumed the sweetness is oak related and later on learned it was aged in 50% new oak for 12 months; Fred`s Cabernets historically have shown very well in blind tastings, usually against top Napa and left bank Bordeaux and this was no exception.
2010 VASSE FELIX MARGARET RIVER AUSTRALIA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- nice fruit profile with some mintiness and vanilla and tobacco leaf; very different from the others in this flight and tasting and enjoyable; although I`ve only had a few Cabs from this area and other producers, primarily Leeuwin Estates, I picked the region correctly here.
2010 DOMAINE du CHEVALIER PESSAC-LEOGNAN BORDEAUX- 55% Cabernet, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc; layers of flavors abound with coffee, mocha, black currant [cassis], leather and earth, it finished dry from somewhat stiff tannins which suggests to me it has some backbone to age and evolve for many years down the line; I waffled on selecting the region not pinpointing the origin of the nuances; my choices included Napa, Bordeaux and Italy.
THIRD FLIGHT OF 7:
2010 LAFON-ROCHET MEDOC, ST. ESTEPHE, BORDEAUX- 56% Cabernet, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc; an intense and full bodied mouthful of goodness prevailed here; it was loaded with really nice dark fruit which was enhanced by leather, coffee, smoke and a toastiness that blended in perfectly; from earlier comments and the handout, it helped to ID this as being from Medoc.
2010 RIDGE ESTATE MONTEBELLO VINEYARD SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS CABERNET SAUVIGNON- 80% Cabernet, 17% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc; this just jumped out of the glass with major sensory pleasures; theres some raspberry, lead pencil, violets, black currant and wild red cherry and dark fruit notes; this is finely structured and built for longevity; Im thinking right bank Bordeaux and surprised to learn its from Ridge, a producer whose wines Ive admired for decades, especially from this vineyard.
2010 ANDREW WILL CIEL du CHEVAL VINEYARD RED MOUNTAIN COLUMBIA VALLEY WASHINGTON- 52% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Franc; what, no Cab Sauv? I found this very tannic and additionally offering some earthy, chocolate, coffee and tart cherry notes in a medium body; there`s plenty of acidity; overall, an OK experience and a mystery to me as to region.
2010 CHATEAU MONBOUSQUET ST. EMILION BORDEAUX- 10% Cabernet, 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; this definitely came off as a blend and its softness, medium body and fresh red fruit suggested more Merlot characteristics; it was very good and youthful; there was a touch of wildness in the fruit which may dissipate or integrate later on; I got this region correctly.
2009 MIGUEL TORRES MAS la PLANA PACS del PENEDES SPAIN CABERNET SAUVIGNON- 100% Cabernet; lots of oak influence in the form of toast, vanilla and wood dominates the red cherry flavors; along with the imbalance, it seemed to be still searching for an identity and may mature into something much different and engaging; I did not go back to see if this changed as my palate and brain were getting tested and there`s still more to go here and at lunch; again, I had no clue as to where this came from other than an oak barrel.
2010 TENUTA GUADO al TASSO [ANTINORI] BOLGHERI TUSCANY- 55% Cabernet, 30% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; good wine here; the nose is quite welcoming with loads of fresh, ripe red, blue and black fruit with hits of sandalwood and talc all carrying on into the mid palate and beyond for a grand finish; there`s some cedar, chocolate and baking spices showing up as well making for a complete and very satisfying sensory experience; I thought it was from Napa with a little uncertainty.
2010 ROBERT MONDAVI OAKVILLE NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON RESERVE- although our handout stated 100% Cabernet, I know this to be a blend and learned it is 94
% Cabernet, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc; after initial bell pepper and Eucalyptus aromas which eventually blew off, it steadied into a powerful and yet graceful expression of licorice and graphite flavored blue and black fruit; very complex and full bodied with some minerality and a structure to support a long and treasure life; the Eucalyptus notes reminded me of earlier versions of Silver Oak, but I had just picked the Napa region, so I yielded to the upcoming discovery.
I loved this event. It this was so stimulating and invigorating and I found at the end, I wanted more. It was a consummate learning experience and one I relish and look forward to replicating within my circle of wine groups in similar fashion.
We adjourned with smiles on our faces and retreated into the peace and serenity of the open air courtyard for a delicious luncheon that was complimented with wines brought from some of the attendees and our gracious host. It was very special and a subject for another report.
Cheers,
Blake
