Kunde Family Estate 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley

March 21, 2012

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2008, Cabernet Sauvignon, Kunde Family Estate, Next-Wine-Please!, Sonoma , , 1 Comment

The Wine:

Kunde Family Estate 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley

Not all grapes and subsequent wines they produce are equal. Typically wineries have 2-3 tiers of wine varying in qualities and prices. Barrels which don’t make the ‘reserve’ or ‘select’ wines are usually bottled in a more mass produced offering – these are very often the price point wines which make it to grocery store shelves. Without a doubt the Kunde Family Sonoma Valley Cab is their lower end, more mass produced tier. I’ve had several of their ‘premium’ offerings ($25-$35) from  Kunde and enjoyed them, so I was looking forward to trying their more widely available, $13 price point wine.

The Experience: 

Color: Very deep purple – looks very young still.

Nose: Jammy dark plum, earth, some ‘dustiness’, olives, and a little vanilla.

Palate: The same as the nose but really not that enjoyable due to a disjointing harshness between the elements. On the second day, the finish of the wine really took on a bitter quality. Over extracted seed tannin?

Bottom Line:  Next-Wine-Please

At the $13 price point, I think I would consider trying another vintage of this wine or look elsewhere on the shelf. I’m pretty sure this is or close to, ‘last run-juice’. (The last juice from the grape press which is typically less fruity, more tannic) I think you could find more value at the $7-$10 price point or a significantly better wine for $20-25. But I would encourage you to try other Kunde Family Estate wines.



Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

March 9, 2011

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2008, Cabernet Sauvignon, Maxwell Creek, Napa Valley, Trader Joe's Grand Reserve, Worth-Buying 4 Comments

Trader Joe's Grand Reserve 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The Wine: I really like the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve line of wines. It’s really speaks for the quality of business people TJ’s employees on their wine sourcing side. These wines are almost always sourced from very reputable vineyards/wineries who have too much juice or juice which doesn’t quite fit into a vintage’s program. The result, great or very good wine needs to be sold under a new name costing much less than the pedigree sister. This wine is no different. TJ’s has/had several bottlings by Maxwell Creek, and I’ve really liked them all. You’d be ‘Super’ ;) impressed by this wine’s origins, but how does it play out in the glass?

The Experience:

Color: Rather dense plum violet. Still looking very young.

Nose: Right out of the bottle, the nose is really restrained on this wine. I’m only able to pick up notes from barreling, I’m led to believe this was aged in new French oak. Some red fruit comes through, but at first, I thought I had a dirty glass with the amount of dust I was sensing, oh wait, this is Napa Cab!

Palate: Just like the nose, the barrel dominates this first impression of this wine. Lots of vanilla, but you’re treated to a rather crisp and tight experience of tannins on the mid-palate. Not much in the way of nuance with this wine. It’s an oaky wine. You’ll pick up some rich dark fruit, some toast, 10-15 second barrel driven finish and a decent amount of acidity with this wine. At 14.1%, this not an alcohol driven wine, I like!

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying/Buy-A-Few

I’m really on the fence with this wine. I wish it wasn’t SO atypical Napa Valley Oak Monster, as Gary Vaynerchuck would say. This wine has some great potential in it, but the oak just really dominates what is otherwise really good wine. It’s not going to get Old World Winos excited, but it’s going to sing well to New World Winos. The only real flaw in my opinion is the amount of oak. Otherwise, this wine is really good. It’s crisp, has just the right amount of tannins and acid, but the oak hides the fruit; decanting helped somewhat. The main reason I’m on the fence is trying to determine if this wine is worth $13. I think it’s more approachable as a daily drinker than most of the $20 Napa Cab counter-parts and has a few years left in it before it’s at its prime. I’ll more than likely grab 1-2 more bottles and forget about them for 2-3 years.

Wine Info:

  • Price: $13
  • Appellation: Napa Valley
  • Alcohol: 14.1%
  • Vintage: 2008
  • Cellar: Maxwell Creek

Trader Joe’s Reserve 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon California

February 7, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2008, Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Stonehedge, Trader Joe's Reserve, Worth-Buying Leave a comment

Firstly, apologies for such a delay in my updates as of late – to say the last ten days have been busy is an understatement. I’m happy to report that I’ve been occupied with other ventures in the wine world, so I now have more to contribute here on my site and have tried a handful of wines to add. So let’s talk some wine.

The Wine: For quite sometime I’ve been eying this bottle of TJ’s Reserve. It doesn’t have the same label as the other Reserve wines, nor do most Reserves say so clearly who’s behind the label; in this case it’s Stonehedge Winery in Napa Valley. I like Stonehedge because their wines are down to earth price-wise and are known to deliver value in their offerings. Is this wine any different?

The Experience:

Color: A candy colored glossy plum which has some depth and crisp clarity.

Nose: A very noticeable presence of red/dark fruit leather, a little vanilla/oak, alcohol is present by certainly not overwhelming at 13.8% and some nice baking spices.

Palate: Here’s an atypical everyday Cab – dark red berries, vanilla, little acid bite, mild tannin snap, smooth sippin’ wine oak rounding out the finish.

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying

This wine reminded me a of a smooth and balance Zin. There were no characteristics which jump out and dominate the palate. It’s all there and in equal balance. There was however nothing really that interesting about this wine. This is certainly a result of the different vineyards and appellations used in blending this wine; I also wouldn’t doubt if there was some Merlot and a splash of Malbec in the blend. With good confidence, I’d buy this wine for good ‘a drink now Cab’. My recommendation is however to not keep this wine open for more than a day or two, it wasn’t as pleasant after three days.

Wine Info:

  • Price: $10
  • Alcohol: 13.8%
  • Appellation: California
  • Cellar: Stonehedge Winery

Familia Nueva – 2008 Liberté Cabernet Sauvignon – Paso Robles

January 10, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2008, Buy-Half-A-Case, Cabernet Sauvignon, Familia Nueva's - Liberté, Paso Robles, Worth-Buying 5 Comments

Next time you’re at Trader Joe’s, pay extra close attention to the wines which make up the ‘end caps’ or the stacks of wine at the end of the aisles.  Often these are the new wines or are staff favorites which come backed with high recommendations.  In the case of Familia Nueva’s 2008 Liberté Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a favorite of the assistant manager who has guided me well in the past with wine selections; so this was definitely on the list to try.

The Wine: You won’t find this wine anywhere else but Trader Joe’s.  It stems from Creston, California which lays between Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo (here’s a map for a brief geography lesson).  From the research I’ve done, it seems this winery can often have a hand in the private label wines Trader Joe’s carries from this region.  OK, cool.  So how does this wine taste?

The Experience: I had two experiences with this wine: un-decanted and decanted.

Un-decanted – This wine had a jammy red raspberry and dark fruit nose presented nicely with a rich red color with squeezes of blackberry violet to darken the juice.  Sour Bing Cherries would best describe the palate with a light white pepper rounding out a medium-short finish.  In the mid-palate, there was a slight earthy, perhaps green olive component which was making itself somewhat noticed.  It was nice – but I could tell this wine had more to offer…Out came the decanter.

Decanted – As per the back label recommends 15-30 minutes in a decanter really turned this wine around and up a few notches.  Naturally, the rich and attractive color remained the same, but a beautiful bouquet opened up to reveal a very pleasant red rose pedal, green olive, currant, and dark cherry components.  On the palate you will find good representations of currant, cherries, earthiness and just the right amount of tannins and acidity to refresh your mouth.   The finish remains medium-short, but there is the slightest hint of strawberries on last notes of the finish – I like.  All indications point to this wine was oak aged, but there is no overbearing oakiness or vanilla components.   This wine is comprised of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec and 1% Petite Sirah – which explains the simple complexities of the wine.

The Bottom Line: Worth-Buying/Buy-Half-A-Case

This is a solid bottle of Central California Cabernet, especially at the $10 price point.   Liberté is a regular on the shelf at TJ’s which is the only reason this wine has the dual rating – otherwise I would highly suggest picking up a few bottles before it ran out.  This is a Cab for both everyday and nicer occasions.  Here is a good candidate of a wine to compare side by side with the Trader Joe’s Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($10) to taste two different regions and styles of California Cabernets.  Buy this wine.

Question: What components do you like best about Cabernets from Northern California vs. Central California?

Wine Dork Info:

  • Price: $10
  • Appellation: Paso Robles, CA
  • Wine Maker: Mike Sinor
  • Grape Varietals: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec and 1% Petite Sirah
  • Alcohol: 14.1%

Castle Rock – 2008 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

January 3, 2011

Matt $5-$9 Price Point, 2008, Buy-Half-A-Case, Cabernet Sauvignon, Castle Rock, Columbia Valley, Washington , 4 Comments

I first learnt about it from Jeff over at VivaLaWino. Jeff has a descerning palate and knows what he seeks in wine, particularly when it comes to finding both accuracy and interesting qualities in wine.  He gave this wine an A/A-.  That certainly carries weight with me.  My store had yet to get an order of this, so I bought it at a neighboring Trader Joe’s and made sure my store had a few cases on order.

The Wine: The juice comes from the Columbia Valley in Washington state, which is of the same latitude of Bordueax in France but it’s celleared and bottled in Geyserville, California.  This is a good opportunity to point out the poor economy has hurt the wine industry.  There is a growing base of consumers, but consumers are spending less on single bottles of wine and looking for more value.  Premium producers are now making less expensive wines under new labels or selling some of their good grapes for others who can produce good wine at at a good price.  This wine is definitely a result of that!  Trader Joe’s has been a bastion for some of these wines.

The Experiene: One of the first attributes you look at in a wine is its color.  This wine is deep purple with a little red hue. The nice nose is going to treat you to what you expect in a Cabernet Sauvignon, dark berry, vanilla, oak and a little heat from alcohol, but not much ‘dust’ since this isn’t a Napa Cab.  The nose provides all it has to offer with nice balance.  It reminds me slightly of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ ‘Artemis’ with regards to balance in the nose, but not nearly as focused or refined.  In the mouth this wine is simply pleasant and juicy.  It’s ready to be consumed now.  It presents a great dark berry preserve flavor along with notes of vanilla and gentle tannin structure all experienced seperately.

The Bottom Line: Worth-A-Buy/Buy-Half-A-Case

Here is a killer daily drinker.  And it costs $6.  I would like for someone to do a blind tasting with this wine against more expensive and cheaper red wines.  This wine will stick out.  I can’t say this wine would win, but this wine is spot for the palates of both the experienced to novice wine drinker.  Not only would I buy one bottle of this, I have already purchased a few.

Question: Do you do blind wine tastings?  Are the wines of the same or different price points?

Wine Dork Info:

  • Appellation: 100% Columbia Valley grapes
  • Wine Maker: August Briggs
  • Grape Varietals: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot
  • Barrel Aging: 100% French Oak, 18 Months
  • Cases Produced: 18,000
  • Alcohol: 13.5%
  • Brix: Cabernet 23.5, Merlot 25.6
  • TA: .57 g/100ml


Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 209 other followers