East Hills Wine ClubHOT!
1. 2002
Behrens and Hitchcock Cabernet Sauvignon Kenefick Ranch - $149.99 - OUT OF STOCK -
 1.
2002 Behrens and Hitchcock Cabernet Sauvignon Kenefick Ranch - OUT OF STOCK -
Napa, North Coast, California, USA The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Kenefick Ranch (which Les Behrens calls, “the poor man’s Araujo”) is a fat, expansive, deep, concentrated effort displaying an inky/purple color as well as super aromas of blueberry liqueur, smoke, creme de cassis, and hints of chocolate and espresso. Medium to full-bodied, with super depth in addition to a tremendously persistent finish of 45-50 seconds, it will require 2-3 years of bottle age, and should drink well for 15-16.
Napa, North Coast, California, USA There are just over 1000 cases of the Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the hillsides of the Blankiet estate. The 2002 possesses floral, blueberry, and espresso roast notes and big, sweet, black currant fruit infused with chocolate, barbecue spice, and meaty notes. The wine is big, rich, and complex, with sweet tannin and a multi-layered, concentrated finish. This is an amazing operation on the hillsides overlooking the huge Dominus/Napanook estate. A complex set of caves and a remarkable, nearly surreal chateau grace the property. Winemaker Helen Turley, working with her viticulturalist husband, John Wetlaufer, is fashioning some spectacular wines from these hillsides of volcanic ash and basalt. These are big, structured, potentially long-lived wines that will need some cellar time for those lucky enough to latch onto a few bottles. Everything to date has been aged in 100% new Taransaud barrels for 18-19 months and then bottled unfiltered.
Napa, North Coast, California, USA The deep, rich 2002 Merlot is not up to the level of the 2003, although it does possess fabulously complex notes of scorched earth, chocolate, espresso roast, and meaty black cherries, currants, and plums. A broodingly backward, concentrated, full-bodied, dense, and super-rich Merlot, it should drink well for 15 or more years. This is an amazing operation on the hillsides overlooking the huge Dominus/Napanook estate. A complex set of caves and a remarkable, nearly surreal chateau grace the property. Winemaker Helen Turley, working with her viticulturalist husband, John Wetlaufer, is fashioning some spectacular wines from these hillsides of volcanic ash and basalt. These are big, structured, potentially long-lived wines that will need some cellar time for those lucky enough to latch onto a few bottles. Everything to date has been aged in 100% new Taransaud barrels for 18-19 months and then bottled unfiltered.
Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia This dense ruby/purple-colored wine exhibits a sweet nose of vanilla, graphite, blackberry, and cassis. Full-bodied and pure, with decent acidity and a moderately tannic, silky finish, it is accessible enough to be drunk now, but will be even better in 1-3 years. It should last for a dozen years or more.
Hundred Acre Vineyard Production for the Kayli Morgan Vineyard is slightly in excess of 1,000 cases, and this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon often comes across like an opulent, full throttle French Pomerol. The 2003 (which was scheduled to be bottled a month after my visit) is a rich, full-bodied, opulent, powerful effort exhibiting noteworthy notes of espresso roast and cassis liqueur. It also reveals more rustic tannin than it did last year. Nevertheless, it is a sweet, expansive, blockbuster Cabernet that should drink well for 12-15+ years.
Luce Luce della Vite, the former Frescobaldi-Mondavi joint-venture in Montalcino, has now become essentially a Frescobaldi property with Michael Mondavi as minority partner. The main interest, obviously, is the wine, not the business aspects of the operation, and the 2001 Luce, the best made to date, underscores just how well Merlot works with Sangiovese, filling out the frame and softening some of the asperities just as its does with Cabernet in Bordeaux. A full ruby in color, ripe, intense, spicy, and penetrating in aroma, the wine is packed on the palate, broad, substantial, and long, and with the muscles and velvet that only the classiest of wines manage to exhibit. Already drinking beautifully, it will hold for another decade and a half.
Tuscany, Italy The 2001 Tignanello is an object lesson in how to make Cabernet work with Sangiovese, the two varieties balancing and enhancing one another in admirable symbiosis. (The percentage of Cabernet, in fact, was reduced from the previous 20% to 15% in this vintage, an important sign - I hope - of how the wind is blowing.) A blackish ruby, its perfectly focused plum and cassis fruit, given an additional complexity by notes of sweet herbs and saddle leather, is fully and completely shaped in flavors of impeccable volume, roundness, and depth, caressing and powerful and with an additional power on the close which promises another 15 years of gratifying drinking.
McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia Aged 18 months in primarily French oak, the 2004 Shiraz G.A.M. is an exceptional example of a precise yet full-flavored, concentrated Shiraz. Its gorgeous perfume of blueberries, blackberries, camphor, licorice, and pain grille is followed by an inky/blue/purple-colored wine offering superb purity, full-bodied richness, and gorgeous depth as well as texture. This fabulous effort is another example of Ben Glaetzer’s brilliant talents. It should drink well for 15 years. For a winery only established in 1999, and dedicated to hand-crafted, artisinal wines, Mitolo has consistently been a revelation in my tastings. Thanks to owner Frank Mitolo and his brilliant winemaker, Ben Glaetzer, the quality has been truly splendid.
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Online Wine Club Home Page
You can find 2002 Behrens and Hitchcock Cabernet Sauvignon Kenefick Ranch, 2002 Blankiet Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard, and 2003 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard on this webpage. |
2.
2002 Blankiet Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard 
4.
2004 Amon-Ra Shiraz
5.
2003 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard 
6.
2001 Luce Luce
7.
2001 P Antinori Tignanello IGT
2004
Mitolo Shiraz G A M