Behind the Cork™ - Wine of the Week

2015 Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon ($20)

This Cabernet from Hess Select is from California's North Coast. The wine is produced from Hess estate vineyards in Napa along with grapes from Lake County and Mendocino County.

Hess states that "The rolling hillsides and benchlands offer prime vineyard sites producing flavorful fruit with layers of agreeable acids and balanced tannins."  I would certainly agree.

This wine is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petite Sirah, 4% Malbec, 2% Syrah, 2% Merlot and 2% Zinfandel. It's aged in 35% new French oak and American oak for 18 months.

The wine maker, Dave Guffy, describes this wine as having "Bright and vivid aromas of roasted vanilla, mocha and baking spices meet layers of blackberry and ripe cherry flavors."

To find all these wonderful flavors in a California North Coast Cab for around $20 is a great find!

This Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon is another winning value feature in Behind the Cork™ - Wine of the Week that, as usual, is affordable and attainable. Look for this one! You will enjoy it. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this wine at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Donna White Communications

How Does Wind Affect a Wine?

I recently had a friend return from doing some wine tasting in Napa. While he said he enjoyed the wine, he did complain that it was windy and cold. And, he said he was told that the wind helped the wine. So, he asked me "How does wind affect a wine?"

Luckily, I had recently been doing some reading, and this exact situation was described. It turns out that it's not just the wind, it a cool wind that helps.  And, as is true with many of the premiere wine growing regions, Napa is helped by the cool afternoon breezes that come in off the ocean.  These cool winds actually cause the leaves in the vineyard to close-down their tiny pores (stoma). Without going any further into plant botany, this slows down the ripening process during the growing season. And, slower ripening results in grape skins that are thicker along with smaller berries (i.e., grapes) and smaller bunches.  This produces concentrated flavors and, in red grapes, a bit more tannin. It can also help with increased acidity. All good stuff for making wine.

So, when you visit wine county and feel the cool afternoon breezes, don't complain. They are helping to make the wine even better. Cheers!

Yet Another Hard Lesson on Wine Gone Bad

On a trip to wine country earlier this year, I picked up several bottles of wine. Included in my wines was a Reserve Chardonnay that I had gotten in Alexander Valley.  In the tasting room it was excellent.

After purchasing the wines, I was very careful to control their temperature by not leaving them in the car or exposing them to significant sunlight. And, while on the road, the wines always spend the night in the cool hotel room, not the car.  Once home, the wines were moved either to cool, dark closets or to the wine refrigerator (always need a bigger wine refrig!) where they are stored on their side with the cork slightly down.

For a recent dinner, I brought out the slightly chilled Reserve Chardonnay, pulled the cork and poured a glass.  I immediately noticed the color of the Chardonnay. Instead of the usual pale straw color (like the one on the left in the photo), this wine was golden-brown in color (like the one on the right in the photo). That seemed really odd.  I then took a sniff. The aroma was not that of a fruity, tropical Chardonnay. It was noticeably off. I went back to examine the cork (a natural cork) and found the issue.  The cork was completely soaked all the way through.  It had leaked and air had gotten into my Reserve Chardonnay. Ruined.

I didn't have to taste it. I already knew from the golden-brown color, the odd aroma and the soaked cork that this wine had gone bad. But, just to complete my experience, I did taste the wine. As expected, it had a very nutty (oxidized) flavor. A real let down since it was so good in tasting room.

I believe that I did everything properly on the handling and storage of this wine that I just purchased a few months ago. I just got ahold of a bottle with where the cork did not properly do its job. 

It's always such a shame to buy a really nice bottle of wine only to find that its gone bad. So, if your wine has an unusual color, odd aroma and/or a nutty taste, you'll know it's not just a bad wine, it's a wine that's gone bad.

Here's to finding lots of great bottles of wine in your future! Cheers!

Do You Know Negrette?

During one of our trips to Paso Robles a few years ago, we visited the Kenneth Volk tasting room and really enjoyed their wines.  The Paso Robles tasting room is no longer open, but on a subsequent trip to Paso, we stopped in at the Albertsons market (on Niblick Road just off Highway 101) to shop for local wines and found a Kenneth Volk Negrette (Ne-GRET). We were not familiar with that varietal, but knew that Kenneth Volk produced nice wines, so we bought it (along with a bunch of other local wines! - Albertsons is a great place to shop for local wines in Paso, after you've visited the wineries!).

Negrette is mostly found in southwestern France. Outside of France, Negrette is almost nowhere to be found. Except for a small amount of it in San Benito, California, where the Kenneth Volk was from.

The Negrette grape (formally known as Pinot Saint-Georges) is very dark and pigmented and, as a varietal, produces fruity and floral wines with a bit of spicy flavors. The wines are low in tannin and acidity. Because of this, winemakers often will blend it with Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir for additional body and age-ability.  But, on its own, it makes for a very nice, smooth wine.

So, if you are not familiar with Negrette, keep your eyes open for the seemingly rare bottles of it outside of France. And, if you find one, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Wine of the Week

2013 Hacienda López de Haro Reserva ($16)

This Rioja Reserva is a blend of 90% Tempranillo, 5% Granacha and 5% Graciano. It's grown in vineyards located near the heart of La Rioja, surrounded by the Sierra de Cantabria mountain and the river Ebro. 

A Rioja Reserva wine must spend a minimum of one year in the barrel, and cannot be sent to market until a full three years after vintage. But, this Reserva spent a full 20 months in French and American oak.

This Rioja has bright, fruit-forward red and black fruit flavors while remaining on the lighter side of medium-bodied. The oak aging helps give complexity to soften the fruitiness.  It has a nice easy finish with just a hint of spice.

In Rioja, "Reserva" truly has meaning and is certainly worth seeking out.  This is one of those. And, while many Rioja Reserva wines can go well above $20, this one is a great value. Look for this one. You will enjoy it!

Look for the red Rioja Reserva label to ensure authenticity.

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this wine at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

Sample provided by Rebekah Polster 401 West Communications and supplied by Vintae (www.vintae.com)