Top 5: Tastings from the week of 05/04/14

This week we has a great set of tastings lined up. It started off with the newest project from winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown and finished with bringing back a winery to our portfolio that our clients have LOVED in the past. Give us a call (800.933.8466) or email us so we can get some of these in your cellar and on your table. Without further pomp and circumstance, here are this weeks Top 5.

This weeks Top 5

2010 Cornerstone Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain
Wine Spectrum Rated 95+: Intensity, both in terms of perfume and structure, with a sublime elegance best describes the Cornerstone Cellars 2010 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Densely packed, fragrant aromatics of blackberries, black currants, licorice and dark chocolate mingle with fruit and barrel spices and an earthy minerality that energetically dances out of the glass. Layers of sweet dark fruits burst onto an immediately generous palate with a lifted acidity. Lingering, complex tannins, balanced and decidedly approachable right no, seamlessly flow to a long and flavorful finish. With plenty of tannin lurking beneath its layers, with a balanced acidity, bottle aging will further develop the perfume, complexity and add to its sublime elegance over the next two decades.

2011 Stone the Crows Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Wine Spectrum Rated 95, Wine Enthusiast 95: Stone the Crows is a single vineyard, estate grown wine, produced entirely of fruit from the Three Twins Vineyard. Densely planted in 2005 on steep hillsides, the vines are pruned to yield no more than three tons per acre. The fruit is crushed nearby in Angwin, at Black Sears, and aged for twenty months in French oak. 450 cases of the 2011 vintage were produced.

“Stone the Crows” is an Australian expression of incredulity or surprise, having very little to do with crows themselves. While there are certainly an abundance of crows in the vineyard, they spend most of their day perched on the fence posts or soaring lazily overhead on the breezes off the lake. They do little harm to the fruit, and live without fear of stoning. We felt the expression was indicative of our initial reaction to the quality of the fruit produced from the vineyard. “Stone the Crows,” what an amazing wine! One of the most aromatic wines I make, the 2011 Stone the Crows is very reminiscent of the 2010 version that we all loved so much. As I write this note, the room is filled with hints of blackberry, lifted red fruit and crushed rock. The entry of the wine has a generous amount of upfront red and blue fruit, rounded and virtually seamless. That initial generosity is quickly surrounded by very fine, but prominent tannin that gives the wine wonderful texture at this early stage. The best days for this wine are still a few years ahead of it, however a generous amount of airtime will allow for drinking pleasure at any point during its development. – Thomas Rivers Brown

2010 Calafia Meritage ‘La Reina Estate’, St. Helena
Wine Spectrum Rated 94+: The color is a rich vermillon red with a purple hue. The aromas are of black fruit: currants, licorice, black cherry, clove and dry forest floor. There are nuances of spice and dark baker’s chocolate. The flavors follow with concentrated black fruits like fig and cassis with hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and oak. The wine’s texture is coating, round and full followed by fine-grained tannins on the finish. Now with a year of bottle age, the wine is very approachable and will display more elegance with airing in the glass. 125 cases produced.

2010 Cornerstone Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Wine Spectrum Rated 94: Intriguingly fragrant aromatics of dark cherry, currants, savory dried herbs with a hint of cinnamon leap from the glass. The palate is greeted with energy and brightness with complex layers of rich dark fruits, dried herbs, dark chocolate and barrel spices surging through the mid-palate with a focused minerality. The tannins pick up weight throughout the palate and together with the wines balance and harmony carry through to an expansive finish.

2012 A.P. Vin Pinot Noir ‘Ridgetop Vineyard’, Sonoma Coast
Wine Spectrum Rated WSI 94: A.P. Vin specializes in handcrafted, vineyard-designate pinot noir, each bottling offered in very limited production releases, and each showcasing the flavors and nuances of the various prized vineyard sources and distinct vintages. The 2012 Ridgetop Vineyard is a blend of Clones 667, 777 & 115, and is aged 11 months in French oak. Dark berry aromas, macerated cherry and blueberry intermingle with a slight brambly note and earthy mushroom characteristics. Unfined and unfiltered. Just 150 cases produced.

Every week we have the tough “fantastic” job of tasting dozens of wines to make sure that we only offer the very BEST to our clients. We are constantly on the look out for amazing under-the-radar wines, along with celebrated projects from famous producers to augment our ever changing portfolio.