Goal Winery
Carpineto
Dogajolo Toscano Sangiovese Blend 2022
This wine is medium dark in the glass. It shows a nose that is ripe and fresh, with plenty of juicy cherry, strawberry, plum and cassis aromas. There is a whiff of spice, but the fruit is the star of the show, which is fitting since the wine was in neutral oak for only half a year. The palate is ripe, red and fresh, with a nice tannic grip and good acidity. The idea was to produce a good everyday wine and that goal has been achieved. — 3 years ago
Ramey Wine Cellars
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Decent wine. Enjoyable, but I didn’t notice as much aroma or flavor as others are espousing. It is soft and round for a cab with the silky velvet tannins and good fruit and some spice and earth, just not super powerful which may be the goal. The best part was the smoothness and black fruits for a cab in Napa. — 5 years ago
Domaine La Ferme Blanche
Cassis 2018
Magnum from K&L
Great QPR at $25.00 per mag
Winery notes,
beautiful terroir skillfully worked by Jérômine Paret and Philippe Garnier. Responding to the call of his parents, Jérômine gave up a career as an English teacher to take over the family estate. She then studied business and allied herself with Philippe Garnier, who has one goal in mind: to achieve excellence. She does not regret her choices today and her customers don't either! Thus, the estate evolves each year with new wines and techniques. The organically-farmed vineyards are planted mostly to Marsanne, and this is reflected in the blend, which also includes Bourboulenc, Clairette, Sauvignon, and Ugni Blanc. Fermented entirely in stainless steel and resin-lined cement vats, the wine shows notes of white flowers including honeysuckle, jasmin, and citrus blossom, while aeration reveals secondary nuances of aniseseed, eucalyptus, and hazelnut. — 6 years ago
Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7
To the left, that’s Sunday’s wine
Morlet Family Vineyards
La Proportion Dorée Sonoma County Sémillon Blend 2015
Seamless and put together like a championship team. Lots of moving parts and versatility striving towards a single goal. RFG (really effing good). A decent amount of mystery and intrigue as well. — 8 years ago
Robert Keenan Winery
Mailbox Vineyard Reserve Merlot 2013
3 good things about a 3 day weekend. Dodgers vs Padres with Kershaw on the hill followed by one of my favorite merlots. The mailbox reserve is right up there with Paloma and Switchback--rich, weighty and lush. Spring mountain does something with merlot that makes me seek them out. The '13 is still youthful and needs time to shed some tannin so I'd hold for optimum enjoyment.....and optimum enjoyment is always the goal. Happy Labor Day weekend 👷🏽💼🍷🍈🍈 — 9 years ago
Hartwell Vineyards
Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon 1991
Picked up a couple of these from a local cellar sale at a crazy cheap price and have been happy with each one.
Classically older SLD Cabernet. The fruit spectrum is on the red and black side (as I expect from SLD) with a mocha/cocoa layered sweetness. Some older fig, sweet pipe tobacco, and a core of fruit still in-tact. Soft on the mid-palate but retaining nice structure throughout the finish. Exactly what I expected from 34yr old Napa Cabernet.
Hope to try the Realm X Hartwell wine to see the vision from where this was to what the profile goal is in the future. — a year ago
Bodegas Mas Alta
La Basseta Priorat Garnatxa Negra 2015
This was served during my annual WWC hosting. Typical format of sparkler, three whites, four reds, one dessert, all served blind.
My goal was to see how this showed blind compared to the 2015 Saint Damien Louisiane Gigondas. Both are 80 Grenache/ and mostly rounded out by Syrah (difference is the Gigiondas had some Mourvèdre).
Decanted an hour. After an extra 30mins, this became nicely lifted. Not sharp or high toned, but very pretty Grenache. More purple than the Gigondas with a juicier profile…raspberries, spiced blueberries, blackberries with lavender and good tannin. Vibrant acidity. Kiss of espresso. No trace of pepper like the Gigondas. Similar to Alto Moncayo’s Grenache, but brighter. A wine I’d like to revisit on its own. — 3 years ago
Domaine Dauvissat-Camus
La Forest Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2009
Nose reveals beauty & grace. Sweet & just sour lemons, lime candy, green dominate apples with shades of golden, cream, vanillin, ginger, ripe squeezed pineapple flesh, grapefruit with pith, touch of apple cider, salted caramel, cream soda, sea fossils, sea spray, light volcanics, marmalade fruit, Stone fruit with yellow & spring flowers flowers set in mixed greens.
The palate is very full, round, waxy, rich with excellent viscosity. Beautiful mouthfeel. Great time for a bottle. Sweet & just a sour lemons, lime candy, green dominate apples with shades of golden, cream, vanillin, ginger, ripe squeezed pineapple flesh, grapefruit with pith, touch of apple cider, salted caramel, cream soda, healthier honey, sea fossils, white spice with the perfect depth & heat, sea spray, reductive, melted molasses, light volcanics, wet stone, elegant flintiness, marmalade fruit, stone fruit-apricot, nectarines, white & yellow peach with yellow & spring flowers flowers set in mixed greens. The acidity is like a cool stone filled stream. The long, round finish is; waxy, round, lush, with excellent balance fruit & earth, gentle white spice palate heat that persists endlessly. On the long, longboard set, I get soft subtle cream notes of whiskey/scotch w/o any heat. It Hoovers center mouth.
Photos of; one of Dauvisst Cru vineyards, staff caning in the spring, Vincent, Dauvisst and photo of a vineyard that shows every bit of reason why White Burgundy tastes the way it does!
Some producer notes I read. Vincent started helping his father René in 1976 and, during the last decade, has gradually taken control of viticulture and winemaking. For him, the ultimate goal is to harvest healthy grapes that are fully ripe and concentrated which, he declares, can only be achieved consistently by hard work in the vineyard. His passion for wine enables him to put this work ethic into practice with real vigour - close pruning the vines (40 years old on average) during the growing season to restrict yields, hand harvesting at vintage time and ruthlessly discarding any rotten or split grapes. His vinification and maturation methods see him join the small band of Chablis producers who employ oak. The wines are vinified and aged in a mixture of steel vats and 6-to 8 year old wooden barrels. The wood is old and therefore doesn’t stamp any oak flavour onto the wines but does give them an extra depth of flavor and density of body, whilst still retaining their unique identities. These are intensely terroir-driven, mineral wines of such concentration that they take longer than most to reach their best, though they are every bit worth the wait. — 6 years ago
New Glarus Brewery
Spotted Cow Cream Ale
Owners Dan and Deb Carey have grown New Glarus Brewery to the 25th largest in America. The flagship brew is Spotted Cow, sold only in Wisconsin . @ delactable cream ale description is incorrect!
The goal was to brew a recipe that farmers would enjoy.
They call it farm house ale, unfiltered and cloudy. Pilsner malt, caramel malt, white wheat, and saaz hops. Hard water comes from the brewerys own deep well .
5.1% abv. — 7 years ago
Landmark Vineyards
Overlook Sonoma County Chardonnay 2015
2015, a touch green apple and just a kiss of goal. Not too bad for the price — 8 years ago
Bodegas Alejandro Fernández
Tinto Pesquera Crianza Ribera del Duero Tempranillo 2009
A delightful Spanish wine made up mostly of a clone of Tempranillo called Tinto Fino or "Fine Red". This wine is also considered one of Spain's finest (see Dominio de Pingus). Pesquera is owned by Alejandro Fernandez who goal is to make "masculine" wines. This is a good description. Meaty, bold but not overpowering like a Zinfandel. I'm sure the age of this vintage - 2009 - has helped its quality. — 9 years ago
Dominus Estate
Dominus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2011
2011 vintage. Decanted with some sed and tasted after 1 hour. Bigg structure with plenty of tobacco, underbrush and dark fruit. A complex kid. Lots of moving parts but really unified currently and moving towards a common goal. Total BDX ringer in a pricey blind. This has miles to go. 8.2.24. — 2 years ago
Flying Goat Cellars
Clos Pepe Vineyard Goat Bubbles Blanc de Noirs Pinot Noir 2016
At Flying Goat, the goal is to produce unpretentious, playful wines while retaining a serious quality focus and commitment to a purity of expression from single-vineyard sites such as the Solomon Hills Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Rancho Santa Rosa, to name a few.
This intention is reinforced by everything from the whimsical labels (Flying Goat, Goat Bubbles, YNOT), to the critical acclaim Flying Goat Cellars has garnered for its impressive wines, to the impeccably balanced and delicious Pinot Noir and vintage, traditional method sparkling wines.
This 2016 blanc de noirs sparkler — made with Pinot Noir hailing from the Bien Nacido Vineyard — is medium gold in appearance, with a fine and creamy mousse, and fresh notes of just-ripe yellow apple, pear, white peach, lemon zest, citrus blossom, biscuit, toast, brioche, toasted almond, and marzipan. It has a lingering, elegant finish.
@Delectable Wine this is the blanc de noirs bien nacido vineyard 2016 vintage sparkling (Goat Bubbles, Flying Goat Cellars) — 2 years ago
Marc Hébrart
Cuvée de Réserve Brut 1er Cru Champagne Blend
The wines of Marc Hebrart are always punching above their weight class which made this a perfect choice to celebrate Holly reaching a new professional goal as she too, routinely exceeds expectations.
This bottle of “Cuvée de Réserve” was disgorged in October of 2019 and made exclusively with 1er Cru fruit from a variety of vineyards. As usually, predominately Pinot Noir with a dollop of Chardonnay. In the glass, it’s a deep straw color with a persistent mousse. On the nose, there are slightly oxidative notes of apples, brioche, meringue, and nuts. On the palate, the wine is dry and the bubbles are tiny and almost creamy. Confirming the apple fruit, but also with some peach, toasted nuts and and hit of lemons and minerals on the finish. Everything is very nicely balanced and satisfying. To me, this is a way more interesting alternative to Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label. — 4 years ago
Domaine Bruno Clair
Les Véroilles Chambolle-Musigny Pinot Noir 2014
Week 4 of our virtual tastings, this week’s theme being burgundy chosen by Joe, ideally from Chambolle-Musigny or Vosne-Romanee. Always good for some laughs and lots of knowledge being dropped! @Mike R
@Ron R @David L @Joe Lucca @Shawn R @Bill Bender @Eric LaMasters @Carl Fischer
A village level wine from a reputable producer in a solid vintage. Upon opening, I put this straight in to the decanter with a goal of two hours. I had a small sip at the beginning and realized it would need every bit of those two hours, and likely more. Extremely coiled, herbal and thin. At the two hour mark, fleshy black cherry skin, potpourri and tart red fruits started to appear aromatically. Once this hit the four hour mark, it gained heft (still retaining good acidity) with forest floor, a touch of iron, and added some spice and black peppercorn toward the finish. Evolved continuously throughout the evening. Definitely youthful, so if opening now, I’d give this 4+hrs to reveal itself appropriately.
Edit: tried another glass the day after and it stayed in line with how it was at the 4hr decanting mark, with a slightly more pronounced truffled mushroom note. — 6 years ago
Silver Oak
Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
All spice. Burnt pomegranate. Life goal is to make this my everyday drinker. — 8 years ago
Château Lafite Rothschild
Carruades de Lafite Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2003
On the nose, ripe; blackberries, sweet & sour dark cherries, cooked cherries & strawberries & hues of blueberries. Black tea, cola, soft baking spices; vanilla, light clove & cinnamon. Crushed rocks, stones, limestone, turned, moist black earth, tobacco leaf, saddle-wood, soft leather, dry & fresh dark red florals.
The body is medium edging toward full. The tannins pretty well resolved. The ripe fruits show the hot, ripe vintage. Blackberries, sweet & sour dark cherries, cooked cherries & strawberries & hues of blueberries black tea, cola, soft baking spices; vanilla, light clove & cinnamon. Crushed rocks, stones, limestone, tobacco with ash, some graphite, soft medium dark spice, turned, forest floor, powdery but edgy minerals, saddle-wood, soft leather, dry & fresh dark red florals with some violets on the finish.
This showed better with Ribeye. The Ribeye brought out a fuller, richer wine with even more complexity. 9.35-9.4 with the Ribeye. It just missed 9.2 on its own. It’s big brother the 03 “Lafite” is 💯 point Parker wine.
Photos of; Chateau Lafite, their oak vat fermenters, Estate wine and their magnificent barrel room.
Interesting history and producers notes...Lafite Rothschild has a long and interesting history dating back to 1234, even though the property was not in the Bordeaux wine business at that time.
It is has been largely believed that vines were already planted on their terroir. The owner of the estate at the time, Gombaud de Lafite left his mark, his name. Almost 1,000 years after he owned it, the Chateau is still named after him! The vines were probably in existence at Lafite for over a century, it was not until around 1680, the majority of vineyards of what we know of as Lafite Rothschild today were created. This is because on the 1680 estate manifest, there are six mentions of their Bordeaux vineyards. Jacques de Segur, earns credit for cultivating the vineyard as I wrote in my Colon Segur post last weekend. In 1695, Alexandre de Segur married Marie-Therese de Clauzel, heiress to Chateau Latour. So to dovetail that write up, within a generation, the Segur family married into two of the greatest Bordeaux vineyards, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour! When their son, Nicolas-Alexandre passed away, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour were separated.
In 1797, Chateau Lafite was sold again. In the deed of sale, Chateau Lafite was described as a Premier Cru of Medoc. This is one of the earliest mentions of what we know of today as Lafite Rothschild producing wines of what would later be classified as an 1855 First Growth.
At that time, of Lafite were managed by the Goudal family. The Goudal family were wine historians and were able to read accurate records and details of the viticulture and marketing plans for Chateau Lafite in the estates formative years. The Goudal family gets the credit for creating the cellar and saving many of the oldest bottles that remain in the cold, dark cellars, including their oldest bottle, the 1797 Lafite!
The start of the famous Rothschild family begins in 1744, with the birth of Amschel Meyer. Amschel Meyer began creating his fortune while working as a merchant at “Zum Roten Schild,” which eventually became the family name of Rothschild.
In 1798 his sons were sent to various cities to create their fortunes. Needless to say, his sons all prospered as did their children in turn. This eventually led to them wanting to own a Chateau in Bordeaux. So in 1853, Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, an English member of the Rothschild family, purchased Chateau Brane-Mouton. As was the custom of the day, the new owner renamed it using his name and Chateau Mouton Rothschild was born.
This was followed in 1868, when James Rothschild, another member of the family purchased Chateau Lafite, which was now a coveted First Growth.
On 8 August, 1868, Baron James d’Rothschild purchased Chateau Lafite, which was sold at a public auction in Paris. It’s assumed, he bought the property for family competitive reasons looking to one up his brother, the owner of Mouton Rothschild. At that time, Mouton Rothschild was only a Second Growth at the time. But, that does not paint the entire picture. The 1855 Classification had not taken on the importance associated with it the we see it today. Plus, buying Lafite was a reasonable investment as the vineyard sold for about 8 times its earning potential.
The actual Chateau is one of the older structures in Bordeaux, as part of the building dates back to the later part of the 16th century. In 1868, the vineyard took up 135 hectares, of which 74 hectares were cultivated with vines. Production was much smaller in those days than it is today as it was between 4,000 and 5,000 cases.
Just three months after the purchase, Baron James d’Rothschild passed away and Chateau Lafite Rothschild became the joint property of his three sons; Alphonse Rothschild, Gustave Rothschild & Edmond Rothschild. Since 1868, Chateau Lafite Rothschild has remained in the hands of the of Rothschild family. The new owners renamed the estate Chateau Lafite Rothschild.
Jumping ahead to the modern age, in 1962, the Rothschild family added to their holdings when they purchased Chateau Duhart-Milon, a Fourth Growth vineyard also located in Pauillac. It was owned by the Casteja family for more than a century, Chateau Duhart Milon suffered from neglect and was in a awful condition. By the time Duhart Milon was obtained by the Rothschild family, the vineyard was down to only 17 hectare which required extensive renovations.
Baron Eric Rothschild, nephew of Baron Elie Rothschild, took over the management of Lafite Rothschild in 1974. Baron Eric Rothschild was part of the fifth Rothschild generation to inherit Chateau Lafite Rothschild. In 1984, the Rothschild family added to their holdings in Bordeaux with the purchase of Chateau Rieussec in Sauternes.
1987 was a difficult vintage, but because that was the year Lafite celebrated the inauguration of their wine new cellar, they had a lot to be excited about.
The new cellars were built under the supervision of Catalan architect Ricartdo Bofill, is both underground and circular, with a vault supported by 16 columns, giving the structure a majestic architectural style. The cellar holds 2,200 barrels, which is about 55,000 cases of wine. The construction took two years to finish and was completed in 1988.
Domaines Baron Rothschild became one of the first Bordeaux properties to invest in South America when they purchased Vina Los Vascos from a Chilean family. The owners of Lafite Rothschild continued expanding their holdings with the purchase of Chateau lEvangile in Pomerol from the Ducasse family, who owned the property for almost 100 years.
The wine making at Chateau Lafite Rothschild was managed by Charles Chevallier, who began his position in 1994. Charles Chevallier was replaced by Eric Kohler in January 2016. 2017 saw another change at the estate when Jean Guillaume Prats replaced Christopher Salin as the President of Domaines Baron Rothschild.
Perhaps, it’s the most refined of the First Growth. The wine, like all First Growth’s takes decades to mature. It has remarkable staying powers. Bottles of 1870 Lafite Rothschild discovered in the Glamis castle remain profound at more than 140 years of age! It is consider by many Master Sommeliers to be the best wine in the world.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild is one of the earliest major Bordeaux estates to bottle their own wine. In 1890, they bottled a large portion of the wine and again in 1906. Part of the estate bottling was due to requests from Negociants who were willing to pay more for Chateau bottled wines. Also, bottling was primarily done to combat piracy. At the time, it was known that merchants in some countries, like Russia were bottling cheap wine and placing labels from Lafite Rothschild on the bottles. The Koch’s famous Jefferson bottles were not the first attempt at counterfeiting.
Prior to 1996, some would say the property had its share of ups and downs. The 1960’s and 1970’s were not great for Chateau Lafite Rothschild. But since 1996, Lafite Rothschild has been producing some of the best wine in their history!
Sadly, only the wealthy can afford to purchase it. Price aside, there is no denying the level of quality. In 2003 Lafite Rothschild produced a wine that is possibly unequaled by the estate at any time in their long history. Hence, my purchase of their 03 second wine. 2009, 2010 and 2016 are not far behind.
Starting in about 2008, Lafite Rothschild became the most collectible wine from Bordeaux. Prices exploded due to demand from China as Chinese businessmen bought them as gifts or bribes depending on you look at it.
The reason this started was Lafite Rothschild paid for product placement on the number one rated Chinese soap opera on television. Characters in that show were pictured enjoying life with Lafite Rothschild and since then demand went through the roof as did priced.
However, Issac Newton had it right when he declared “What goes up, must come down.” Prices for Lafite Rothschild plummeted after 2011. By the difficult 2013, prices were finally starting to hold firm, but many of the vintages that were setting price records on a daily basis had lost close to 50% of their value.
Starting with the 2012 vintage, Chateau Lafite Rothschild began instituting anti-counterfeiting measures. From 2012 forward, to help fight, rampant counterfeiting, the estate places a seal of authenticity on the capsules of both Lafite Rothschild and Carruades de Lafite. The seal features a unique, numbered code that can be checked on their website, to verify if the wine is real.
The 112 hectare vineyard of Chateau Lafite Rothschild is planted to 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This shows a slight change in the vineyard.
While Cabernet Sauvignon remained at 70%, today there is slightly more Merlot, less Cabernet Franc and the Petit Verdot has been added since the mid 1990’s.
Located in the far north of the Pauillac appellation, only the small, Jalle de Breuil stream separates the vineyards from St. Estephe. You could divide the vineyards of Chateau Lafite Rothschild into three sections with 100 separate parcels in all. The estate has close to 50 hectares of vines located close to the Chateau, on both sides of the D2, which offers gentle rises in elevations of up to 27 meters. They also have about 50 hectares vines planted on the plateau in the Carruades sector, where they have two blocks of vines, one of which is inside the vineyard of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. It is interesting to note that even though the parcels in the Carruades sector give their name to the second wine of the estate, those vines are almost always placed in the Grand Vin.
There are also vines adjacent to, and interspersed with the vineyards of Chateau Duhart Milon. The property also consists of a smaller, 4.5 hectare parcel of vines located in the Saint Estephe appellation, “La Caillava”. The vines in St. Estephe are situated not that far from Cos d Estournel, which are located on a larger a parcel known as Blanquet. The vines in Saint Estephe are allowed to be placed into the wine of Chateau Lafite Rothschild because those vines were used to produce Lafite in 1885, at the time of the classification. The vineyards are close to their famous neighbor Mouton Rothschild.
Located just south of the Chateau, the best terroir of Lafite Rothschild has a thick layer of gravel with sand, clay, marl and limestone in the soils with rolling, gravel slopes. The gravel can be as deep as 4 meters in some parcels.
It is important to note that even though their vineyards are in the far north of Pauillac, most of the soil is pure gravel, rocks and stones. With more than 50% of the soil consisting of gravel, that is a large part of the reason Lafite Rothschild has such elegant, feminine textures and that coveted sensation of minerality.
On average, the vines are close to 40 years of age. However, Chateau Lafite Rothschild has much older vines. In fact, they have some vines that are more than 100 years of age planted in the La Graviere section. That small parcel of Merlot vines dates back to 1886. Less than 1% of the vines are that old.
Additionally, they have a small section of Cabernet Sauvignon that dates back to 1922! Other old vines range from 50 to 90 years of age! They also maintain some of the oldest Petit Verdot vines in the Medoc that was planted in the early 1930’s.
At Chateau Lafite Rothschild, between 1% to 1.5% of the vineyard is replanted every year. Vines less than 20 years of age are never included in the Grand Vin.
The vineyard of Chateau Lafite Rothschild is planted to a vine density that ranges from 7,500 to 8,500 vines per hectare. Only organic fertilizers are used in the vineyards of Lafite Rothschild.
During harvest, the goal is not to pick at the maximum level of ripeness. Instead, they are seeking a blend of grapes at differing levels of maturity, which gives the wine its unique textures, freshness, aromatic complexities and elegant sensations.
Lafite Rothschild is the largest of the First Growth vineyards with close to 112 hectares of vines. A large portion of the estate is taken up with stunningly, beautiful landscaping, lakes, trees and parkland.
At one point in time, Chateau Lafite Rothschild produced a dry white, Bordeaux wine that was sold as Vin de Chateau Lafite. The wine was produced from a large percentage of Semillon, blended with a small amount of Sauvignon Blanc. The last vintage for their white wine was 1960. The wine was sold as a generic AOC Bordeaux blanc with a simple, scripted label, black and white label.
Lafite vinification takes place in 66 vats that are a combination of 29 wood vats, 20 stainless steel tanks and 17 concrete vats that range in size from as small as 45 hectoliters up to 123 hectoliters in the concrete and as large as 270 hectoliters for the wood. The wide range of vat sizes coupled with different materials allow Chateau Lafite Rothschild to vinify depending on the needs of each specific parcel and grape variety. The stainless steel tanks and oak vats are used for Cabernet Sauvignon. The Merlot is vinified in the concrete tanks. Malolactic fermentation occurs in smaller, stainless steel tanks that vary in size from 25 hectoliters up to 60 hectoliters. At this point, Chateau Lafite Rothschild does not yet use gravity to move the fruit and juice in the cellar. It’s a good bet that a remodel is coming soon.
The average annual production of Chateau Lafite Rothschild ranges from 15,000 to 20,000 cases of wine per year, depending on the vintage. They of course make this second wine, Carruades de Lafite, which due to the name and association with the Grand Cru, has also become extremely collectible. Carruades de Lafite takes its name from a specific section of their vineyard that is located near Mouton Rothschild. Carruades is actually one of the older second wines in Bordeaux, as it was first produced in the mid 1850’s. About 100 years later during the mid 1960s, the estate reintroduced their second wine naming it Moulin de Carruades. The name was changed again in the 1980’s to Carruades de Lafite.
There is also a third wine which is sold as an AOC Pauillac that is produced from declassified fruit from Lafite Rothschild and Duhart-Milon.
The blend for Chateau Lafite Rothschild changes with each vintage depending on the character and quality of the vintage. Generally speaking, the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend ranges from 80% to 95%. Merlot is usually 5% to 20%. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot usually varies from 0 to 5%.
— 8 years ago
Freddy R. Troya
Covenant – Cabernet Sauvignon – 2023
Napa Valley, California 🇺🇸
Overview
A bold, expressive Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Covenant, crafted in a richer “valley-floor” style with generous ripeness and concentration. This bottling shows Covenant’s signature combination of power and polish, made entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon and produced as a Non-Mevushal and vegan-certified wine, an excellent option for those seeking upscale kosher reds with true Napa character.
Aromas & Flavors
Black currant, blackberry compote, cassis, baking spice, cedar, a touch of mocha, and subtle graphite. Ripe yet not overdone, the fruit leads, but there’s enough structure to keep it focused.
Mouthfeel
Full-bodied, plush, and deeply fruited. Smooth tannins wrap around the palate with richness and warmth, supported by balanced acidity. The finish is long, dark, and satisfying, classic modern Napa Cab energy.
Food Pairings
Ribeye steak, lamb chops, brisket, barbecue short ribs, mushroom-braised dishes, or aged cheddar.
Verdict
A powerful, fruit-driven Cabernet Sauvignon with unmistakable Napa Valley boldness. Approachable now, yet structured enough to improve with short-term aging. A high-impact, Non-Mevushal kosher Cabernet that easily stands toe-to-toe with many mainstream Napa labels.
Did You Know?
Covenant was founded by Jeff Morgan, a chef-turned-winemaker who helped redefine the identity of premium kosher wines in California. His stylistic goal has always been simple: make world-class wines first, that also happen to be kosher. — 7 months ago