Vintage and Value vs. Prestige

Rooting for the Underdog has become as American as apple pie and watching the Cavs get destroyed by the underdog Magic, I decided to see whether the underdog in wine could also overcome a more expensive and prestigious foe. I decided to take a value oriented wine from a highly regarded vintage and pit it against a much more expensive and prestigious opponent. The underdog, the 2003 Powers Winery Cabernet Sauvignon will be faced off against a legend in the Washington area, the 2002 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet.

The strengths of each of these wines are varied. The Powers Cabernet comes from the 2003 Vintage, an extremely hot and generous vintage that is known for being one of the best vintages in Washington in recent memory. The Woodward Canyon Cabernet on the otherhand comes from a weaker vintage in 2002, but comes from an established and legendary winery within Washington state. I wanted to see whether the weakness of the 2002 vintage would be overcome by a value oriented competitor from a much stronger vintage. I picked both of these bottles up from Total Wine and More in Newport News, VA, with the Flowers costing $13.79 and the Woodward Canyon costing $38.79.

Round One: Woodward Canyon Cabernet


Initial Impressions: Overall there is no lacking of color in this wine, showing great concentration, a bit of a viscious consistency, and also a beautiful garnet color throughout. Really you could not ask for more from a Cabernet, no matter where it is from. So far, this is very impressive.

Nose: There is an amazing amount of cherries on this nose, almost smacking you in the face. Along with the cherry attack, there is a nice mix of vanilla, dairy, chocolate, dark fruits, earth, fertilizer, and a tingue of red fruit acidity. Overall a very complex nose and also quite delicious and interesting.

Taste: You can really taste the quality of the grapes and the refinement that time in the bottle has brought to this wine. The tannins, while showing a little grip, have largely subsided and yielded to a great amount of dark fruit, sour cherries, cranberries, earth, and chocolate. The wine overall has great structure, integrating all aspects of the wine into one cohesive unit. The finish is a little short and the mouthfeel is not amazing, but still a very nice Cabernet. A nice mix of the New and Old World.

Overall Impressions: If you are a Left Bank Bordeaux fan and want to see whats on the New World side without completely blowing out your palate and wallet, I would say this would be a great introduction. The polish on this wine is evident and is really well made. 91+ Points.

Round Two: 2003 Powers Cabernet Sauvignon


Initial Impressions: For a under $15 dollar Cabernet, the color is utterly shocking. While not as dark or concentrated as the Woodward Canyon, this wine does not lack color in any shape or form. There is a beautiful dark purple to black color throughout, with a little bit of translucent purple towards the edges when the glass is tipped. Very impressive overall, especially at this price point.

Nose: If you ever smelled your dads wallet as a kid, this is exactly it upon popping. The leather is enormous and dominates the nose. As the wine gains more and more air, the leather gives way to a nice amount of chocolate, sweet cherries, dried red fruit, and surprisingly a little apple core and rind. Nice nose overall.

Taste: Again leather is there in spades upon first sip, but the air does help to break that up and gives way to a great amount of chocolate, cherries, red fruit, and perfumey goodness. The mouthfeel is admittedly thin and a tad astringent, but overall nothing that would make me dump it if drinking with a meal. The acidity is nice and I think would be best suited with food. The finish is a problem in the wine, as it drops off quickly, with a little tinge of milk chocolate lingering for a few seconds.

Overall Impressions: Overall this wine is very pleasant and nice, just not nearly as refined, exciting, or interesting as its more expensive counterpart. I do have to say that this is a well done, albeit one dimensional wine. 85 Points

Winner: The 2002 Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon is the definite winner in the bunch, showing that sometimes prestige and cost can be a deciding factor. Both wines are certainly worth a look and at their respective prices, both represent nice values at each pricepoint. You certainly will not find either disappointing for the money and will not find the value you get in each in any other area domestically. So, I suggest trying each, I doubt you will feel let down.

The 100 Pointer

To celebrate the holidays and finely ring in the holiday of reflection and gratitude for our fallen soldiers, I decided to bring out possibly my favorite wine. I am a huge, huge, huge fan of Northern Rhones, with their beautiful structure, incredible texture and aromas, and their earthy, dense flavors. Unfortunately, many of these fine examples, from Guigal and Dalas can reach on the mid $300's or higher. Fortunately for me, there is a great domestic example in Washington State. The 2005 Old Bones Syrah from Charles Smith Winery is this example. To put it quite bluntly, it is a perfect example of everything right not only with Washington State and Syrah, but with wine in general.

For the uninitiated, Charles Smith produced three separate high end, estate grown Syrahs on his home property, the Royal Slope, and more affectionately known as the Royal Slut by the creator. Each of these Syrahs, the Heart, Skull, and Old Bones, are produced in incredibly low numbers and have become possibly the most sought after bottlings produced by Mr. Smith to date. Upon release, Dr. Jay Miller of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave this wine a 99 Point rating. All retail for under $100, but due to their low production and high demand, can only be found on the secondary market. I picked up this bottle from a fellow collector for $100, but retails at most places for around $135-$150, if it can be found at all.

Initial Impressions: I honestly have never had this lively or pungent of a nose coming out the bottle. As I placed the wine in the decanter to open up, which I HIGHLY recommend you do for at least six hours before drinking, this wine quite simply took over the room. There was an obvious tannic black fruit aroma from the get go, along with a nice concentrated grape and cherry aroma. The color is immaculate for this varietal, black as black can be with a nice halo of violet at the rim. Tipping the glass again does nothing, as the color tracks beautifully. It is completely opaque, even with little in the glass, showing amazing concentration in this cuvee. Perfect so far.

Nose: As one of my fellow imbibers stated, "This wine just punches you in the face with flavors and doesn't apologize." The aromas are just simply intoxicating and varied. For brevity, I should really only state what aromas and flavors are NOT on the nose. It is filled with huge amounts of black fruit, sour cherries, cassis for days, a little jalapeno spice, venison, pheasant, red cabbage, citrus, and a little celery stick. A wild and very powerful nose that straddles the line between the bombasity of new world with the complexity of the old. Man, I think I am in love.

Taste: Much like the nose, this wine does not lack in the power department. Coming forth with a huge hedonistic bomb of heavy milk chocolate, a little bitter cherry skin, a hint of citrus and citrus liqueur, strawberries, a host of assorted black fruit, vanilla extract, mocha, and an assortment of vegetables. The structure shows not flaw, integrating all the flavors into the wine while letting each and every aspect of this wine shine forth. It is VERY young, and would get less tannic with bottle age, but its vibrancy, integration, power, and just overall rock solid structure and composition make this an absolutely amazing wine.

Overall Impression: This is quite simply the BEST example of a Syrah, domestic or abroad, I have ever had, period. It has everything I could want out of this varietal, along with the polish, structure, and ageability, that I love. If you can, get this wine. 100 Points

Washington State Zinfandel?

Another weekend, another great Washington wine. At my wine nerd haven, I decided to break out a very interesting bottle that I purchased not too long ago, the 2006 Thurtson Wolfe Howling Wolfe Zinfandel. Zinfandel, which really hit its peak in popularity in the late 90s, is primarily known as a California varietal, with nearly all of the major producers hailing for that region. The wine maker, Dr. Wade Wolfe, has pointed Thurston Wolfe Winery in the boutique wine area, specializing in obscure varietals, small production, and interesting takes on traditional varietals. This particular bottle I picked up from Bella Vino in Richmond, VA for the price of $22.50.

Initial Impressions: Overall, out the bottle, this wine has really beautiful and lush dark purple all around. It is a bit lighter than many of the huge Syrahs and Cabernets, not showing the huge black characteristics that many of those wines have. It is a little translucent when put up to the light at the edges, but not as much as what you would see from many Pinots. There is definitely a very peppery nose out of the bottle also. Overall, pretty nice, but nothing too impressive.

Nose: This is a very pretty, balanced nose. There is an even attack of dark chocolate, red cherries, raspberries, and a whole lot of assorted red fruits. There is also a fair amount of Asian and American spices on the nose, with a bit of leather to round out the attack. Again balance is the best part of this nose, as everything plays well together and integrates nicely.

Taste: Balance defintely takes the day again. This wine has a great amount of cranberries, chocolate covered cherries, spices, sour cherry skins, and a little dirt. This wine has a great amount of structure and is definitely drinking young, having very firm tannins. What I particularly like about this Zin, especially in comparison with many of the other Zins I have had from California, is the lack of alcohol. Although this Zinfandel is about 15% alcohol, it does not taste like it in the least. There is no presence of it in the back end at all, and once you add a little air to it, the tannins round out and alcohol does come through. Overall, very nice and different.

Overall: For a Zinfandel from an atypical region, this is a great example of how the terroir of Washington can shape a known varietal. This wine is a great example of all that is right about this varietal. It is not the super concentrated punch that many producers try to push, and certainly does not have the polish of a top Washington state red, but definitely shows well. I really like this wine. 91 Points.

Affordable Cabernet

This past Monday I settled down in my dining room and decided to break out a wine I recently purchased to go with a beef based dish I was eating. In order to save some dough and drink from one of my favorite wine makers, I decided to break open 2006 The Honorable Cabernet Sauvignon by Charles Smith Wines. I picked up this wine from Total Wine and More in McLean, VA for about $20 even.

Initial Impressions: Much like a lot of Mr. Smith's wines, this Cabernet does not lack any color. Its a nice, dark, and viscous dark purple, showing great concentration. Tipping the glass does cause the color to run quite a bit, but not any less than its peers from other areas around the world. So far, so good.

Nose: If you love chocolate, you will absolutely love this wine. This wine smacks you in the face with a load of chocolately goodness, ranging from dark bitter chocolate to cocoa puffs. Along with the chocolate, there are definite black cherries, caramel, and cassis present. Not the most complex nose in the world, but certainly delectable.

Taste: For a wine that is made to drink now, this wine has a good amount of structure and back end tannins. There is a lot of milk chocolate, sour cherries, red fruit acid, black fruit, vanilla, and mocha characteristics. It is all pretty seemless and very tastey, pairing incredibly well with my beef dish. There are a fair amount of sweet tannins on the back end and the finish lasts for about a 30 seconds, which is impressive for many 20 dollar Cabs.

Overall: Most people would be hard pressed to find this amount of pure deliciousness from a comparable $20 Cab in California. Charles has once again given a very fair priced Cabernet that not only satisifies, but also gives you a little more for your money. This wine really does show that a wine can be great without being overly complex or austere in its youth. I would expect this wine not to last for more than 5 years, so drink up. 90 Points

K Vintners The Creator 2006

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited to a friends house for a great cookout in some subtropical temperatures we were having here in Southeastern, VA. To help us get through the heat, we all enjoyed some nice white burgundies from Leroy and one of my favorite wines to have with steak and hamburgers, the 2006 K Vintners The Creator. This wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) and Syrah (40%) blend, sourced from the En Cerise and Morrison Lane vineyards. K Vintners made 365 cases of the wine, and retails from $50-$70. I picked up the bottle from Winelibrary.com in December of last year for $45.98.

Initial Impressions: I mean, who cannot love Rasta Jesus. Even if you absolutely hate their wines, they certainly do have some of the most creative and distinctive packaging in the business. The wine itself has an amazing color, just blackedy black colors throughout with a nice little tinge of purple towards the outside. Tipping the glass does not make the color change one bit, as its completely opaque and inky.

Nose: Honestly this wine smells more like a huge northern Italian and Spanish meal than a wine. There is an overloading of Italian sausage, bacon, everytype of chocolate imaginable, a little honeydew skin, a vegetable stew, and a huge amount of tomato sauce. This is seriously a huge nose for a wine, and definitely atypical of many wines you will get anywhere outside of a higher end Cote Rotie.

Taste: Just like the nose, this thing is loaded with huge gamey, full meal type flavors. There are definite chocolate components in this wine, along with a nice spicey saugsage component, a great amount of vegetables, and licorace. This wine is layered beautifully, with a great structure and a few elegant back end tannins towards the back end. Wow.

Overall: This is a great wine, seriously. It has so many different things going on with it that it can make your head spin, but is integrated well enough to pair very well with a huge meat or italian dish. I had a great huge handmade hamburger with this wine, with some heavy duty vegetables and this wine could not have gone better with it. If you can find this wine, treat yourself to it. 96 Points