6714135622
$ 22.00
Always on the lookout for great Cabernet bargains, we found a winner in this Santa Barbara gem. Highly recommended for everyday drinking.
Tasting Notes: Layered with notes of black currant, spearmint, bacon and smoked cedar planks, this wine seems to change almost by the second. It is plush, both in aromatics and in mouth-feel, with blueberry, violets, kirsch and creme de cassis joining notes of tobacco and cola. A truly Californian Claret.
About: Field Recordings is the moonlighting side project for up-and-coming young winemaker Andrew Jones, whose days are taken up with his job as a vine nursery field operative. Fortunately, his job takes Jones to vineyards all over California, where he helps growers decide the best grapes and clones to plant. Jones leverages his expertise, access and connections to buy choice fruit from treasured sites, especially in California’s Central Coast. In 2013, a perfect growing season and a little luck meant that Jones was able to pick the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot for this wine at the same time and ferment them together. Petit Verdot is a traditional blending grape in Bordeaux, where it’s used to add inky color and fragrance to wines based on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s rare that it ripens at the same time as Cabernet; usually the grapes are picked and fermented separately and then blended before aging. The fruit comes from the Grassini Vineyard, located in the tiny Happy Canyon wine region. Located on the eastern edge of Santa Barbara County, Happy Canyon’s relatively warm days make it a top spot for Bordeaux grapes.
$ 12.99
A fantastic red from Bedrock winemaker Morgan-Twain Peterson, one of the hottest young winemakers in California.
90 Points Robert Parker "Best Buy": "A Mediterranean blend of Zinfandel, Carignan, Alicante Bouchet, Syrah and assorted mixed blacks fermented with native yeasts and aged in primarily neutral containers (15% in new French oak), it is a California version of a high-class Cotes du Rhone. Lots of berry fruit intermixed with lavender, pepper and meaty black cherry and black currant flavors emerge from this satisfying, round, expansive, generous red. An outstanding, killer value that should provide pleasure over the next 1-2 years. If there is a better value in California wine, I would like to know about it."
....Morgan Twain-Peterson is one of the most impressive young winemakers I have ever met, and it’s not just because he grew up the son of a famous producer. Making wines at this level requires talent, passion, hard work and a great palate, none of which is easily inherited. Along with Mike Officer of Carlisle, Twain-Peterson is on a mission to rediscover what he calls California’s old-vine “heritage” vineyards. These historic sites planted by California’s early immigrants, often home to unknown field blends, remain some of the most fascinating vineyards in California. Officer and Twain-Peterson were tired of seeing these old sites gobbled up by industrial-scale wineries, so they decided to do something about it. Bravo."
$ 14.99
An amazing value from the South of France - hurry!
95 Points Decanter: "60% Syrah, 40% Grenache. Lovely rich opulent and floral, black berry and plum nose, the palate is big with well layered fruit, attractively firm but soft tannin and hints of oak, a big wine with a lovely finish. *Gold Medal Winner Decanter Asia Wine Awards.*
Robert Parker: "A blend of 60% Syrah and 40% Grenache, the Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit is a screaming value. If offers bold black cherry and blueberry fruit aromas, lively fruit flavors, silky tannins and a crisp, lengthy mocha-tinged finish. Drink this fun, bouncy little wine over the next couple of years."
$ 14.99