2005 Henry's Drive Shiraz Dead Letter Office

Price - $22-30 (the average is about $25)

Day 1 – Dark and brooding black in color framed in deep red – not much purple here. Aromas of dark ripe berries, sweet oak, and mint jump from the glass. In the mouth the wine fans out with layers of dark chocolate, blackberry, oak and mint. Unctuous and concentrated with a solid tannic base, the wine soars with flavor and texture. The finish is bold and sure; fruit, tannin and that Aussie accessibility make for a wonderful experience

Day 2 – Just as dark and red, raspberry and blackberry, subtle notes of cocoa, oak and mint (still!) make up the nose. More complex flavors develop after a day of blackberry and raspberry, tobacco, spicy oak, dark chocolate and mint. The tannin still remains and is even a little more obvious (good sign) as well as more acidity as the fruit from Day 1 has relaxed in its expression. A wonderful, more precise finish evolves on day 2.

Blend - The 2005 Dead Letter is a blend of 98% Shiraz and 2% cabernet sauvignon.

Food - Perfect with lamb chops, ribs or even a filet mignon, though I had it with lamb on night 2 and it was excellent. I am sure some mint and reduced sugar to the marinade or as a sauce would make the pair that much better given the mint notes in the wine.

The Dead Letter Shiraz is made by the folks at Henry’s Drive, makers of full throttle Shiraz and cabernet from Padthaway and McClaren Vale. The Dead Letter is relatively new as the 2005 is only the second vintage of this wine. I have had a few vintages of the reserve and the regular HD Shiraz and they have always been excellent wines that have impressed me each time. Depth, concentration and 100% Aussie define this wine.

2001 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

The 2001 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains ($25-30) shows Bordeaux like aromas of smoky oak, cassis and lead pencil. On the palate the oak structure and tannins surround a core of cherry and cassis fruits with a hint of sage and a dollop of vanilla. The excellent tannin structure is supple and refined. Long finish of smoky fruit and toasty oak. Well made and one of the better Cabernets from a consistent producer from California. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc.

I first had Mount Eden about 7 years ago when I lived in San Francisco. Immediately I was struck by what a great wine this was for such a weak vintage (1998). I visited the Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries last spring but never made it to Mount Eden because they were not open on the weekends to visitors. I did however make it to the renowned Ridge Vineyard run by the legendary Paul Draper and to Bonny Doon Vineyard, known for their eclectic artwork on the labels as well as the founding father of the Rhone Rangers Randall Grahm.

Mount Eden Vineyards is located on a 2,000-foot peak in the Santa Cruz Mountain Range about 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean in Saratoga, California. Founded in 1942 by Martin Ray, Mount Eden was one of the first wineries to focus on small lots of single varietal Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon at a time when most of California was making jug wines. Martin ray was a pioneer in the likes of André Tchelistcheff (Beaulieu Vineyards or “BV”) and John Daniel Jr. (Inglenook, Coppola and now Rubicon Estate). Mount Eden claims their “…lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California”.

Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden. His emphasis is on wine growing rather than winemaking. He lets the grapes make the wine and tries not to intervene.

The Chardonnay and Cabernet are well distributed. The Pinot Noir may take a little effort to hunt down.

Delectus Petite Sirah Spring Mountain 2002 - $40-50

Dark, rich and extracted, the Delectus Petite Sirah is a big wine. The color is almost black with purple at the edges. The nose reveals blackberry fruit, smoky aromas, and slight coffee notes. The mouth feel is surprisingly lighter than expected because of its almost black appearance; though make no mistake it is still plenty endowed with tannin and rich flavor. Blackberry, plum, loads of dark chocolate, and some coffee flavors standout and are framed by the firm tannins. Finish is a bit tannic, but that’s a petite sirah!

Petite Sirah, originally a French variety known as Durif, is just that, a small grape that makes a tannic wine because the juice to skin ratio is higher than most grapes. The more the juice has contact with the skins when fermenting, the more tannin the wine will develop. Petite Sirah IS NOT the same as Syrah. They are not related in any way. The vines for this vineyard were first planted in 1911 and are the oldest in the Napa Valley. Miniscule fruit is harvested from the vines, about .7 tons/acre. Harvest is not easy either as these vines are on steep cliffs and require special harvesting equipment and patience to pick.

Delectus is s small production winery I first heard of 2 years ago when reading about new wines in a Wine Spectator advance release publication previewing some upcoming scores to be published in the next month’s issue. I had decided to check them out on a visit to Napa and was welcomed and treated to lots of friendly smiles, excellent wines, and a large tasting planned. Gerhard Reisacher is not your typical California winemaker. He's an eighth-generation winemaker who grew up in a small wine village south of Vienna in Austria. We met Gerhard, his parents who were in for the crush that fall to assist and see their family, his wife and children and their loyal dogs.

We tasted the following that day:
2001, 2002 and then from tank the 2003 Petite Sirah.
2001 and 2002 Stanton Cabernet (Oakville)
2001 and 2002 Beckstoffer Merlot
2002 Syrah Mt. George (south of the SLD in Napa)

Delectus makes 2 premium bottlings: the Sacrashe (Rutherford) Cabernet Sauvignon (which is what caught my attention originally) and the Cuvee Julia named after the Reisacher’s daughter. The Cuvee Julia is the top of the line bottle from Delectus. I was a member of the Delectus Wine Club for over a year and a half and enjoyed all of the wines I have received. I highly recommend their wines and suggest their wine club if you like red wines, especially from California.

Seghesio "Old Vine" Zinfandel Sonoma County 2003 $30

Tonight with dinner Lisa and I opened a bottle of Seghesio “Old Vine” Zinfandel from the 2003 vintage ($26-35 – we paid $27). We had planned to have BBQ ribs and pulled pork for dinner and thought what better style wine than Zinfandel to go with dinner. Red Zinfandel (not the pink stuff) pairs well with BBQ foods because the acidity in the wine pairs well with the vinegar base in the marinade and sauces of BBQ food. The tannins match up with the meat and the spicy fruit matches perfectly with the overall heat and spiciness of the food.

The “Old Vine” was great right out of the bottle and did not need any decanting. The nose was full of licorice, cherry, spicy oak and a subtle hint of flowers (violets). On the palate the wine explodes with spicy blackberry, raspberry, and black cherry. The fruit mingles nicely with the oak from the barrels the wine was aged in before bottling, lending structure (tannin) and spiciness to the wine. Overall it was well balanced, albeit on a high level with vibrant acidity, noticeable tannins, and ample fruit. There is an abundance of alcohol at 15.2%, but surprisingly without the heat.

The Seghesio story starts when Edoardo moved to Sonoma from the Piedmont region of Italy in the late 1800’s. Rich in tradition, Edoardo took with him his heritage and knowledge of growing grapes and making wine to California. He started a family and settled in the Dry Creek Valley just west of Healdsburg. Four generations later, the Seghesio family still runs one of the most successful and longest running wineries in California. They make a variety of excellent and well received Red Zinfandels, as well as other Italian varietals such as Sangiovese (Chianti), Arneis, Barbera, and Pinot Grigio. A few times a year I will have the entry level Zinfandel, the Sonoma County bottling ($15-20) and is one of my favorite go to Zinfandels. The Cortina is another of their bottlings I have had and is also excellent. It’s great to know that of the 5 Red Zinfandels they make, they are all distinctly different.

The oldest of these “Old Vines” were planted in 1895 and together average 90 years in age. The Seghesio family owns many of the oldest vines in California. Old vines bear less fruit than your average 10-20 year old vine. But, with that age you get more complex and distinct fruit than the younger vines can produce. This is because all of the nutrients are focused to fewer grape bunches, thus concentrating the flavors and characteristics into those fewer grape bunches. Old vine Zinfandels are not too common but can be found with a little effort.

Cheers!

The Sweet Spot of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $20-40

Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon more often than not is one of the most expensive wines in the marketplace today. The name “Napa Valley” alone garners a wine an air of prestige and quality amongst professional, connoisseur and novice wine drinkers and collectors. What contributes to these prices? Cult status? Barrel costs? Property and vineyard management costs? Marketing? The answers are all yes and of course for different wines the impact is at different levels. Just in time to stock up for the fall and the first half of winter, this blog entry will spotlight what I call The “Sweet Spot” of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The sweet spot being those Napa Valley cabernet sauvignons priced in the neighborhood of $20-40. Not many well made, hand crafted, outstanding cabernets from Napa are in this price range, they are usually a lot higher in the $50-100 range. However, in this blog I will highlight those few that are consistently well made and in this “sweet spot” price range.

An Eagle vs. Chuck

Wines with a “Napa” name tag or source of origin range in price from over $1,000 for a single 750ml bottle at auction to as low as $2 at the grocery store. Rare and hard to find Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon “cult wines” fetch prices in the stratosphere at sometimes $200 from a winery allocation list to over $1,000 at auction for the likes of Screaming Eagle - the original "cult wine". Then there are “those” winemakers - usually monolithic corporation types that try to capture the notions of prestige and quality by using the name Napa Valley in bargain priced wines commonly priced around $5-10. Napa Ridge is one such commonly found wine that capitalizes on this practice. Not one drop of juice for the wine comes from Napa Valley. This same company (Bronco Wine Co.) is the creator of the famed, and not for any reason in quality but price, Two Buck Chuck - or as the label calls it Charles Shaw. This company recently lost a lawsuit filed against them to remove the name Napa from its wines since none of the fruit used to "manufacture" these wines comes from Napa Valley. An educated consumer or collector would know better, but a novice or casual wine drinker that has not been around the block a few times may not know better and think that since it has the name “Napa” in it, it must be good. The wine still sells well, mainly because of the cheap price tag and not because of any reason such as quality.

Apart from being some of my favorite wines, these are solid buys for immediate satisfaction, or will further reward the buyer with patience for cellaring the wines a few years to mellow out those sometimes brawny youthful tannins and allow the wine to further mature. Most of these wines have been in this price range for years and rarely have climbed drastically in price. Unless they are awarded 95+ points by Mr. Robert M. Parker’s Wine Advocate or the Wine Spectator’s James Laube, don't expect prices to rise too much.

On to the bottles…

2003 Provenance Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Tokalon Vineyard, Oakville $35

What a mouthful! Just wait till you taste it. New to the market this year is the 2003 Provenance Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Tokalon Vineyard, Oakville. Andy Beckstoffer owns the Tokalon vineyard and is part owner in Provenance. He sells most of the fruit from this vineyard to other wine makers who make their own Tokalon bottles such as Paul Hobbs ($175-300), Schrader ($125-250) and Behrens and Hitchcock ($150). Robert Mondavi also owns a large part of the To Kalon vineyard and it is bottled into the Reserve and the Oakville bottlings. In special years it will get its own labeling as a designated single vineyard. This beauty starts out brimming with cherry and cassis aromas with a hint of black olive and a slight whiff of fresh violet flowers. On the palate we have rich cherry fruit framed by vanilla and toasty oak notes imparted from the oak barrels. Fine grained, but youthful, tannins, coat the palate, wile the package is completed by a solid, clean finish. Nice structure, great concentration, yet slightly elegant. Drink now or hold for up to 10 years. But why wait? It’s drinking great now!

Worthy Sophia’s Cuvee $25

The next wine in the lineup, WORTHY Sophia’s Cuvee, has been solid in its first 3 years of production and continues to impress critics and connoisseurs alike. The nose starts with a deep concentration of cherry, vanilla and blackberry, accented ever so slightly by some spices, and some cedar. Silky smooth flavors of cherry and blackberry, earthy black tea, vanilla/sweet oak, and a touch of spice round out the flavors. Maybe lacking in acidity but full of ample, velvety tannin. Dark and well endowed with ripe tannin and fruit, Worthy is one of my favorite wines and I bought a case of the 2002. The 2003 consists of a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, and the remaining 5% is equal parts Merlot and Petit Verdot. This is the baby brother of the cult wine AXIOS from Napa Valley, made by the famed winemaker Bob Egelhoff. Axios, which in Greek means “Worthy” stands apart for slightly more structure, if not its better aging potential. This is due to the fact that Axios is made from the best fruit, while Worthy is the declassified Axios fruit not used in the premium bottling. Leftovers they are not. Such a word should not be used for such a well made wine. Drink now or hold for 5-8 years.

Chappellet Signature Cabernet Sauvignon $40

The Chappellet Signature Cabernet Sauvignons of 2002 and 2003 are some of the best wines for the money that I have had in the last 2 years. In fact the folks at Chappellet and many wine critics think that these are their best wines in years from Chappellet. I almost kicked myself for drinking the 2002 it was so good and perfectly made (I only bought 2 bottles). The 2003, though not as superb as the 2002, is by no means far behind in quality. Different wines structurally and from a flavor perspective, they are what California Cabernet Sauvignon are all about when well made. First, the 2002. I have to say this may be one of the best 2002’s I have tried. The nose starts with aromas of crème de cassis, a perfect amount of oak, a touch of chocolate and some minerals. On the palate, pure flavors of cherry, sage and plum cascade repeatedly with a long, solid 60 second finish. Finely grained tannins, ample acidity and the perfect amount of fruit define this beauty. Drink now if you dare or hold it for 12-15 years! In the 2003 we find more notes of chocolate and deeper notes of dark cherry and black fruits, as well as an ample waft of oak. Espresso and vanilla in addition to the cherry and black fruits round out the nose. The flavors roll in like a ripe bing cherry covered in sweet, oaky vanilla and chocolate. Spices, mocha, herbs and coffee round out the fruit and vanilla attack on the palate. The tannins are a bit more pronounced, yet big and round. Not as balanced as the 2002, drink the 2003 now decanted or hold for 8-12 years.

A short alphabetical list of extraordinary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon priced $20-40:

- Buehler Napa Estate Cabernet Sauvignon $20-30 - always seems to get that 90 points from the WS
- Chappellet Signature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill (solid, best in years - awesome, read above) $35-45
- Chimney Rock Stag’s Leap District Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (always a reliable 88-94 pointer) $35-45
- Cross Barn by Paul Hobbs (see my first blog) $35-40
- Franciscan Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (consistently delicious) $18-25
- Groth Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (classically made and has been around for years) $40
- Heitz Cellars Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (one of the originals) $25-35
- Honig Napa Cabernet Sauvignon $25-30
- Mount Eden Estate Bottled Santa Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon (not Napa but I HAD to include it) $27
- Mount Veeder Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Napanook Napa Red $35-40
- Pine Ridge Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $25-30
- Provenance Beckstoffer Oakville Tokalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (awesome, read above) $30-35
- Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Mondavi is making their best wines in years) $17-25
- Robert Mondavi Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $28-35
- Rombauer Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $30-35
- Silverado Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (owned by Disney’s children) $30
- Stag's Leap Wine Cellars "Artemis" Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (a classic wine, elegent, refined, nicely structured, better with age too and includes 33% of the Fay wine that costs $75)
- St. Clement Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (one of the best values in Napa) $35-40
- Whitehall Lane Winery Cabernet Sauvignon (consistently a 90+) $30-35
- Worthy Sophia’s Cuvee (excellent, read above) $25-30

These are all exciting wines drinking well now, but also have the stuffing to age a few years (5-12) and mature into a finely aged beauty. These are well crafted wines of personality, depth and complexity worth aging. 2004 seems to be a very uneven year with over-ripe, jammy wines being the hallmark trait of a hot vintage to watch out for. But the majority of 2004 Napa Cabernet from these makers will not hit the shelves until mid-2007. All of these wines are currently available for purchase and are in good supply, though some may take some effort online to find (www.wine-searcher.com). Some stores may have these priced above the $40 price point, but most can be found for under $40 or when bought by the case you save that extra 20%.

I encourage you to please add your own feedback, recommendations or experiences below!

Cheers!