If any of the wines in this week's Featured Wines column tickle your fancy, you can order them directly from Jordan by email (JCarrier@everythingwine.ca) or find him in the Vintage Room of Everything Wine's Morgan Crossing location in South Surrey.
California Gold
If you believed the
disaster movies, 2012 was supposed to be the year that California broke apart,
swallowed its cities and turned its vineyards into fish food. Instead, 2012
ended up being the first of a string of amazing years in Golden State vineyards.
California’s water troubles, while verging on crisis for most agriculture, have
contributed to 3 – possibly 4 – stellar vintages in a row from 2012 to 2015. We
may well be entering a golden age of California wines. Presented here are some
premium examples of the 2012 vintage (with gems from 2010 and 2013 thrown in
because I’m sneaky-like-ninja) for your perusal. You will want to grab all of
them, this is normal. Strap in and let’s begin.
Araujo Estate 2012
Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
A 38 acre vineyard
east of Calistoga that was planted in 1880, and has been planted to Cabernet
since 1964. Poor, gravelly soil and old vines contribute to super low yields
and super high concentration, so much so that fruit from Eisele has built
Ridge’s wines, Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernets, and Joseph Phelps Insignia
until the late ‘90s when the Araujo family took over the vineyard and hired
Michel Rolland to kick everyone else’s behind. He did. The estate is now owned
by Chateau Latour, and the wines now rival Harlan and To Kalon in quality,
price, and difficulty for Jordan in finding them. (96-98+) points Robert
Parker, $849.99 +tax
Signorello 2012
Padrone
Ray Signorello Jr’s
tribute to his Italian father returns with a drinkable, dense intense-fest of
blackberry, coffee, stones and currant. Mostly Cab Sauv, with a voluptuous,
ultra-tangible mouthfeel that gives Shafer Hillside Select a reason to look
over its shoulder. Like Hillside, this is awesome now and awesome in 2035,
although by then the word “awesome” won’t be spoken anymore, they’ll say “this
bleep-blop Padrone is Kanye-tastic”. 97+ points Robert Parker, $210.99 +tax
Kathryn Hall 2012
Cabernet Sauvignon
Remember when you
first heard this name. The Hall family has owned vineyards since the ‘70s, and
Kathryn helped manage them with her brother until she went to law school, then
into public life, and eventually became the US ambassador to Austria, after which
she seized her family’s reigns again, returning to steer the winery forward to
awesomeness. The Hall winery is certified organic and LEED Gold, and makes this
Cabernet with an abundance of energy, flavour and charisma, showing blueberry,
raspberry mocha and remarkable drinkability for such a thick, structured wine.
97+ points Robert Parker, $225.99 +tax
Orin Swift 2013
Machete
Firstly, let’s
understand that “Orin Swift” is the “Monty Python” of the California wine
world, meaning that a) they’re super creative and ground-breaking, and b) there
isn’t one. “Orin Swift” is a construct of Dave Phinney, who got super-famous
making The Prisoner, and super-rich selling it off, freeing him to create his
idiosyncratic, kitchen-sink blends of thick, opulent comfort wine from a
multitude of regions. In this case, he found some Petit Sirah, some Syrah and
some Grenache, vine ripened it like crazy, crushed it and aged it in 40% new
French oak. The 2013 earthquake damaged a lot of Orin Swift’s 2013 wines but it
only made Machete angrier, this is one of the best wines they’ve produced in a
very long time. 94+ points Robert Parker, #97 – Wine Spectator’s Top 100 List
of 2015, $69.99 +tax
2012 Continuum
The Mondavi family’s
only wine, after getting ejected from their namesake winery in a hostile
takeover, is a testament to the power and depth of hillside fruit in the Napa
Valley. Grown on Pritchard Hill, an iron-rich eastside slope looking over
Oakville with volcanic soil and invaluable western exposure. Mostly Cabernet
Sauvignon (what else?) with a small but vocal Cab Franc component. Black
cherry, graphite and coffee on the nose, happiness on the finish. I still don’t
have a Parker rating (maybe he hasn’t finished the bottle?) but the well-known
point-fountain James Suckling did score this at 96. I think it’s the best
Continuum since 2007. 96 points James Suckling, $257.49 +tax
Cakebread 2012
Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon
Another Goldilocks
Napa Cab (perfect now, perfect in 15 years) from the Valley Floor, with crème
de cassis and a willingness to please. Smells like a blackberry and a pencil
had a lightsaber duel to the death and it was a tie. Former San Fran mechanic
Jack Cakebread started buying vineyards in Rutherford in the early ‘70s, and
the winery remains a family affair, his kids now run the show with winemaker
Julianne Laks. 95 points Robert Parker, $147.99 +tax
Freemark Abbey 2010
Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Freemark Abbey, one
of the original competitors of the Paris Tasting of 1976, has a long history of
peaks and valleys. The first woman to build a US winery, Josephine Tychson
started her eponymous winery Tychson Cellars back in 1894, growing Riesling and
Zinfandel, and it changed hands several times before going fallow due to
Prohibition. 3 L.A. businessmen Albert "Abbey" Ahern, Charles Freeman
and Markquand Foster bought the property in 1939 and combined portions of their
names to rename it Freemark Abbey. Since the Paris success (it placed 6th),
quality has risen and fallen along with countless ownership changes, but the
ship was righted a decade ago when Jess Stonestreet Jackson bought the
legendary house, ushering in consistency and the capability to make HUGE wines
like this. The body is enormous, but it’s a friendly giant, fear not. Licorice
and spice surround the familiar Napa fruit, and the body and finish are pure
fun. Best thing I’ve tasted from this winery. 94+ points Robert Parker, $134.99
+tax
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