Father’s Day an excuse to buy good wine

By TOM MARQUARDT and PATRICK DARR

Every time we think that no one is inter­ested in expen­sive wines, we walk around some of the wine stores and look at prices tags that can exceed $300. Some­one is buy­ing them.

We’ve had the oppor­tu­nity taste a lot of very expen­sive wines, but rarely can we afford to buy them. Yet we are amazed to find these wines in var­i­ous cel­lars of peo­ple who can afford them. These wines are icons in the wine world.

With Father’s Day com­ing up next Sun­day, you may have an excuse to buy an expen­sive wine for the guy who wouldn’t open the wal­let for him­self. Or maybe some­one has done you a big favor and would appre­ci­ate a good wine. If that’s the case, we have a few of the icon wines for you to consider.

Why are some wines expen­sive and oth­ers not? There are many influ­ences on the price of a wine, the most notable being demand. Many col­lec­tors covet their small allo­ca­tion of expen­sive wines that cost well because it gives them the brag­ging rights that come with exclusivity.

There are more tan­gi­ble influ­ences on the price of a wine. A top-quality French oak bar­rel cost about $1,000. Some pro­duc­ers choose to pick only the best grapes and either drop the infe­rior grapes or put them into another wine. Vines are trained to pro­duce smaller yields to make more intense grapes. And there are con­sul­tant fees, spe­cial label­ing and heav­ier bot­tles that add to the cost.

Are they bet­ter? Often­times, yes. But price is no guar­an­tee of qual­ity and it cer­tainly is no guar­an­tee of con­sumer satisfaction.

Paul Hobbs Hyde Vine­yard Pinot Noir ($100). This Cal­i­for­nia pro­ducer is a leg­end. His caber­net sauvi­gnon cost $300, so the pinot noir is a bar­gain. Expect to find dense dark cherry fruit, depth, bal­ance and a long finish.

Col Solare ($75). This part­ner­ship beween March­esi Anti­nori and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has resulted in one of the more out­stand­ing red wines from Wash­ing­ton state. This blend of caber­net sauvi­gnon, mer­lot and caber­net franc focuses on grapes from Red Moun­tain with help from the Colum­bia Val­ley, Wahluke Slope and Horse Heaven Hills. It is com­plex with black fruit and espresso aro­mas, black berry and choco­late fla­vors with a dash of spice and soft tannins.

Beringer Vine­yards Pri­vate Reserve Caber­net Sauvi­gnon ($115). Con­tin­u­ally one of the reli­able block­busters from Napa Val­ley, this mon­ster takes advan­tages of superb grapes grown on Beringer’s St. Helena Home vine­yard. Bright black­berry and blue­berry aro­mas with con­cen­trated black­berry, dark choco­late and cas­sis fla­vors with hints of min­eral and cedar. Des­tined for great­ness with a few years of aging.

Joseph Phelps Napa Val­ley Insignia 2008 ($200). From one of the most respected pro­duc­ers in Napa Val­ley, this colos­sal blend of caber­net sauvi­gnon, petit ver­dot and mer­lot is a wine that will last for decades. Dark as ink, this con­cen­trated, full-body mon­ster breeds cas­sis and dark berry fruit. Lay­ers of flo­ral aro­mas, anise and cof­fee make every sip a new experience.

Cay­mus Vine­yards Caber­net Sauvi­gnon ($130). An icon among icons, Cay­mus makes a spec­tac­u­larly dense and rich caber­net from grapes grown in 15 sub-appellations in Napa Val­ley — hardly the pat­tern fol­lowed by wine­mak­ers who cus­tom­ar­ily use grapes from a sin­gle vine­yard for their reserve wines. Sweet black­berry fruit and a sur­pris­ingly creamy tex­ture and loads of choco­late and mush­room notes.

J. Davies Dia­mond Moun­tain Dis­trict Caber­net Sauvi­gnon ($80). Very bold in style, this well-balanced caber­net — blended with 12 per­cent mal­bec and 4 per­cent petit ver­dot — is jammed packed with com­plex black cherry fla­vors and lay­ers of tea, oak and mocha notes. Very aro­matic and poised for improve­ment in the cellar.

Amap­ola Creek Estate Caber­net Sauvi­gnon ($70). Wine­maker Richard Arrowood has latched onto a block­buster with this pre­mium caber­net sauvi­gnon from Sonoma County. Con­cen­trated black cherry fla­vors with hints of sweet vanillin oak and dark chocolate.

Antica Estate Caber­net Sauvi­gnon 2009 ($48). It’s hard not to be impressed with Antica’s visita about 1,800 feet up Atlas Peak. Equally so, it’s hard not to be impressed with its full-bodied estate caber­net sauvi­gnon made from mountain-grown grapes. Fresh black­berry and vio­let aro­mas are fol­lowed by cas­sis and black­berry fla­vors and long finish.

Chap­pel­let Sig­na­ture Caber­net Sauvi­gnon ($49). This Napa Val­ley pro­ducer makes some stel­lar red wines, includ­ing this Sig­na­ture caber­net from grapes grown in rocky soils. Expres­sive aro­mat­ics of plums, vio­lets clove and mocha are fol­lowed by black­berry and cas­sis fla­vors. Good depth and finish.

Rod­ney Strong Rock­away Alexan­der Val­ley Caber­net Sauvi­gnon ($75). What is there not to like in this colos­sal single-vineyard caber­net from Sonoma County? Well, maybe the price. But there’s no deny­ing the full-body struc­ture and com­plex fruit from the blend of 84 per­cent caber­net sauvigon, 9 per­cent mal­bec, 4 per­cent mer­lot and 3 per­cent petit verdot.

Hess Col­lec­tion 19 Block Cuvee Napa Val­ley Mt Veeder ($36). This wine is a very pleas­ant pro­pri­etary blend of caber­net sauvi­gnon, mal­bec, mer­lot, syrah, caber­net franc, and petite ver­dot that exhibits a beau­ti­ful nose and fla­vors of berries, cher­ries, and a hint of herbs.

Posted by Guest 1 Columnist on Jun 14 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.