2018 Mossback Cabernet Sauvignon Chalk Hill, USA, California, Sonoma, Wine Review

This is a really pleasant Cab for a pretty good price considering its from Chalk Hill. Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is nice with cassis, dark chocolate, leather and spice. Full bodied. On the palate, this is straightforward with nice cassis fruit, some black cherries with some underlying spice. Medium tannins. Nice finish. This will improve with a couple more years in the cellar. It should drink well for seven to ten more after that. It drinks great on its own but would certainly work well with a nice steak or even Mac and Cheese.

Grade:

A-

Score:

Vintage:

2018

Current Price:

$20.00USD

Top 50 California Cabernet Sauvignons to Try Before You Quit Drinking (a non-dump bucket list if you will!)

In putting together a list of the top California Cabernets, there is sure to be some disagreement. I tried to include those wines that have a track record, the wineries still making great wines, those that seemed to have the commitment for the future and some personal favorites. I am sure I left some out. 1. Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select – It’s always hard to name the number one wine. But this has a track record that’s very long. Even in less than stellar vintages, it is an outstanding wine. They just don’t seem to make a dud. My only complaint is the price at over $200 a bottle. But, in comparison to other Napa Cabs or elsewhere in the world, this is a fair price.

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Winemaker David Vergari Talks Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and....Armed Guards?

Sometimes there are people you encounter in life who, the minute you meet them, you think "This guy has a story to tell and I bet he tells it well." David Vergari is that guy. A veteran winemaker, David launched his own eponymous label, Vergari Wines , in 2003. He recently sat down with IntoWine to share with us his evolution as a winemaker and, most interestingly, the stories "behind the wine". You founded the Vergari Wine Company in 2003. What inspired you to strike out on your own? It happened in two ways: gradually, then quite suddenly.

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Heidi Peterson Barrett: Napa's Wine Diva on Winemaking, La Sirena, and the Legacy of Screaming Eagle

Heidi Peterson Barrett As arguably the most celebrated, respected, envied, and in-demand winemaker in America today, Heidi Peterson Barrett is one of only a handful of winemakers who can legitimately lay claim to "superstar" status. Her wines at both Dalle Valle and Screaming Eagle resulted in multiple 100 point scores from Robert Parker (Parker himself dubbed her the "First Lady of Wine") and helped redefine both the meaning and value of "cult" wines. She rocked the wine world at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction as a 6-liter bottle of her 1992 Screaming Eagle sold for $500,000, in the process setting a world record for the highest price ever paid for a single bottle of wine (a vertical offering went for $650,000 at the 2001 Napa Valley Wine Auction). Heidi Peterson Barrett is currently winemaker for Amuse Bouche, Paradigm, Revana, Barbour, Lamborn, Fantesca, as well as her own label La Sirena . I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Heidi to talk about winemaking, her own La Sirena label, and the legacy of Screaming Eagle.

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2016 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley, USA, California, Sonoma, Wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$69.00USD

Very nice showing for this wine. It has long been a steakhouse restaurant favorite yet its fans remain consistent and loyal. It was a pleasure to drink this and it had been some time since enjoying this wine. Purple in color with ruby swirls. The nose is nice with cassis, cherries, cedar and spice. It has a nice sinewy texture. Softer with light tannins. On the palate, there is some depth/complexity with cassis and char. Long finish. This is drinking well now and should continue to drink well for another eight to twelve years. It drinks well on its own, and would certainly work we

Wines to Go Buy This Week: "Comfort Wines" - A Zinfandel by Glenn Hawk and Tulip Hill's Cabepulciano (yeah you read that right)

I live in San Francisco and January weather here means 50 degrees and rain. Constant bone-chilling rain, or so it seems. And before the rest of America emails to remind me how good I have it and how freaking cold it is in New York or Ohio or whatever other frozen tundra they call home, I'm just gonna say that when you are cold, you are cold, and comfort food -and comfort wine- goes a long way towards warming your heart when Old Man Winter starts to have his way with you. So with this in mind, I bring you two comfort wines you should go buy this week. Glenn Hawk Zinfandel - I typically don't gravitate to Zinfandel. I associate Zins with "cocktail wines", that is, wines that are delicious for a few sips of a single glass but can be a bit too fruity and overwhelming for those of us who tend towards enjoying multiple glasses. So I don't recommend many Zinfandels simply because I don't drink many of them. Every once in a while I stumble back down the Zinfandel path and am reminded of how good the varietal can be. I recently tried the 2009 Glenn Hawk Zinfandel from Livermore Valley (just south of Napa in the shadow of Mt. Diablo).

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2018 Mossback Cabernet Sauvignon Chalk Hill, USA, California, Sonoma, Wine Review

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2016 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley, USA, California, Sonoma, Wine Review

Wines to Go Buy This Week: "Comfort Wines" - A Zinfandel by Glenn Hawk and Tulip Hill's Cabepulciano (yeah you read that right)