Wines To Go Buy This Week

France’s Champagne Taittinger started its U.S label with the opening of Domaine Carneros in 1987 and has gone on to create world-class sparkling wines in America, of which their flagship Le Reve has always been a consistent standout. This Blanc de Blanc is comprised of five Chardonnay clones from the Domaine’s Carneros estate fruit.

Au Paradis, paradise, is the expression of the Peter Michael Winery’s only Napa wine (the winery is based in Sonoma). Pulled from fruit from the Oak Knoll AVA, on the nose there is rich opulent fruit and the seamless integration of wood is apparent. Comprised from a minimum of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance of the fruit being Cabernet Franc, there are notes of sweet charred oak, red raspberry, black cherry, huckleberry, tobacco and mocha that draw you in.

Rosemary Cakebread has a long-standing relationship with wine, spending 15 years as winemaker and consultant for Spottswoode Winery in Napa. She launched her Gallica project in 2007. From her small portfolio she makes only one white wine and by her own admission she makes wine in such a way that, “you have to think about what’s in your glass,” she tells IntoWine.

Not all Cabernet is Sauvignon; there is Cabernet Franc as well. Cabernet Franc traces its birthplace in France to the 11th Century and the flash point for deep rich Cabernet Franc is Chinon in the Loire Valley where stony gravel sits atop clay and silica subsoil creating wines of depth and texture...

The Kunde family has been making wine since 1904 in the Sonoma Valley and today commands over 700 planted acres of grapes (they received “Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing” status in 2010), of which Cabernet has long been their star. Cabernet can be pricy, but this Kunde 2013 Cabernet stops you in your tracks given its price to quality ratio. Comprised of five different Cabernet clones (337, 4, 15, 169, 8) this is an exceptional value Cabernet, well structured and very enjoyable to drink.