Product Review
Even better, with an iron fist in a velvet glove-like profile, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is 100% Cabernet and comes 75% from the top tier Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills and 25% from Leonetti’s Loess Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley. Aged 36 months in mostly new French oak, it offers up a brilliant array of smoked black currants, spice box, cedar, wild herbs, chocolate and serious chalky minerality on the nose. This is followed by a full-bodied, rich and decadently styled wine that has fantastic concentration, awesome polish and masses of tannin that emerge on the mid-palate and finish. It needs 3-4 years (or more) of bottle age and will age effortlessly for over two decades. Drink 2017-2028.
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most prominent dark-skinned grape varieties except Merlot in terms of area under vines, but which comprises our largest selection of wines. Grown in just about every wine producing region and climate, Cabernet Sauvignon can express a huge range of aromas, from green peppers in cool climates through to dark jammy fruit in hot regions. Common aromas include blackcurrants, mint, graphite, and forest floor, to name a few. Maturation in small oak barrels can develop a complex range of aromas from cedar wood, cigar box and tobacco to eucalyptus and undergrowth. Cabernet Sauvignon’s success is partly due to its ability to adapt to a range of soils and climates. It is the main constituent of the Bordeaux blend in the revered communes of Pauillac, St. Estephe and St. Julien, and has achieved equal success in California’s Napa Valley. It is grown extensively throughout Southern Australia, with some outstanding examples from the Terra Rossa soil of Coonawarra. Cabernet Sauvignon also plays an increasing role in Tuscany, Italy, where it is blended with native varieties such as Sangiovese to produce the Super Tuscans.
Red wine is wine made from dark-coloured grape varieties. The color of red differs based on the grapes variety or varieties used.Interestingly, black grapes yield a juice that is greenish-white. The actual red color comes from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) from the skin of the grape (exceptions are the relatively uncommon teinturier varieties, which produce a red colored juice). Most of the production centers around the extraction of color and flavor from the grape skin.
