WEEKEND WINE PICKS
Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, California $70 I 92/100
UPC: 657891715591
This wine is a monster-style Cabernet, rich and powerful from start to finish, with black fruit and marzipan aromas mixed with blueberry fruit, espresso, chocolate and clove. It needs to be served at cellar temperature to release some of the fresher notes buried under the weight and heft of this extracted Cabernet Sauvignon. Big, bold and proud of it, this savoury red will resonate with those who love their red wine as big as they can get it. Think barbecue pork or a rare porterhouse steak for now, or cellar it for five years.
Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, California $128 I 95/100
UPC: 00626990248231
Mt. Brave Vineyard sits high atop Mount Veeder at an elevation of 1,400 to 1,800 feet on an area planted since the early 1860s. Winemaker Chris Carpenter likes to say, “Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon is meant to show all that is Mount Veeder without overt tannins.” The blend is 87.5/5/3/3/1.5 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. It’s just a baby, full of exuberant blue and red fruits, spice and mineral notes. Balanced, earthy, savoury, restrained fruit with a brooding tannin background that will disperse over time, but for now cellar for at least a decade.
Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Napa Valley, California $126 | 92/100
UPC: 010465208903
Another stellar vintage in Napa Valley gives us this delicious 78/15/3/2/2 mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc from Phelps vineyards in South Napa, Oak Knoll District, St. Helena, Rutherford, and Stags Leap District. It seems to comfortably soak up the 40 per cent new oak, leaving a dark, inky red with intense, sweet black fruit. You taste the small berries and loose cluster intensity, yielding sweet mulberries, plums, anise and dense, rich, soft tannins. It’s the layers and complexity that set this apart from the norm, and what you pay the premium for. An impressive young Cabernet that will only get better. If you must drink it now, the match is rare T-bone steak.
Cardinale 2015, California $360 I 96/100
UPC: 626990248194
Every year Cardinale begins with 50-plus lots of wine that winemaker Chris Carpenter eventually reduces to a handful of complex, aromatic selections that are all about intensity, texture and length. In 2015, it was Diamond Mountain and Spring Mountain that would carry the load. Carpenter and his followers insist that the wine be different every year by taking what the land gives you. In this case, the red, floral fruit of Spring Mountain is the shell while the voluptuous mid-palate and fine, dense, silky tannins are supplied by the Diamond Mountain fruit. Volume is low, the yields are down, the cases are few. A slightly cooler version than 2014, the 2015 is at least as good if not better. Time will tell. If you can’t wait, a lamb leg would be an excellent match.
Verite Le Desir 2015, Sonoma County, California $520 I 97/100
UPC: 626990248163
Winemaker Pierre Seillan likes to talk about structure and precision and both are in evidence here. The red fruit is intense but hardly soft, supported by a stony, mineral undercurrent. The mid-palate is filled in with earthy, savoury, leathery notes before a denouement of lightly smoked blue and black fruits, and silky, dense tannins that signal a decade or two of bottle age are possible. It’s a complex Sonoma star and the definition of world class. The fruit is highly selected by the fastidious Pierre Seillan, choosing from an impressive array of sites. Every block, every tilt of land, every exposure, and the multitude of places and facets that make up any vineyard are the storytellers.