Napa and Spanish reds offer major bang for the buck
The Chronicle’s tasting panel, made up of industry professionals, educators and knowledgeable consumers, convenes on a regular basis to blind-taste at least 36 wines, scoring them on a 10-point scale. An 8.5 or higher is considered a recommendation. I further grade them on value and determine local availability. To qualify as a “bargain tout,” a wine must sell for less than $20.
TOP PICK 2016 Chappellet Cabernet Franc
Overall score: 18.7 (9.2 for quality, 9.5 for value)
Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with seven scores of at least 9. “Ripe blackberries and violets. A pretty wine!”
My score: 9.4. While I don’t like singling out wines that are available only online, it was too good to dismiss. A “Wow!” wine by any measure.
Winery/vineyards/winemaking: Donn and Molly Chappellet were first captivated by Napa Valley’s steep and rocky Pritchard Hill in the late 1960s and, encouraged by Napa Valley savant André Tchelistcheff they became pioneers at high-elevation vineyard planting. The Chappellets didn’t put any cabernet franc in the ground until 1989, but they quickly discovered that Pritchard Hill’s volcanic soils, ideal for developing ripe, concentrated flavors, were perfect for the varietal. Cab franc (76 percent) is blended with cabernet sauvignon, malbec and petit verdot, and the wine was bottled after spending 22 months in French oak barrels, 60 percent new.
Alcohol: 14.5 percent Winemaker notes: “The nose displays aromas that are both concentrated and complex, with layers of red currant, cassis, bay, sage and anise mingling with oak-inspired hints of nutmeg, clove and smoke. On the palate, this wine is sleek and elegant with seamless tannins and good natural acidity underscoring flavors of cherry, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, graphite and cigar box.”
Critical acclaim: Both Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck awarded scores of 97. Dunnuck: “A beautiful expression of the variety … Pure, elegant, and perfectly balanced with great intensity and depth, it will be better with short-term cellaring and drink beautifully for 15 years or more. Even at this price, it’s a smoking value.”
Pairing: Roast leg of lamb or wild game.
Price: $85 from chappellet.com
BARGAIN TOUT 2016 Triton Tinto de Toro
Overall score: 19 (9 for quality, 10 for value)
Our tasters: It missed a unanimous recommendation by two-tenths of point but received four scores of at least 9. “Black cherries and black pepper. Rich and ripe.”
My score: 9. I pegged this powerhouse as a $50 bottle. Enough said.
Winery/vineyards/winemaking: From the Grupo José Ordoñez — eight wineries that produce wines from grapes grown in 13 denominations of origin across Spain — it’s 100 percent tinto de toro, which is one of Spain’s oldest tempranillo clones. (Toro is a town in Castilla y Leon in northwestern Spain, close to the Portuguese border.) Nacho Álvarez serves as technical director and head winemaker for the Grupo. As with all Ordoñez properties, the old ungrafted vines are head-trained and dry-farmed without the use of herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. The wine was brought up in used oak barrels.
Alcohol: 15 percent
Winemaker notes: “The continental steppe climate combines with the sandy soil to create a terroir that is responsible for a powerful, elegant and mineral expression of the tinta de toro grape.”
Critical acclaim: Jeb Dunnuck gave it a 93, writing, “This beautifully sexy red boasts smoking good notes of ripe plums, black cherries, liquid violets, and loads of scrub brush and dried earth. Fullbodied
and silky on the palate, with fine, fine tannin, it has remarkable purity, no hard edges, and enough structure to warrant another year in bottle. It’s a seriously impressive wine.” James Suckling gave it a 92.
Pairings: Pizza, red-sauce pastas and Texas barbecue.
Price: $15.99 at Spec’s