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| 2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon |
One of my greatest memories pertaining to my first trip to the Napa Valley was visiting the St. Clement (http://stclement.com/the-st-clement-story) Winery. I can remember like it was yesterday driving down Highway 29 and seeing the St. Clement Winery on the left hand side and thinking what a cute little cottage on that hill, I have to check it out on my way back. On the way back from bunny hopping the Winery's of interest along Highway 29 and ending up in Calistoga where there was (at the time) a small Coffee shop that roasted it's own beans. I had a nice lunch and a few Iced Lattes and headed the opposite way on 29. I had to keep my promise to myself of course and on the way back I just had to stop there. As everyone else does when visiting the St. Clement Winery, I parked down below the hill and took the long walk up to the Cottage. That walk was more that worth it. What a beautiful little place, the view of the Napa Valley was incredible especially while sipping on a glass of wine on their patio swing that overlooks the entire valley. When I tasted the wine I knew immediately it was one of those "different" wines that stood out from a lot of the other Napa Valley wines I had tasted on my trip but just didn't seem to be something I liked. After all these years that wine and property still stand out in my mind. When I see the wines from St Clement in the stores (which isn't too often) I flashback to the porch swing and the great wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon I bought on that day taught me and showed me the power of how great a Napa Cab can truly be. The "Cottage" as I called it is actually the St. Clement house and was built in 1878. The original owner was a man named Fritz Rosenbaum who manufactured and imported mirrors & glass. The property originally only made Riesling and Zinfandel in a cellar that is located underneath the house. The name St. Clement was given to it in 1976 when a local Ophthalmologist, William Casey bought the house and built a 10,000 case Winery there. The name St. Clement is actually a tribute to Caseys ancestors and what a tribute it is. St. Clement is now owned by Beringer and the property is still beautiful. How did this particular wine compare to the wine I tasted? Well we will see as you read on. The wine in question here is the 2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon. Anyone familiar with the weather in the Napa Valley in 2011 knows that it was kind of goofy and not the typical weather the Napa Valley is use to. Did the rough weather in 2011 negativity effect the crop and therefore effect the wine? Let's find out. As I have already said, 2011 was actually a rough year weather wise for the Napa Valley as a whole. One of the biggest issues was that it was a cooler year than usual which meant lower grape yield which also meant the need for thinning due to irregular berry development. This also delayed wine development by as much as several weeks. This particular Cabernet was aged in forty two percent new French Oak barrels for nineteen months. There was also two percent Merlot and two percent Petit Verdot added for structure just before the wine was put in the bottle. I love a wine that starts off with deep, rich, powerful aromas. This happens to be one of those wines. Let's see just how the St. Clement winery managed to do with it's Cabernet Sauvignon vines.
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| St. Clement House Porch Swing |
Before we get into the pour, a word of warning here. To discuss the pour of this wine leaves us with not much to actually discuss. With all the beauty of the St. clement House and the property as a whole it's kind of ironic that such a wonderful place and such (as it turns out) a wonderful wine would have such a simple appearance on the pour. Here is a wine once again where looks are deceiving. This wine does indeed have a very simply, deep Cherry Red pour. That's it, plain and simple. Do yourself a favor and read on please.
On the nose there was Blackberry with a slight hint of Cocoa. There was a deep clove spice that was almost hidden but still detectable if you took the time and swirled the wine long enough. You could almost sense that this was going to be a special wine. There is a sense of earthiness in the bouquet that has the cocoa almost floating in the air. I thought I also sensed some Cranberry in here also. All in all the bouquet is really nice and promises a wonderful experience.
Let's now move onto our favorite part, the actual tasting of the wine. To open up this section I want to say that this wine has so many different flavors or notes that I tasted on my Palette. This to say the least is a complex, full bodied wine indeed. There is a nice rich Blackberry opening when the wine first touches enters your mouth and touches your tongue. This Blackberry is so smooth that it's almost comes across like an appetizer you would have before a great steak, it makes you long for what comes next which is the main course, in this case is the 2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon. Next up on the Palette is a solid, deep, Plum that offers up memories of going to an Orchard and picking a ripe Plum off of the tree that is at it's peak of perfection. Some wines, even some $40 wines would be content and end here and be happy to have achieved that level of desirability, not this wine however. I guess you could say "well you should expect more from a 40$ wine" and you would be correct however it does not always work that way as I am sure you already know. Let's talk about another note that you will detect early in the development of the wine, that note is that of clove spice. What starts off as a brief low key note now quickly comes to the surface and combined with all the other notes in this wine is awesome. Now a wine that combines all this into one wine is incredible sounding in itself and so far it is rather impressive and I am totally enjoying myself up here in the 80's Loft. I am torn here. On one hand I am wishing I had invited a friend over to share this wine with. On the other hand i'm glad I didn't because then I would have to actually share this treasure so maybe I did the right thing by going it alone. One question I will throw at you is what is a Cabernet Sauvignon without Oak? Well don't fret there Oakey Cabernet fans because there is actually an incredible smoky oak to this wine that is simply wonderful. I wish all the Cabernets I tasted had this level of beautiful oak in them. To top it off there is an unusual note of dried Cranberry here. The dried cranberry blends so well with the clove note and add an almost rustic earthiness to the wine. If you think this wine is done you need to hold on a minute because here comes the taste of a light Cocoa to the mix. Yes, all of these different notes are truly in this wine and each is represented to it's fullest extent. O.K I have to take a break here because I am getting tempted to buy another bottle (or two) which I will and place one in my cellar for the future. What else is this wine missing? Did you say "but Desert Wine Guy are there any Tannins to this wine?" You want Tannins also? Yes, You have Tannins. You actually have nice, smooth, deep Tannins that help glide the wine over your tongue. There is just enough to coat your tongue but not enough to paste onto your tongue which is a taste we have all experienced and some do not like. In short there is just the right amount of Tannins to mesh with the other notes this wine has to offer. Sitting in my reviewers chair (my recliner) I thought about how the flavor of this wine was so easy to drink and that you knew without doubt that in your hands you held a prime example of why Cabernet Sauvignon is indeed the king of red, you know you are holding and drinking a Cabernet Sauvignon at it's finest. The Clove added just that bit of Spice that I like in my Cabernet and I think helps set a cheap Cabernet apart from a good one. In short the wine is the perfect package and shows the full promise of what a great Cabernet Sauvignon should be. As we near the closing of this review I wanted to add something else. While this wine is indeed full bodied at the same time it is not what I would call a heavy Cabernet. While not for the weak of heart or timid, this wine is flavorful and bright and if you are a true Cabernet lover you will truly be in Heaven. As I have just said, although not for the faint of heart, this wine also has the ability to be a favorite for fans who like a deep Merlot as well. Lovers of both varietals of wine are presented the best of both worlds here. Where does the Cocoa fit in you ask? The Cocoa comes out but strangely only at times however each time it does it seems it is a welcome surprise and comes at a time when you seem to have forgotten it is there in the first place. The wine ends in your mouth with the Blackberry/Oak notes and those irresistible Tannins. To try to be a little more specific concerning the line between a Merlot and a Cabernet if I were to draw a graph with 6 being where the Cabernet Sauvignon style comes in, I would rate this wine at the 8 to 8.5 point of that graph. Definitely what is meant by the phrase "full bodied".
I'm going to be straight forward here. I must confess that I went into this review actually expecting a lot from this wine and it without a doubt delivered. Like I said in the opening of this article I have always had a place in my heart for this particular Vineyard. This is one of those Vineyards/Winery's (along with a few others) that helped plant and cultivate the very early seeds of The Desert Wine Guy, pre Desert Wine Guy. As any good, honest writer or reviewer should do however, I have always been able to avoid letting a bias effect my reviews. I am glad I was able to give this wine such a great review. On the other hand if it was warranted I would have just as easily given it a bad review. Thankfully that was not the case.
Lets go ahead at this time and wrap this up. For those readers who tend to keep to the more heavier Merlot or like medium bodied Cabernets I say go ahead take the plunge here. Step out there, open your world up and expand your tastes. This is that great wine that may do all that. Let's discuss price now. When I first saw this wine on the shelf I said "$40, do I really want to spend that kind of money on this wine"? Well I decided to go ahead and take the plunge myself, as I suggest you also do. I say YES, you really do need to spend that kind of money. While I was in the store those memories came back of that first trip, that first series of wine tasting experiences and that was all that was needed for me, I bought the wine. You might not have that memory, maybe you have never sat on that porch swing, maybe you have never taken the walk up the hill to the St. Clement house. None of this matters, my recommendation is for you to buy the wine, enjoy the wine and go a few days without Starbucks to make up for the extra money you spent :) If you are searching for a wine to impress your guests for the holidays than look no further. If you are looking to impress yourself then also....look no further. This is the benchmark for Cabernet Sauvignon. This is what I am using to compare all other Cabernet's to. Buy a couple of bottles and put one away, the other open at Thanksgiving or some other special holiday. I would say this wine could last another 5-7 years if kept at the proper temperature.
On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am giving it 94 points.
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