Today's wine review comes from grapes that are grown in the state of Arizona. The state has been coming on in the last few years in the wine area and produces some really good wines. To start off with, the one thing I have noticed about grapes grown in Arizona is that they tend to have a fairly good amount of a Black Pepper note to them. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing (I love it actually) it can become sort of old after a while. It would be nice sometimes to review an Arizona wine that doesn't have that particular note. With that being said, however, today's wine is a actually a white wine. Today's wine is named "The Sun" and is a white wine from Bitter Creek Winery / Cellar 433 (http://cellar433.com/) to be exact. Cellar 433 is located in Jerome Arizona and owned by John McLaughlin. Cellar 433 grows their grapes in Wilcox Arizona. Cellar 433 is also the largest Vineyard in Arizona with over 150 Acres of yielding vines and a production of 8,000 cases of wine a year. From a resident of Las Vegas's perspective you must ask yourself, is the trip from Las Vegas to Jerome a short trip? The straight answer is no, it is not. The trip from Las Vegas to Jerome Arizona is actually around 5.5 to 6 hours but I personally happen to find it enjoyable. Give me some awesome (80's) tunes and a large supercharge (at least 5 shots) however and I am a happy camper. There is actually a lot of the trip as you get into Arizona where there are actually trees and grass and that is certainly a nice change from the Las Vegas desert and it's Cactus, trees that grow nothing and plants that don't grow flowers and therefore lack any color. With that being said, I would like to now move on to the city of Jerome and this particular wine.
The city of Jerome is part of what is called the Verde Valley Wine Trail (http://www.vvwinetrail.com/) which is Arizona's version of the Napa Valley and actually runs through the cities of Sedona, Cottonwood as well as Jerome and the the small town of Page Springs which is just 10 minutes outside of Sedona and is a must visit. All of the three are withing a 20-30 minutes from one another and in my humble opinion, definitely worth the trip. The trip can technically be done in a day with a designated driver and that includes stopping for a short time in each town to enjoy the shopping (ladies). If you include in the wonderful hiking then you must stay the night at least. For the purpose of this article however we will focus on Cellar 433 but I am (slowly) working on an article of the whole Arizona wine industry which I will releasing in the near future.
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| Cellar 433 |
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| Marsanne Grape Varietal |
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| Symphony Grape Varietal |
The varietal known as Marsanne is named after the town of Marsanne which is located in the Northern Rhone Valley. The wine is usually made into a very dry wine and usually has very little depth of perfume and flavor and therefore is used as a blending grape with it's cousin, Roussanne. This varietal does NOT like a hot climate and if grown there will struggle to develop enough acidity to prevent it's weight from muting it's flavor. When grown properly however the wine can produce a slightly earthy minerality with subtle notes of Honeysuckle and melon.
Now on to the heart of the review wine. "The Sun" has a slightly high amount of Alcohol at 14.32% but fear not because that Alcohol is not tasted in the wine at all so there are no concerns as far as the Palette goes. The wine is also using a Cork closure which is unusual for a white wine today. This is a non-vintage wine as well. The label on the bottle shows a women worshiping the Sun. By the way that also seems to be a common element to wines of Arizona, they all seem to be prone to the celebration of Pagan type elements such as in this case, Sun worship, why this is I do not know. The bouquet on this wine was really wonderful and super bright, perfect for a Spring or Summer days that are coming. A super great Lemon and kiwi open up this bouquet. A really great Honeydew melon note as well as a light Cantaloupe note follow making this wine display an awesome bouquet and one that I truly enjoyed. In my glass the wine seemed to have an awesome sparkle in the Sunlight it had a nice golden hue to it as well. This sparkling in the glass went perfect with the name of the wine and both seemed to be made for and compliment one another.
I couldn't wait to taste the wine itself. Tasting the wine was mostly a continuation of the Bouquet, and that means the wine was really nice. The wine was definitely a slightly lemony dominated wine but there was a background note of sweetness to it. Hints of the melon were noticeable as well and seemed to cut the Lemon and prevent from being harsh. A grapefruit note was certainly present as well and indeed stood out. There was a slight dryness here as well probably due to the Lemon / grapefruit but not to the point where it took away the fruitiness of the wine (although close) and certainly nothing to complain about. With the lemon / grapefruit note, the melon and that slight sweetness and fruit forwardness I think this is a perfect wine for the season upcoming. There was a bright finish on the front on the Palette that continued through to the end. While certainly not a complex wine it does serve the purpose rather nicely.
In this wine we are talking about a wine that was made specifically for the Spring and Summer time. This is a perfect pool or picnic white and one that I wish I had gotten another bottle of when I had the chance. When the heat gets turned up head to the pool and break open a bottle of this wine and you will very happy.
On The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale I give this wine an 89 points.
UPDATE - Today, September 12, 2016 I have re-tasted this wine. Here is the latest comments / thoughts on this wine. I believe that my original notes for this wine still stand and the wine is as described. The original review of this wine was August 1st.
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