As a great New York Yankee was so fond of saying, "holy cow!". Guys, please forgive me as I pause for a second to take this wine all in as right now all I have to say is indeed, "holy Cow". Okay, so I'm back now but please indulge me for a second as I give you a brief description of my surroundings as I begin my review of this wine, after all wine is about having a good time. As many of you already know, my family and I just recently moved from Las Vegas to Florida. In my old home in Vegas I had a wonderful Loft where I would do my wine reviews and I will miss it as that was where The Desert Wine Guy got his start. Well with this move there is no longer a Loft to use as my office but there is a .......movie theatre instead. Yes, I said a movie theatre. I am talking the screen, the curtains, the chairs and the sound system as well. What makes this review even more "holy cow' is that I am watching The Cure on the big screen AND I have the privilege of reviewing the 2014 Pine Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon (
https://www.pineridgevineyards.com/wines/appellation-collection/napa-valley-cabernet-sauvignon/) as well. Yes, the theatre is incredible. Yes, The Cure rocks on their new 2 - Blu-Ray anniversary set but the real news here is certainly the wine. Let me go ahead and get into this review now by telling you how I first discovered the Pine Ridge Vineyards & Winery and then discussing how I came across this particular bottle.
Around 6 months ago Mrs. Desert Wine Girl and I took a trip to the Napa Valley and our first stop was a winery that I had never heard of before, that winery is Pine Ridge. The tasting fee there is $50 but if you buy two bottles that is wiped out. I have to tell you that after tasting their wine I did indeed buy two bottles and therefore paid no Tasting Fee. So I am here in Florida now and the other day my Wife was getting her nails done so I decided to take a walk around the Shopping Center and I happened to come across a small liquor Store. I honestly wasn't expecting to find anything special there so I was really floored when I saw this wine on the shelf let alone the price at $55. Now I am talking about a small liquor store in a small city, where do they come off carrying this wine? I have been to a few mega wine stores that almost rival a Walmart but I have never found anything from Pine Ridge Vineyards for sale. When I saw this wine on the shelve I grabbed a bottle and after paying for it I almost fled from the store for fear of the guy behind the counter saying it was a mistake and never should have hit the shelves. Now, here I am, reviewing the wine.
The Pine Ridge Vineyards was started in 1978 by Gary & Nancy Andrus. At that time the Vineyard was only Fifty Acres and was located in the Stags Leap
District of the Napa
Valley. As of this date the winery owns five different Estate Vineyards
with one being of course in the Stags Leap District AVA and the other four being
in Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, & Carneros AVA's. The total Acres has also jumped to 160. This particular wine I am reviewing is made from a combination of Estate Vineyard sites throughout the Napa Valley Stags Leap District as well as the Oakville & Rutherford AVA's. All of these AVA's are simply top notch so there should be no surprise that this wine rates incredibly high in the end.
The wine comes in at a higher then normal 14.7% Alcohol and is of course Cork sealed. The wine also sat in 40% new American Oak for 17 months before being placed in the bottle. This wine is also a small blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc & 2% Merlot. The wine sells for $65 at the winery. For those of you whom are interested, here (
https://www.pineridgevineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CSN-14.pdf) is the Winemakers Notes on the wine.
On the Pour this wine was just amazingly ultra beautiful and simply fascinating to look at as it proudly presented itself as an ultra serious, dark Burgundy which was consistent throughout the glass with perhaps just an ever so slight lighter shade Burgundy on the very edges. As I continue to pour the wine and check out my glass I will tell you that simply massive amounts of ultra
thin legs are cascading down the sides of my wine glass. I have never
seen a wine put on such an awesome visual display such as this wine is putting on right
now. When using a piece of white paper held beneath the wine you can simply forget about seeing any writing which might be on that piece of paper because it isn't happening guys. Looking straight down the middle of the glass I get confirmation that without a doubt, this wine is ultra amazing in color presentation as well as its appearance of seriousness, WOW!
Moving now to the Bouquet of the wine I want to tell you that a straight up, in your face note of Baking Cocoa just envelopes and assaults the Nose. While this note is indeed very up front and powerful it amazingly manages to leave room for everything else the wines Bouquet has to offer. How about a serious Caramel note which is so wonderfully interweaved with that Baking Cocoa and the next note, one of Blackberry that is super well placed. Oh....my....goodness folks, the Bouquet of this wine simply rocks without any doubt. This has got to be the most beautiful red wine Bouquet that I have ever enjoyed to this date, flat out. Topping off the Nose presentation is two big notes, one of Boysenberry and the other of Cinnamon. Both of these notes are presented beautifully as well.In total I am in awe at how amazing this wine is showing itself off.
Now we get to the Palate presentation of this wine. Now of course you know that I couldn't wait and have already tasted this wine (a few times) and I must begin with the fact that the massive note of Baking Cocoa that the wine presented on the Nose translates right on over to the Palate and is presented here just as strikingly as it was on the Nose. This note is interweaved with a nice serious depth of Chocolate and both together are creating an absolutely fabulous initial Palate presentation. A pretty serious Black Pepper follows these notes up super quickly and my Palate is being overwhelmed in a good way with just massive & intense flavor. Here comes the dark fruit as mouthwatering and juicy ripe Blackberry and tar notes also jump out at me and attempt to envelop the entire Palate. This Blackberry & Tar and also bring with them a big, bold mouth feel. A deep note of that Boysenberry that I picked up on the Nose translates on over to the Palate as well. This Boysenberry is not shy but does not look to overwhelm the Palate as it presents a good bit of flavor and intensity yet understands its place in the wine. The wine has more so don't think that I am done just yet folks. I have to mention that the wine also presents a note of Clove which appears just after the Opening on the Palate but prior to what I would consider to be Mid-Palate. This Clove doesn't allow for any down time between the Baking Cocoa, the Chocolate and the vibrant Black Pepper. The Palate presentation seamlessly flows from one note right into the other without any pause in between. This wine folks is big, juicy and massive and that is no exaggeration. Now, what would a serious Cabernet Sauvignon be without at least some nice tannins? Well folks let me answer that for you, it would be nothing. This wine has Tannins, pretty serious Tannins at that and they are not looking to play any games here. These serious Tannins only add to the Palate presentation and awesomeness of the wine and to my (and your) enjoyment of it. Now of course there will be many who say that the wine is obviously not ready to be enjoyed as the Tannins are still fairly straight up in your face but I say to those people, put yours away, I'm enjoying mine right now. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there is a big earthy note on the palate to go along with everything else the wine is presenting and it is where that legendary "Rutherford Dust" comes into play. There is also some of that American Oak present but it really is more on the Finish of the wine and really doesn't make too much of an impact yet does squeak out just enough to be noted. Allow me to go ahead and throw in a big time note of dried herb now and you've got a great idea of exactly of what I am tasting here. Let me go ahead and wrap up this review now because I have to sit back and enjoy the rest of the bottle and The Cure of course.
As I get into the wrap up I must issue a warning. This is an incredible Old School Cabernet Sauvignon. This is not the Millennial (grape) juice that is being largely produced today and passed along as Cabernet Sauvignon to the less Vino educated consumer. This is an extremely concentrated & very serious wine and one not for the weak of heart or those who believe that a Cabernet Sauvignon should be sweet or fruit forward as it is neither of these. If that type of a Cabernet Sauvignon is more your speed there is a bottle of Two Buck Chuck waiting for you in Walmart and I strongly suggest you develop your Palate. No guys, this is a real Cab and one meant only for real Cab lovers. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I must rate this wine at 96 points. This is a super fantastic wine, an incredible wine and one also capable as well as worthy of being stored for many years in your cellar. I highly recommend you run out and buy at least three bottles of this wine and enjoy one right now.
The Desert Wine Guy
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