Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Desert Wine Guy - 2014 Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon


  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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Sunday, November 10, 2019

The Desert Wine Guy - 2015 Charleston Peak Chardonnay

2015 Charleston Peak Chardonnay

   For today's wine review I decided to stay rather close to home. About an hour+- from Las Vegas is the little (but growing) city of Pahrump, Nevada. Pahrump has the same climate as Las Vegas which is very dry and very hot. They also have the same type of soil which is loamy/sandy & rocky. You can probably guess that Pahrump is also a Desert. There are two different Wineries located in the City of Pahrump with one being the Sanders Family Winery (http://sanderswinery.com/) which is owned by Jack Sanders and the other being the Pahrump Valley Winery (http://www.pahrumpwinery.com/) being owned by the Husband and Wife team of Bill & Gretchen Loken. This winery is also where our review wine comes from. Judging from their website the grapes for this wine are grown at Queensland Vineyard (http://queenslandvineyardbnb.com/) which is located in Dyer (Northern), Nevada. Now that we know a little about where the wine comes from, let's move to the review and talk for a second about the label on this Southern Nevada wine.
Gretchen Loken In The Pahrump Valley Vineyard
   The bottle labeling is very clean and presented the wine nicely. The Mountain on the label represents Charleston Peak here in Nevada, hence the wines name. I like the colors used on the label as they go very nicely with the color of the wine as presented sitting in the bottle. Let's check out the Bouquet of this wine now.
   The Bouquet is rather fruit forward and possess just a hint of Butter on the nose. Notes of Honeysuckle, Jasmine and Oak are really dominating here. I am getting a rather large sense that this is going to be a rather sweet Chardonnay.
  On the Palate now I unfortunately must begin with the fact hat there is a rather forward buttery note which is certainly caused by Malolactic (secondary) Fermentation. This buttery note is really rather strong and therefore noticeable. The note is more than just a bit over the top in my opinion. That note of Honeysuckle that I mentioned on the Bouquet is also very apparent and is on the back end of the Palate and also of course, not shy by any means. The wine also mixes in a note of sweet Pear that presents itself as almost overly ripe and somewhat sugary yet still in all helps to create a decent Palate feel. Speaking of notes which also transfer over, let's continue now with the note of Jasmine that also meshes decently with the other notes which I have so far picked up on the palate. There is a problem here however as this Jasmine note is very strong and helps to push this wine towards being over the top unfortunately in the sweetness area in my book. A note of super sour Apple comes forward in an underlying yet not strong note which also brings a change (or deviation) from the overall sweetness that seems to be starting to dominate this wine. There is the slightest bit of Acidity present in the wine that might at first go unnoticed unless careful attention to the wine is paid but certainly nothing to make a change in the direction in which the wine is unfortunately headed. So there you have it folks. Yes, this is a rather short review but there really is not much to talk about here. It is time now to move to my final notes on this review so let's go right ahead and do that.
Pahrump Valley Winery
   This wine truly express the fact and without any reservation that it is truly a hot weather Chardonnay. Over the top, tropical notes galore are exposed to the Palate. An over the top Butterness is also evidenced by the wine and can probably be blamed on the the fact that it was aged aged for five (5) months in Oak, unchecked. I can tell you for sure that there is no doubt that the wine was aged in Oak as it is unfortunately very evident. Also very evident is that the wine is over the top in it's sweet notes. Overpowering Honeysuckle & Jasmine truly dominate this wine in abundance.
   Let's go ahead and put this all together now.. Is the wine a bad wine? In my opinion, it is. Are the grapes grown in a hot climate? They sure do appear to be. To me this is not a well made Chardonnay. Does this Chardonnay hold in any way to it's varietal characteristics? The answer is no. Will the average Chardonnay lover enjoy this wine? That all depends upon their taste preference and their knowledge of what the varietal is supposed to taste like. I can put a Wine Cooler into this bottle and I can enjoy the wine as I enjoy a good Wine Cooler once in a while but that doesn't make it a decent or good Chardonnay. Did I enjoy the wine? That answer is no. I do not like the overly sweet components in the wine. This is a white wine that carries some characteristics also of being syrupy sweet. At first, the wine was just bearable but shortly after taking a few sips it exhibited the fact that it is clearly over the top in it's sugary notes. I was initially going to give this wine 85 points which is not good but I am going to have to change that to and even lower 83 points which is pretty bad. This can be a good pool wine for the hot Summer months so don't completely discount it but as far as a Chardonnay goes, yeah, not. Before I go I want to say something about the Pahrump Valley Winery. I have had some very good wines form the Winery in the past but like even the best Winemakers, at times even they create wines that just simply do not seem to work. Keep this in mind if you have an opportunity to visit the Winery.

                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy

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