2020 Matt Parish, Cabernet Sauvignon - Coombsville

  

   It's not every day that I spend more then say... $20 for a wine but lately it seems that I have been doing so a bit more often then I probably should. I think this upping of my spending has come as the result of a blow-back of sorts after having been very disappointed with the lower priced and lame, Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons that I have been running into for a while now. While I certainly don't think that spending $70 as I did for todays wine is really necessary in order to find a good wine or as in this case, hopefully a good Cabernet Sauvignon, it does seem to help. You might ask, is there a particular price point where quality begins? On my end, I can't really answer that question that is up to your particular palate but what I can say is that I am tired of bringing homes wines that simply do not "cut it", at least in my book anyway. Continuing to keep it real here guys, I kind of feel bad in a way here as I started this whole Desert Wine Guy (DWG) thing looking to review wines for the "average person" and I feel at times that I have exceeded that average person price point more often then perhaps I really should have.

There are some out there who do the YouTube thing just as I do (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ) and faithfully manage to stick to the lower priced (average person) wines but I really think my palate has... grown since the inception of the DWG and I am finding it harder and harder to find any pleasure in most of these wines. So, I ask you, now is your time to chime in, what do you guys think? Are you also not finding satisfaction in the lower priced wines? Have you outgrown them sp to speak? Have I gone over the edge price wise and if so, at what price point would you feel comfortable having me review wines at? However you guys feel, I really want your opinion so please leave me a comment at desertwineguy@gmail.com.

    Before I get into the wine that is up for review today, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a bit about the AVA the wine grapes came from. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for this wine come from the Coombsville AVA which is located in the Napa Valley. The AVA was officially designated as such on  December 14, 2011 and was named after Nathan Coombs who founded the city of Napa. While originally thought to be best suited for the grape varietals of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay due to the cooler climate, this particular AVA eventually came to be known for the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal which comes in as the number one planted grape with the Chardonnay and Merlot varietals coming in at two & three respectively. The soil in the AVA mostly consists of rock, gravel and volcanic ash, and are well drained. Okay so now that we know a little about the Coombsville AVA, let's get a little closer to tasting the wine.

   As I previously said, todays wine cost me $69.99 ($70). The wine comes in at 14.8% alcohol and of course the bottle is cork sealed. As I have also already said, the grapes for the wine come from the Coombsville AVA of the Napa Valley. The wine sat for 18 months in French Oak and then sat in the bottle for 12 months prior to release.

   Let's go ahead now and take a look at the label here on this $70 bottle of wine. Guys, you know just how important I think a wine label is in selling that wine. I actually have a wine here right now that I spent $17 on and when it arrived at my home I noticed that the label was tilted a bit. The wine ended up being amazing but if I had not received the wine by mail, that label would have thrown me off at the store. For many people that tilt on the label might not be a big deal but for people who pay attention to details, this displayed in my mind at least, a possible lack of care or attention to detail when it came to the wine in general. Presenting a product to a consumer that brings this initial thought to mind is not a good thing. Getting back to the label on todays wine though, I think it totally rocks. Winemaker Matt Parish never lets me down when it comes to the labels on the bottles of the wines he produces. The Matt Parish crest leads the label off here and it is perfectly placed as is the lettering is perfectly placed against the all black label. I especially like what I assume is the actual logistical coordinates of the Coombsville AVA and with those coordinates being the same gold color as the writing on the label, this label has the wine inside offering up a pretty exotic impression in my mind.

   Now for the nose on this $70 Cabernet. Starting off here I am picking up a big time sense of earthiness and let me tell you, it is roaring out of the glass guys, I am definitely excited. A nose of intense black fruit is wonderfully intermixed but refuses to take a back seat to that earthiness. A sense of dustiness is here as well which amazingly very much reminds me of Rutherford Dust for all you Rutherford AVA Cab lovers (hello:). Black Plum specifically is intermixed here as well as well as well as some of that beautiful French Oak that the wine sat in. As a last note, I am getting a bell pepper (Pyrazine) note as well. Just based here on the nose of the wine, the first word that comes to mind is "luxury". 

   Now for the palate presentation. Ahh... yeah, this wine is a powerhouse folks! Let me go ahead and back up a good bit now. The wine when placed onto the palate just attacks it with everything it has which is a lot. On the first sip I got everything that the nose put forward which I find amazing. Pyrazines in the form of a bell pepper note is really making its presence known here on the palate and it is pretty darn nice and while I do find it to be just a hair bit over the top, it certainly doesn't really hurt anything. That earthiness is here big time and I don't believe that I have ever tasted a wine with this sense of urgency to offer the note up. So... Rutherford Dust guys. No, the grapes are not from the Rutherford AVA so what is going on here?

Well guys, I don't know but the wine is showing the note and I for one will not complain or question why it is doing so. To me, a Rutherford Dust type note is one of the greatest things an awesome Cab can bring along and this wine does bring it along. Acidity is pretty high here guys and really gives that bell pepper a run for the money for sure. Black cherry is on the vibrant side here and it is juicy & fresh tasting as well. It is also darkly presented and not willing to have anything stand in the way of offering itself up and in a vibrant way. Vibrancy... yeah, that is the perfect word here as this wine just keeps screaming forward on the palate. Fruit wise, there is that black cherry and black plum but not much else which is a bit weird yet somehow this wine manages to pull it off though and rather nicely I might add. As a last couple of note, I want to talk about blackberry. This particular note seems to manage to mesh perfectly with that black cherry and at times you will have a very hard time distinguishing between the two actually. At other times however, you will pick up both and really enjoy them together. However you taste them, you will enjoy them along with the rest of the wine. Cassis is definitely here also and it really puts the wine over the top and into the luxury arena. Tannin's wine there is a bit but nothing to write home about. What is presented is nice and goes along for the ride so to speak. Having said all of this, it is time to end this review and get to the last paragraph where I will wrap all of this up. I will see you there. 

   Here we go guys, my final thoughts on the wine. If you love an old school Cabernet Sauvignon... buy two or three bottles of the wine because after you love the first one, you will want to cellar the other two bottles for a few years so it calms down that acidity a bit. I think this wine will jump a point or two in a few years as that high acidity backs off just a bit. I also think that bell pepper will have a chance to tone down the bit it needs.

Everything this wine puts out is needed in order to have it come together as it did. Yeah, there was a note or two that was every so slightly over the top for now that is but these I feel will tone down in time and you will have yourself possibly a 96 or 97 point Cabernet Sauvignon. The one drawback to the wine is that it is rather limited on fruit. Having said this though, the wine still manages to pull its way to a solid 95 points on The Desert Wine Guy rating scale. This is a serious Cabernet guys so for those of you who are weak at heart or, looking for a Cupcake or Barefoot style Cab please do not waste your money here as this wine is not meant for you. If on the other hand, you are looking for a powerful, vibrant, impressive Cab, this is your wine. It will also make an amazing gift or to impress someone who appreciates an old school type Cab.

 

https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://odysee.com/@Thedesertwineguy:0

https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy

https://www.instagram.com/thedesertwineguy/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ

 

  

The Desert Wine Guy - 2021 Fox Run, Dry Riesling

 

   I don't know about you but for the most part, I am not into sweet white wines. There, I said it and I feel so much better. Now you might be asking, "why are you starting off this review by saying this Desert Wine Guy?" Well honestly guys, I am so tired of tasting both white and red wines that just love to come across as sweet and over the top as far as sweet fruit is concerned. Now, I don't mind a fruity wine to an extent but it has become so common place for wines to simply offer up nothing more then a sweet & fruity liquid, I feel like I am being played. I don't spend $20 for a wine for it to be a sugar or fruit bomb as I can spend $5 instead and get four of the same wines. Now, a lot of people will tell me that in reality, wine has very little sugar in it and I agree with that statement but whatever has my palate registering something as sweet that is enough for me to say it is indeed, sweet. I am not going to take the time to decipher or break down exactly what is causing that sweetness perception on my palate and to be honest, I don't really care as it is too late at that point and it wouldn't save the wine from a basement score anyway. This is why when I review a wine and tell you that it is overly fruity and jammy it really means that it is sweet. Those of you who drink wine enough to understand what I mean here will appreciate what I am saying and I think, agree as well. Well anyway wine lovers, let's talk about today's wine that is up for review.

   Today I will be talking about the 2021 Fox Run, Dry Riesling. I paid $15.99 for this wine which to me at least for a Riesling is ever so slightly on the higher end of the price scale. The alcohol percentage here comes in at 12.5% and the grapes for this wine come from the Finger Lakes AVA which is located in upstate New York.   

   Let's start off here by discussing the label on the bottle but before I discuss that, I just want to let you know that the cap (foil) that is supposed to be over the top of the cork was not there. As a matter of fact, all the wines in the box had no cap on them. Now, as for the label, I don't really care for it. I just really don't care for the yellowish color as I think it just seems off for some reason. In general I think that there is too little writing on the label... it's just too blank. For me, I want a little business on my label, something to draw my attention and this label doesn't do it. I actually only bought the wine because I wanted a Riesling but was tired of the sweetness they were all presenting so when I saw the word "dry" on the label I jumped on it.

  Let's talk bouquet now. As far as the bouquet is concerned, I really like it. Petrol starts off the nose here but it is well controlled. Following that petrol are notes of bright lime, and an ultra light yet fragrant note of cantaloupe. There is an overall florality note here that lies way deep in the bouquet and it just...works very well.

   And now for the real deal, what does the wine taste like? Okay so, let me begin here by confirming that this is indeed a dry wine. At first I was thinking that the wine was too dry but as it warmed up just a hair, it did develop very nicely, it did expose more of itself while still living up to its label as "dry". A combo type note of lemon zest as well as lemon grass is expressed here thankfully however neither note is too astringent. While this combo type note may sound very acidic and overpowering, I promise you that it isn't, it is nice. Yes, you will taste these notes and they do dominate the wine but there are other notes that are allowed to express themselves nicely. So...Desert Wine Guy, you said "other notes", what are those other notes you are talking about? Well folks, that's a good question and I will continue here by telling you that the wine in general is bracing as it comes across the palate. While this is not my preferred style of Riesling I do appreciate it here. As amazing as it may seem even though the wine is very dry, if you take the time to think about what you are actually tasting, there is a light component of sweetness to the wine. At first, this component is felt but when you take he time to decipher the wine you realize that it is there and it works amazingly well. There is a floraly component to the wine as well and believe it or not, it really makes a difference in the wine and how you appreciate it. In my personal opinion, this florality allows this wine to be where it is on my palate. Acidity here is high and this also elevates the wine to where it will end up on the Desert Wine Guy rating scale (yes, my mind is made up). What really jumps on the acidity is the stone in the soil that these grapes were grown in, you can taste it in the wine guys. To me, this stone note is super evident and is truly amazing and brings a wonderful sense of a minerality note to the wine. That cantelope note I picked up on the nose is here as well and is more then content on lingering in the back but that doesn't mean it isn't tasted, effective in getting its point across, and above all, totally enjoyed. As a last note here, I found a sewmi brilliance to the wine, a brightness that I found to be refreshing.

   On the wrap up now, what I find weird here is that this wine is not being reviewed more often. I have seen many reviews of the "semi-dry" version of this wine, however there are none for the "dry" version that I am reviewing. I have to repeat something to you guys, I am normally not a fan of Rieslings that are this dry however (that is a big however) I most definitely can see this wine being a very good and high rated wine for those who are. I'll just cut to the chase here. For me, I would rate this wine at 92 points however... if you enjoy a very dry Riesling I would definitely put this wine at 94 points which would mean it would be cellar worthy in my book for sure. As I said, at first, I was kind of put off by the dryness of the wine but give it a few to warm just a bit and it will open up very nicely to where it will become a wine that I think you will definitely able to work with, appreciate and above all...enjoy.

                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy

https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://odysee.com/@Thedesertwineguy:0

https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy

https://www.instagram.com/thedesertwineguy/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ

The Desert Wine Guy - 2020 Vineyard Block Series 829 Special Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon - St. Helena

 

   I have previously written about wine pricing but lately I feel the need to touch upon the subject yet again. So, why do I bring this topic up you may ask? I bring it up because I feel the need to set something straight, I hate seeing people ripped off and trust me, people are being ripped off. Why does an unpopular wine varietal that is grown in just as pristine soil and under the same wonderful sun as a more popular varietal of wine, cost so much less? While wine manufactures will throw out all kinds of reasons for this, in my opinion, they are very simply lying. Simple economics dictates that the more popular a product (in this case a wine varietal) is, the more people want it and therefore, the more they are willing to pay for it. One way that a manufacturer makes something popular is by releasing a product slowly (diamonds) which causes an artificial shortage ("the wine is currently unavailable") of that product. As with any product, there is also tons of marketing that is involved in selling wine.

A Beautiful St. Helena Vineyard

Once a winery establishes its marketing demographics for a particular wine, they devise advertisements that those demographics can relate to. Sell a particular wine towards an upper class male audience and the marketing has you thinking that you will have beautiful and sophisticated women dressed in classy dresses and looking super hot falling all over you at business meeting or after parties. I mean after all guys, who doesn't want hot women, right? Sell wine to an upper class female audience and you will have sophisticated men dressed in custom fits suits and looking all suave and sophisticated. Come on ladies, don't you want the men to find you hot? In short, buy this wine and you yourself will be handsome or beautiful and desired by the opposite sex. The advertising matches the audience or financial category the target audience is in. The higher the class of person you target, the more the winery can get away with charging. I could go on here but I am sure you get the point. If you are an educated consumer, this trick normally doesn't work on you as you realize you are being tricked into paying more for wine that should in reality be costing half as much. Psychology is used to implant thoughts in your mind geared towards you opening your wallets to up pay $20 for juice that in all reality is worth only $10 or pay $50 for a Cabernet Sauvignon whose juice is worth only $25. Well, you guys get the point here I am sure. I guess I should write an article on the subject as it can get really deep but right now, it is time to get into today's wine that is up for review.

   Okay guys, today I am going to be talking about a brokered wine. This is a wine that most likely came from a prestigious winery but is not sold under that prestigious wineries name nor, at their prestigious price. This particular series of wines which is named Vineyard Block Series is created for sale at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits which is a pretty big alcohol chain here in "Freedom" Florida. These wines are sourced from different well known wineries but sold under the Vineyard Block Series name and at a much lower price as well. Having reviewed a lot of these wines, I will say that around 80% of their wines are good to very good where the remainder of 20% is just so so, or simply in my opinion, "okay". Today's wine up for review is the 2020 Vineyard Block Series 829 Special Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine in this bottle came from a winery that is located in the St. Helena AVA of the Napa Valley and cost me $32.99 which is on the pricier side for the series. The wines alcohol percentage comes in at a whopping 14.8% and the bottle is cork (real) sealed.

  

   Alright then, lets talk label. Guys, just take a look at the picture on the bottle above, what do you think I will be saying about the label? To me, in my humble opinion, the label is...outstanding...amazing... incredible! Look at those graphics guys. Look at the colors and the way the almost double label is laid out. The wording on the label such as "Special Reserve" while probably in reality means nothing, has this wine label screaming "high quality". The AVA itself says (marketing) quite a bit about the wine grapes the wine comes from. Folks, to me, the label is top notch.

   Now let's talk bouquet for a bit. So the minute I brought the wine to my nose, I began to fall in love with it. Beginning with a note of a wonderful oaked sweet spice that gives off the impression at least that this Cabernet Sauvignon is going to be super high in quality and very well made. Continuing on now, I am getting a sense of earth as well here. I have to to tell you guys that this bouquet while admittedly limited is really nice and super promising that the wine will taste pretty darn good.

   As I move on to the palate presentation of this wine, I will begin this section of the review by telling you that after taking a tasting of the wine I am impressed. Although it is early in the review, that spice, that wonderful sweet oaked spice that I got on the nose translates right on over here and it is smooth and very nicely presented for sure. Acidity seems to find a best friend in that spice and the two really mesh well and compliment one another.

A slight cocoa note intermixes with the other two notes mentioned and it is just enough to continue the very nice presentation already established. Now unfortunately comes an issue as there is a certain sweetness...a jamminess to the wine and in my humble opinion it is just a hair bit too much. Now, I am not saying that the wine is ruined by any means but what I am saying is that I would have been happier if that perceived sweetness was not present at the level it is. Moving on now, the wine offers up a plushness feel to it that attaches itself to everything else and it is delicious guys like...really, delicious. Getting back to that acidity that I mentioned earlier for a minute, that acidity is important here in the wine and with it presenting itself in a moderate way, it goes extremely well with the wine in its entirety. Dark fruits come into play now with blueberry I think being the source of the wines jamminess as it always seems to be at least for me anyway. Unfortunately that blueberry is in my opinion, a slight bit over the top and I really am disappointed in this aspect of the wine as I had super high hopes for it up to this point. I had early thoughts of the wine actually making my cellar. I don't understand what it is with American winemakers of Cabernet Sauvignon who overload the varietal with that offensive and over the top blueberry note. Moving on now, the wine has a really nice earthy note here that manages to make its presence known as it did on the nose and it is nice and also able to stand out and make an impact on the overall taste of the wine. Tannins are present and exhibited as just less than crumbly but are nice nonetheless. These tannins are something that I think everyone will appreciate as they do add a positive note to the wine overall without being crazy. Well guys, I do think that I have said enough concerning this wine so I will meet you in the next paragraph to wrap it all up.

   Okay guys, so here is the deal on the wine. The wine at times really wanted to be great and there were notes here that were really nice but once again that darn jam monster just had to rear its ugly head and hurt things a good bit. To say that I am disappointment is an understatement because from the nose, I really did expect a lot more than I got. I guess marketing in the form of the label, the AVA and the heavy bottle really did convince me this wine was going to make the cellar (94 points or higher). Unfortunately the wine did not rate quite that high as on The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I ended up giving the wine a generous 92 points. Once again I feel that darn jamminess really took its toll on the wine and that is a big shame.

                                                                                               The Desert Wine Guy

https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://odysee.com/@Thedesertwineguy:0

https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy

https://www.instagram.com/thedesertwineguy/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ