Whats up there wine lovers? Today I finally was able to get away and work on a wine review as it seems that I am so super busy with working and other things that I enjoy doing that I have been neglecting this blog. I guess I have to step up my game huh? Right now I am at a local mom & pop coffee shop not far from my house and just chilling out for a change. Yeah guys, no industrial coffee chain for me. I am one of those people who believe that a business needs to keep their political beliefs to themselves (shut up) or risk alienating a large segment of their customers. I'll drive the fifteen minutes as opposed to going up the street to a business that can't shut up. People need a place to go and just relax without weirdos hanging out and bums being invited to shower in the bathroom. I'm not spending almost $7 for two shots of espresso with some milk added in order to be "inclusive", my money is not inclusive. Well anyway...I am going to leave this issue here and move on to why you guys came which is to learn about a wine so let's get to it.
I received today's review wine as a birthday present (don't ask) and I am very excited to check it out. I have never heard of the winery before but that doesn't mean it isn't any good. As far as my rating for this wine is concerned, the fact that this it was a gift will have no effect on it as I always give my honest & unbiased opinion of every wine that I review.
Today I will be reviewing the 2021 Gundlach Bundschu (https://www.gunbun.com/) Cabernet Sauvignon. After doing a bit of research on this wine I found out that the wine sells for $50 in the stores so that indeed is very nice of my friends to buy this for me. The grapes for this wine were sourced primarily from the family’s Estate Vineyard, which is located on the southwest slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, just eight miles north of San Pablo Bay. The terrain which sits above the 150 ft elevation is dominated by Arrowhead Mountain and features steep, southwest-facing hillsides of shallow, rocky soils of volcanic ash and alluvial wash. Pervasive maritime breezes and long daylight exposure allow fruit to develop intense concentration while retaining vibrant structure. A portion of this wine is also sourced from slightly the warmer, high elevation sites on the estate vineyard adding weight to the mid-palate. As a final note, the wine is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec and spent 18 months in 100% French Oak with 50% being new. The alcohol percentage is 14.5% and the bottle is cork sealed which by the way did not appear to be holding up too well when pulled and visually inspected. While the winery says the wine can cellar for up to 15 years, the quality of the cork used has me concerned.
On the nose, the wine is very big and very forward. Fresh & brooding notes of blackberry and aging leather come forward but the nose doesn't end there as there are notes of cigar box & what appears to be a brambly...brooding black cherry note as well. I am indeed very excited to taste this wine and see if the promise being teased here on the nose can be fulfilled on the palate.
On the palate everything that showed up on the nose translates over to here which is very nice and a surprise. Slowing things down a bit, let's start off with the unfortunate fact that the there is an unfortunate slight alcohol burn to the wine and it weirdly seems to come and go throughout the tasting.
This as you can imagine is a bit of a negative to the wine and having the bottle opened for a bit didn't seem to have any effect on the burn. As on the nose, a blackberry note is offered up in a beautiful and juicy way here. This blackberry importantly also seems to be fresh tasting and works together very nicely with the rest of the wine in general. So far the wine is doing okay but what really caught me off guard is the very surprising note of aging leather that I got here and it really is delicious and has this wine stepping its game up almost immediately in my opinion. This is a fairly young wine to be expressing tertiary notes but amazingly those tertiary notes don't stop here as that note of cigar box that again I got on the nose really gives this wine an overall sense of a rustic type fullness. Guys, this is a 2021 vintage Cab and really shouldn't be putting these tertiary notes out at least in the way it is. I actually had to sit back for a second and think about what I was tasting I was so surprised. There is a touch of sweetness to the wine but this bit of sweetness is not a "let's cover the wines flaws" type sweetness but rather a fresh red fruit type bit of sweetness that serves a good purpose. Next up here is a fresh and dark tasting (brooding) Bing cherry that is presented here as well and I think this is where that bit of sweetness is coming from. If you have ever tasted this varietal of cherry at its peak of flavor you are knowing what I am tasting right now. There is an extremely nice palate concentration here of everything the wine offers up. There as a small bit of a palate brightness here but not a lot. This slight palate brightness actually really helps the wine as a whole because it wants to be a dark wine but would perhaps be a bit too dark otherwise. This wine has an amazing backbone, a structure to it that really is impressive guys. Another lovely note that I get is one of spice. This spice is very distinctive here and it seems to love that cigar box note as the two seem to mesh perfectly. Did I say cigar box? Well, yes I did. Yet another tertiary note that I got on the nose is being presented and WOW guys, just WOW. Here is a yet another note that meshes very well with everything the wine has to offer up and I love it for sure. A sense of plushness is here as well and thankfully it is not allowed to take control of the wine as I think it would soften the wine and this lack of softness is exactly how I love my Cabs. There is enough of this plushness here to round this wine out just bit and have it continue to be a Cab that is absolutely wonderful and a surprisingly well developed wine as well.
As a last note, I am getting the feel of a meatiness...a palate weight of sorts to the wine. Combining the plushness & slight bit of meatiness together on top of everything else completely sets this wine off. Acidity here is on point and plays very well with the rest of the wine. Guys, there you have it but I do have some closing remarks to put out about this wine so let's get to the conclusion paragraph now.
This as you can imagine is a bit of a negative to the wine and having the bottle opened for a bit didn't seem to have any effect on the burn. As on the nose, a blackberry note is offered up in a beautiful and juicy way here. This blackberry importantly also seems to be fresh tasting and works together very nicely with the rest of the wine in general. So far the wine is doing okay but what really caught me off guard is the very surprising note of aging leather that I got here and it really is delicious and has this wine stepping its game up almost immediately in my opinion. This is a fairly young wine to be expressing tertiary notes but amazingly those tertiary notes don't stop here as that note of cigar box that again I got on the nose really gives this wine an overall sense of a rustic type fullness. Guys, this is a 2021 vintage Cab and really shouldn't be putting these tertiary notes out at least in the way it is. I actually had to sit back for a second and think about what I was tasting I was so surprised. There is a touch of sweetness to the wine but this bit of sweetness is not a "let's cover the wines flaws" type sweetness but rather a fresh red fruit type bit of sweetness that serves a good purpose. Next up here is a fresh and dark tasting (brooding) Bing cherry that is presented here as well and I think this is where that bit of sweetness is coming from. If you have ever tasted this varietal of cherry at its peak of flavor you are knowing what I am tasting right now. There is an extremely nice palate concentration here of everything the wine offers up. There as a small bit of a palate brightness here but not a lot. This slight palate brightness actually really helps the wine as a whole because it wants to be a dark wine but would perhaps be a bit too dark otherwise. This wine has an amazing backbone, a structure to it that really is impressive guys. Another lovely note that I get is one of spice. This spice is very distinctive here and it seems to love that cigar box note as the two seem to mesh perfectly. Did I say cigar box? Well, yes I did. Yet another tertiary note that I got on the nose is being presented and WOW guys, just WOW. Here is a yet another note that meshes very well with everything the wine has to offer up and I love it for sure. A sense of plushness is here as well and thankfully it is not allowed to take control of the wine as I think it would soften the wine and this lack of softness is exactly how I love my Cabs. There is enough of this plushness here to round this wine out just bit and have it continue to be a Cab that is absolutely wonderful and a surprisingly well developed wine as well.
In the end, this is a Cabernet Sauvignon that very simply blew my socks off and really shows (surprisingly in my book) what the Sonoma Valley can do with the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal when done right and this wine is certainly a wine that was done right. As far as aging is concerned, the wine itself can certainly age however due to the cork issue I ran into I am a bit concerned. The cork used for this wine appeared to be inferior as it already seemed to be developing splits in it and overall just didn't instill confidence in my that it could hold up too much longer. Aside from this concern and that bit of alcohol burn, the wine very simply rocked, it was delicious and I now have the winery on my radar as should you. Incredibly well balanced and amazingly well expressed. This is a wine that is built for the serious Cabernet Sauvignon lover and a serious steak as well. I would love to try the wineries other wines especially the blend with Tempranillo in it and I have put a request in to see if samples are being offered for review. This wine does the absolutely does the varietal justice but here is where I have to hit the wine for that burn. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 94 (would have been 95) beautiful points. I highly recommend you buy a bottle but use caution when aging it.
P.S - One last note here. Throughout the wines palate presentation it remained very intriguing and
left me wondering just how the winemaker pulls these notes out from such a
young wine.
The Desert Wine Guy
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