The Desert WIne Guy - 2012 Cupcake Cabernet Sauvignon

                          

                                                                                                                             

   

   I don't know what you think about when you hear the word "Cupcake" but the first thoughts that comes to my mind are sugar, creamy, kids party's, baking etc; I know you can go on and on and conjure up memories of fun and games as well but does your mind at one time wonder to wine at all? Mine doesn't either so don't feel bad. The other day Mrs. Desert Wine Girl and one of my Daughters of Angel vineyards fame was at the grocery store and I was left home all by myself (I know right) and I decided to look around for a nice Cabernet Sauvignon to relax with. Well of course you already know that I have wine in the house but have you ever just been of the mindset that there is nothing that you are interested in drinking in the house? That's how I was this particular day. No matter what wine I looked at there was nothing that seemed to catch my eye or interest me. Well I decided to pick up the phone and call Mrs. Desert Wine Girl and ask her to pick up a Cabernet Sauvignon for me. When I was questioned as to which one or what year or Vineyard I wanted I simply replied “you pick it”. Now asking a person who doesn't know anything about wine (don't ask) to pick one is like asking someone who doesn't fish to throw you a hook while trout fishing, you can only imagine what size hook is coming your way. Well I was feeling adventures that day and was ready to take whatever was coming my way. When the Desert Wine Girls got home I saw that they had chosen for me the 2012 Cupcake Vineyards http://www.cupcakevineyards.com/about) Cabernet Sauvignon. “Cupcake, really” I said. I had heard of the brand name before and I had heard some decent things about it but those decent things that I did hear were from the average mom & pop so called wine drinker and I didn't place to much stock in their wine opinions. It also appears that everyone seems to carry Cupcake wines including the local gas station and Target stores, that seriously scared me. I then reminded myself that this was all my fault to begin with and that I would have to suffer and drink the wine that my wife and daughter were nice enough to bring back for me and be, or at least act grateful

 

                                                                                                                
   Before I go on let's learn a little bit about Cupcake Vineyards. This is one of those places that makes you believe that there is a real Vineyard(s) but there actually isn't any Vineyards that Cupcake owns or grows. Cupcake is one of those places that sources out their grapes from different vineyards "....from all over the world" as Beth Cohan A Senior Account Executive for Cupcake told me in an e-mail. While this is not necessarily a bad thing I do find it deceptive. Cupcake "Vineyards" also claims on their website to be "Americas number one premium wine brand by volume". Along with their "premium brands" they also make Mad Dog 20/20. For those of you who are unaware of that particular......beverage, consider yourself VERY lucky. When I was a young kid the name for a wine (?) along the lines of Mad Dog 20/20 was termed "Sneaky Pete". It was a group of various wines that people who lived in a house or apartment or for that matter did NOT live on the streets in an alley way simply did NOT drink. For all my Jewish readers you might recognize one of the other brands they own such as  "Mogen David". How many of you grew up having that wine at Passover? For my family it was Manischewitz by the way (yummy yummy). O.K it is time to get down to business. For those of you who follow me you already know what my next step is. With my wonderful Crystal wine glass, the wine, a pen and notepad I headed up to my Loft to play......ah I mean review the wine. Let's learn about this wine now and whether it truly is sweet as a Cupcake or is indeed a serious wine.

   As usual we begin with the pour of this wine which is simply medium Red nearly bordering more on Cranberry in color.  

   Moving on to the Bouquet here our nose is hit with the smell of Bing Cherry first, blending nicely with some nice Black Cherry and Molasses of all things. The Molasses is interesting although a little worrisome to be honest because of my initial worry of tasting a sweet wine due to what the name implies. The Bouquet is pretty nice however and at this point in the tasting I am interested in exactly what the wine has in store for me once it hits my pallette.
   This wine actually has a lot going on here as far as the mouth feel goes. For starters the wine opens in your mouth with Blackberry which seems to go with part of the Bouquet that was present. There is a bit of Black pepper thrown in and some acidity to the wine but I would have to say that this wine is more towards the lighter side of a Cabernet, it is almost like you would expect from a big Merlot. The tasting note of a nice, medium Bing Cherry makes an appearance here to liven things up. There is also a slightly Oakey finish that comes from the American Oak that is used in the making of this wine. When it comes down to it, everything except for the Bing Cherry is on the light side. The Bing Cherry does seem to pop more than the other flavors in the wine but the wine is overall kept very smooth indeed. There are very slight silky and polished Tannins that are present along with a hint of Cassis. The one flaw that I did notice in the wine is the fact that there is something in here that I can't put my finger on although I feel it may be the Blackberry that for some reason adds a slight amount of a bitterness and is more of an aftertaste to the wine. Don't let this scare you away though because on one hand it was nowhere near in the strength required to make the wine bad or to ruin it but on the other hand was present enough to taste.
                   

   O.K so overall this is a fairly decent wine and one that I would say goes very nicely with Hot Dogs or Hamburgers for the Summertime which is not far away now. If you are having friends over for a pool party I think this wine would go nicely. I would not, however call this a wine drinkers wine or even a Cabernet for a Cabernet drinker. This wine is really made for "Mom & Pop". It has it's place on the kitchen counter or on the the rack behind the couch or on the Coffee table. It is not a complex wine by any means although there are many different flavors to enjoy here and I don't think meant to be taken to seriously. As for the sweetness or sugary fear that I thought might crop up, that never materialized thankfully and the worries of an overpowering sweetness factor was a non issue. As for addressing the slight bitter taste. I did some research to see if I am the only reviewer to taste this and I discovered that I am not. There are actually at least two more blogs that report the same fault. Once again this aftertaste is in no way a reason not to drink this wine. Do allow this wine at least a couple of hours to come into it's own. The bottom line is this is NOT a bad wine BUT it does have it's place.  I would add this wine to the list of the many other wines of this type and enjoy it while the heat and the pool are up and running and that is coming soon especially here in the Desert of Las Vegas. 

   On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I would put it at a solid 86 points.

                                                                                                                  The Desert Wine Guy

www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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

The Desert Wine Guy - My Experience With Wine.Com - Not All That Positive.

                                                   

   So for the past two days I have been thinking about an recent experience that I had with an online wine retailer. Here is a short article on the experience that I had with the online site named Wine.com (http://www.wine.com/). The idea had never actually crossed my mind to sit down and write an article on them until I had a recent experience, a bad experience at that.  Let me go on and explain what happened. Wine.com sent me an e-mail to purchase the 2013 Twenty Rows Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. I had never heard of the wine so I Googled it and actually came across the Winery itself (https://www.twentyrows.com/wine.html) . I very quickly noticed that the Winery had the wine for CHEAPER than Wine.com. I went back to Wine.com and I was going to e-mail them to complain when a small window popped up in the lower right hand corner of the screen with an employee named "Chris" asking if he could be of assistance to me. Here is how the Chat went down:


    Chat has been opened from website: http://www.wine.com/customercare/submit.aspx?fromLogin=true

Chris     Mon, 02/02/15 02:57:52 pm America/Los_Angeles    
  Hello, can I help you find a great wine?
    
Customer     02:57:54 pm    
  You say that we get great deals using your company so why are you more expensive that the winery itself on the Twenty Rows Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2013?
https://www.twentyrows.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=view&category_id=27
   
 Chris     02:59:32 pm    
   that's not fair, how can we be cheaper than the producer? by law we have to buy it from a distributor
   
 Customer     03:00:46 pm    
   The winery sells EVERYTHING at a higher price. I have never seen a wine at a Winery that is cheaper than a store.
   
 Chris     03:01:01 pm    
   ok, i am sorry
   
 Customer     03:01:52 pm    
   That's it? No offer for a better price or anything?
   
 Chris     03:01:54 pm    
   what do you want from me? Why yell at me?
i am not the buyer, we are doing the best we can, if you find the wine at a cheaper price, than buy it there
We do our best, but we don't always have the best prices, I am sorry :-(
not to mention, you are wrong! our price is 3 dollars cheaper for the cab
we have 21.99 they have it for 25!
   
 Customer     03:10:53 pm    
 I am sending this chat to your corporate right now. Thank you
   
 Duration: 13m 9s

   Well as you can see I was not "yelling" or being rude in anyway to "Chris". Please keep in mind through all this that the very next day I was expecting around 10 bottles of wine totaling around $120 the next day and had also paid for a year of unlimited shipping for another $49. I was pissed to say the least and picked up my phone and contacted customer service and sent them a copy of the chat. The Costumer Service person who's e-mail starts off as "tblack" (I forgot her name) on the phone was very nice and told me that Chris's supervisor was looking at the chat with Chris as we spoke and was not at all pleased. The service rep on the phone was again very apologetic and placed a $25 credit on my account in order to assist me in getting over the insulting behavior of Chris. As I have said, this incident ate at me for the past couple of days and today I decided to use the same chat service to get the person in charge of media relations. Once again the person on their end of the chat was very nice and gave me the information I requested. So that is my story. Is Chris's behavior a fluke, I don't know but I can tell you that I have gained some connections in the wine industry in the process of developing The Desert Wine Guy and have almost 2,000 fans on my Desert Wine Guy Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy) as well as this wine blog which gets a few thousand hits a month and a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/desertwineguylv). I will reserve judgement for the time being since I am sure that I will have some more interactions with them and hopefully they will all be pleasant.

                                               
                                                 


                     
www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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


                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert Wine Guy - 2010 Stags Leap Napa Valley Merlot

               
                                                       

                                                               Let me start off this review with a simple question. What power does a name of a company or product have in influencing whether or not you buy or not buy something? What I am getting at is can a name alone influence you or make you buy a particular product that you are in the market for?  I will give you my answer and then at the end I will ask you these questions again. I will give you my answer right now and that answer is......sometimes. When I see a big name product I normally do expect (expectations) that product to be better than the generic one. This doesn't always hold true but generally it does. Now I know what your saying, come on Desert Wine Guy what are you getting at already. I ask this question because a name is what I used to pick our review wine. I was in the store and I was scanning the Merlot section and a name caught my eye and I bought the wine solely on the belief that I was getting a quality wine. I know what your saying, I can hear you guys now saying "OK Desert Wine Guy we are listening, go on" Well I went for a name and I put out $40 for our review wine and was expecting a really good wine to drink. Did I get a really good wine? To find that answer you will have to read on because today we will be reviewing the 2010 Stags leap Napa valley Merlot (http://stagsleap.com/theestate). To start off this review lets look at the pour of our wine.
   Let give you one bit of advice before you taste this wine and before I get into the review. This wine should, no MUST be decanted for at least three hours before you even think of siting down to enjoy it. If you attempt to drink this wine without Decanting and waiting you will find that the wine will come across overpowering with Cassis and pepper, you will of course not enjoy it. When not decanted the wine will be unapproachable to say the least. Now for the low down on the 2010 Stags Leap Napa Merlot.

                                                                   
  Starting off with the review we will open with the pour. This wine poured a beautiful Dark Black Cherry mixed with Ruby Red overtones. I want to ask you folks if have ever noticed that some wines seem to almost speak or whisper of a promise in your ear of of elegance and splendor. Simply by the color of the wine itself there is an unmistakable communication from the wine to you, the drinker. This dear readers happens to be one of those wines. This wine had an exciting, enticing, outstanding almost seductive color in the pour which  assisted in the elevation of my hopes for this wine.
   The Bouquet also had a beautiful bouquet and near perfect levels of Currant and of Clove Spice. Topping it off there was the bouquet of Black Cherry with a Carmel on the nose. You are saying "WOW" and so did I.
   In the mouth this wine laid out an almost masterpiece of Bold Black Pepper followed up by Cassis and Currant. This wine was looking very nice indeed and coated my mouth with a taste of spice and Dark Cherry. The wine finished with a slightly bitter taste at first however that disappeared as the wine opened further. The development of the wine also revealed a nice level of Caramel to share with the drinker. Now, just when you think the wine has given all it has to give and is done there is also a hidden flavor that waited almost till what you would normally think is the end just before you swallow and then out of nowhere, unexpectedly there is this incredible hint of Black Cherry. I remember sitting in my chair and thinking that I had finished with the first sip when out of left field, just before I swallowed there comes an unbelievable Black Cherry which adds a sudden lightening up of the taste to the wine. Have no worries though this "lightening up of the taste" of the wine is not by much and just barely enough to notice but it is indeed present and it is most certainly enjoyable. The point at which the Black Cherry decides to come thru is perfect in it's timing and kind of unusual at a point in my experience for a flavor to pop up. When you drink this wine, and you will, you will see what I mean. It comes at the point when you are just ready to swallow the wine. This Black Cherry also actually made me smile because it caught me off guard. Like everything else in the wine the Tannins were at perfect levels and combined together for a wonderfully and enjoyable wine.
    Looking at the description on the Stags Leap website (http://stagsleap.com/2010-Stags-Leap-Merlot-Block-20-Napa-Valley) you will see in the description "....everything a Merlot should be and more". I must say that they are right on here. This Merlot edges, I think quite a bit actually toward a Cabernet Sauvignon. A word to the wise here. If your preference is a normal Merlot and do not care for a more full bodied wine such as a Cabernet Sauvignon then I recommend that you stay away from this Merlot. This is indeed the epitome of a "bold red". Should you decide however to venture out and explore the bolder side of wine than you have found the perfect wine here.
   Well that is it folks. Have you come up with your answer to my questions yet? What power does a name of a product have to influence you to buy something or not buy something? You already have my answer and I would be curious as to what your is. Companies spend a lot of money maintaining their name or logo and people recognize or identify with certain names and logos instantly. How many company jingles do you know? How many company symbols do you know? How about the Pillsbury dough Boy or The Price Line Negotiator? How about The Desert Wine Guy? Identity for anyone or anything is important. If you would like to know a little more about this subject here (http://www.forbes.com/sites/prospernow/2011/01/10/the-power-of-a-name-branding-your-company-for-the-future/) is an interesting article for you. While you are reading the article pop the Cork on the 2010 Stags Leap Napa Valley Merlot and enjoy an awesome wine.

www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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


                                                                                                                 The Desert Wine Guy   

The Desert WIne Guy - 2009 Plantaze Cabernet Sauvignon

2009 Plantaze Cabernet Sauvignon

                                                      

  Well here we are again with the start of a new year and some more great (or not so great) wine industry related reviews and articles. I want to thank everyone for checking out my wine Blog, wine Facebook and Twitter last year. It was very exciting when I got a comment from you or a new "like" from you guys. Please spread the word and continue to be a fan I have some exciting things planned for this year that I think you will like. To start off with this year articles I have a short review for a Cabernet Sauvignon from Cemovsko, Montenegro named Plantaze. I was in Total Wine & Spirits the other day and wanted something different. I searched and searched and was coming up with nothing that really struck me as "different". Finally I saw this wine and it was from an older vintage and from a place that I had never had wine from so I figured, why not. The wine was fairly inexpensive ($9) and in the cart it went. After doing some errands I finally made it home and checking in with Mrs. Desert Wine Girl I grabbed the kids and headed upstairs to my tasting room......O.K my loft :) I was looking forward to tasting this Cabernet because it came from a part of the world that I usually don't buy Cabernet from. With hopes I wouldn't be disappointed I poured the first glass.
   Before I go on with the actual review I wanted to add a side note. I know that some of you might wonder why I would bring the kids with me to do some wine tasting. This would be a great opportunity for some alone time you might say. I guess if I had normal kids I would agree however my kids are kind of advanced for their age and seem, at least at this age to have some.....different interests than other kids some times. I don't know if it's because I always involved them in what I was doing from a very young age or what but they just seem to love to learn things that are beyond their age. My Two identical twins are four years old and seem to know know more about wine (including respecting Alcohol) then some adults do. As I said earlier, they go upstairs with me and after I review the wine we sit at a table and go over different aspects of the wine including varietal and proper pour. I guess you could say it is "our thing". No they don't taste or pour (I like the Carpet the color it was meant to be) but they do everything else. When we go to the garden or Vineyards they will help with cleaning and caring for them also. When the Skeltonizer (small purple moth pests) come in the Spring they have the mission to kill them. Seeing them run across the Backyard all day trying to swat them out of the air is great. Needles to say I am very blessed. O.K now lets get back to the review.
   This 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon started off nicely and had a very nice pour of dark Red Berry and reminded me of the nice dark skin of a Strawberry mixed with Bing Cherry skin. This was a nice start to what I had hoped  was going to be a great wine. The bouquet followed up the pour with nice strong aromas of Carmel and Blackberry which was followed by Green Pepper.  Oh boy this is going to be good I hoped. Things were starting to look really good here. Well folks ......you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice & men. I am afraid that things didn't work out as I had planned. The wine opened in my mouth to a very heavy Blackberry which was followed up by a very strong Cranberry. Both of these fruits fought very hard to overpower one another but in the end neither did however the fight seemed to always continue. But wait there are more fruits that joined in the battle. I also tasted a very acidic Plum with Cassis and Green Pepper and they too joined the fight to overpower one another. Neither of these additional flavors did anything to soften the wine sadly. The wine in the end was a bitter and harsh mess. Later on in the wine as the wine opened Black Cherry came on to join in the battle for superiority. While the wine is definitely packed with various fruits nothing was ripe or drinkable. What a shame because the combinations of everything were present but the wine did not see to be able to pull itself together. The wine throughout the bottle had an overpowering and lingering acidic, bitter taste. While it wasn't a wine I dumped out after the first few sips I would never buy it again nor can I recommend it. If I could draw a picture for you it would be of Vineyard workers picking decaying fruit from the ground and adding unripened juice from grapes. Yes, it was that bad. That is all there is for this review, plain and simply a bad wine.
   With hopes of a good to great wine that I could cellar for some time I was left with a simple disappointment. I wish I could find something good to talk about here but sadly there isn't anything good to say. On the Desert Wine Guy rating scale which I adapted from Wine Spectator Magazine (http://www.winespectator.com/newsandfeatures)  I give this wine a 75 which is Mediocre, a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws. It should be noted that this wine barely made the "drinkable" scale and was very close to me rating it "undrinkable".


                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy


www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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

The Desert Wine Guy - Review Of The Wine Of The Month Club

        

Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. & Jr.

                                                          
                             
   Today I going to write about the wine club that I belong to. If you go a quick Google search you will find that there are many, many wine clubs that you can choose to join. When I was first started looking for a wine club it wasn't easy do to the many choices.  I ended up choosing the wine club that is currently the topic of our review, The Wine Of The Month Club (http://www.wineofthemonthclub.com/). For the purposes of simplicity for the remainder of this article I will simply be referring to it as "The Club". I will explain more in the next paragraph. Before I go into the review however, I want to disclose one important item that I feel I must in order to be above board with you guys. The owner of The Club, Paul Kalemkiarian Jr has agreed to send me a bottle of wine in exchange for a review of that particular wine. Paul has sent me the "Porto Kopke 10 Years Old Tawny" from Portugal that I will be reviewing next. One other thing I want to let you guys know is that before I even thought of contacting Paul, I was already a member of The Club myself and believed that it was worth getting into an agreement with Paul and talking favorably about. Remember I am paying full price each month for The Club myself so it must be good or I would have already cancelled. One last thing that I would like to mention. I would like you, my readers to know that I am from Brooklyn, New York and am from the "Old School". I will never sell myself or the name of The Desert Wine Guy out to anyone. My reviews whether on wine, or as in this case a wine club are my true opinions on whatever subject I am reviewing. The reason I am saying all this is because I want to let you guys know that as always I will continue to review all wines and anything else I decide to review and give my sincere, honest opinion. I also do not like wines or services or for that matter dislike wines or services simply because the person owning, pouring or as in this case, giving me the wine is nice or friendly, I do not work like that. I will not even let the politics of the Vineyard owner, wine maker or company owner effect my reviews on a product. I myself came to Paul with the proposed arrangement because I felt that The Club was something that I could actually support because as I have already said, I have actually belong to The Club myself. Now that I have been straight with you my readers lets get into this because this article is something that I do want to share with you all.
   Let's start learning about The Club by first hearing what attracted me to joining it myself in the first place. Before The Desert Wine Guy was created and before I joined or for that matter even heard of The Club I was not what you could call a wine drinker. I occasionally had some wine but it was just not my thing. If I was drinking I would drink some beer and that was that.  The one thing I noticed at that time, as well as today is that The Club didn't send out what you would call "big name wines".  I didn't recognize any of the wine labels that I was sent. To be honest at the time I thought that was a big drawback to The Club. I mean other clubs were sending to their customers big name wines and because they were big name wines they had to be better, right? I mean who wouldn't want a Robert Mondavi wine or an Ernest & Julio wine? Well guess what, once I really started learning about wine I realized that simply name alone does not mean anything. Because I wasn't really a wine drinker the wines that I received from The Club simply sat in a small kitchen wine rack on the counter. You know the kind of rack I am talking about, I think we all have at least one. I'm talking about the wine racks that K-Mart and Walmart sell. The ones that are just used for decoration. My membership for The Club eventually expired and I ended up not renewing it and The Club was forgotten about. A few years later as The Desert Wine Guy started to take shape. I started to open these wines and drink them and do you know what I realized? I realized that these small, (I guess you could call them Boutique wines) were very good. I ended up drinking and eventually reviewing these wines and loving them. By this time the wines were a few years old and the wines had time to develop in the bottle. Most of the wines were so good I would get with the particular winery to purchase another bottle or two and I was informed that the wine was no longer available, I guess since they were small production wines I had waited to long to drink them and I was out of luck. WOW that was terrible. One day I am sitting in my Loft doing a review of a wine that did not come from The Club but was from a small winery that I had never heard of and I started to think about The Club and the great wines I received from them. It was then that I decided to rejoin. I was now on the path to learning and discovering everything I could about wine as well as to go on to develop two small backyard Vineyards. I started to grow in my wine knowledge and experience. Prior to re-joining I thought of the great wines that I received from The Club. What I believed at the time was "bad" wine simply because they were from small Vineyards ended up turning into my "great awaking". I looked around the internet and saw that there are many wine clubs that I could join but those early memories that helped plant the seeds of The Desert Wine Guy had a major influence on me and I went to The Clubs website and saw how Paul loved wine and was so willing to share that love and teach his customers about wine. I also remembered just how great those early wines really were. A quick check of The Clubs website clearly shows that. There is everything from videos of interviews of winemakers that Paul has conducted to educational articles on wine. Paul interviews fellow Bloggers and is a wealth of knowledge. There is a link to wine news article of interest. Paul has his own wine blog with recipes and articles on individual wines. Paul also has a shop where you can purchase great wines. There is also a gift shop where you can purchase gift baskets, gift certificates and wine accessories. I recently purchased the Wine Tasting Party Kit that has everything and I do mean everything to host your own tasting party. They charge $29.99 for the kit and I truly believe it is worth every penny. Here (http://vimeo.com/53347603) is the link to Paul's review and description of the kit. There  is a little something for everyone who has any interest in wine or for that matter knows anyone who has an interest in wine. Paul also has 6 (yes I said 6) different levels of wine clubs to choose from. There are 4 clubs for those who want 2 bottles each month, 1 club for those who want 6 bottles every other month and 1 club for those who want 12 bottles every 3 months. From the person who is just developing an interest in wine or is already a casual wine drinker all the way up to the wine expert there is a club for you.  As an example how great the prices are if you take the Classic Series Wine Club for example, you are getting 2 bottles a month for $37 which DOES include shipping. That is a little over $18 dollars a bottle. I, myself am signed up for the Cellar Series Wine Club which is 6 bottles a month for $86 which also includes shipping. No matter what club you join there isn't just wine that comes with each shipment. There is also a color glossy magazine that tells you about each wine you receive such as who made the wine, where the wine is from and what to look for in the wine. There is even information as well as what foods to pair each wine with. Included with each shipment is a newsletter (which is really a magazine) also. The color, glossy magazine which is entitled "The Tasting Room" discusses things such as terroir, climate, grape variety, winemakers' history, cellaring conditions, as well as temperature settings for storage and service, recipes and more. One other item I would like to add is that when you e-mail Paul he actually e-mails you back, and quickly. Prior to working with Paul I have e-mailed him a few times and even though he is very busy especially with the holidays he has gotten back to me very quickly. I am also very regularly getting e-mails from him as to great buys he is offering on wines. When I say great buys that is what I mean. One example is $9 two day shipping which is going on right now (ends the 21st) . One other important point to make is that I haven't seen any e-mails from other companies related to the wine industry that I have not, myself initiated. What I am saying is that I have seen nothing to lead me to believe that Paul sells your e-mail address, this is good. One other great thing I must mention is that there are no dues to pay. If you get tired of receiving great wines from The Club, just let Paul know and that is it. I have also done some checking on the internet about The Club to see if my great experiences with The Club are common experiences or if I am just lucky. What I found out is that everyone has nothing but great things to say about The Club. Here is a link to Yelp

Tasting Kit

                                                    (http://www.yelp.com/biz/wine-of-the-month-club-monrovia) so you can see for yourself. I could find no negatives about the club. One interesting (and I think nice) thing about The Club is that almost every wine I have received from them I can find no review on line about. Not that this means anything but with the power and vast amount of information on the internet I found that interesting.
   In closing this article out here is my advice to you if you are looking to join a wine club or if you already belong to a club and are looking to expand your wine tasting and knowledge.  I recommend that you at least give The Club a try. If you love to taste the wines that are made from the Vineyards you never hear of as well as few that you have and love the experience like I do then I believe you have found the perfect wine club. If on the other hand even you are locked into the big name wines and believe they are the end all be all of wine choices then it is time to expand your horizons and venture out from your comfort zone. I recommend that you to join The Club and at least give it a try, I think you will be glad that you did.

                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy



www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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

The Desert Wine Guy - How To Prune Your Grapevine

Dormant Grapevines

                                                          




   Winter is coming and for some of us (not for us in Vegas yet) it is already here. Those of us who grow Grapevines know that just because the leaves might be gone from the vine this is not the end of  keeping up on them. Now is the time to perform maintenance in order to ensure that our vines remain in good condition and that the coming season will be a healthy and productive one for  them. This time of year our vines are getting ready to go into what is known as the "Dormant" stage. In this article we will discuss what dormancy is and why the grapevine goes Dormant in the first place.  At this time of year we have already had the harvest and the Grape Juice is starting on it's way towards becoming Wine. That leaves us with our final step of the season and that is Pruning. What is pruning and how and why we prune? That is what we will talk about today. All information we will be discussing is in relation to wine grapes. For table grapes there may be different ways to prune and I recommend that you do some research on that specific topic. At the end of this article I have placed two links to a couple of great videos on pruning. I recommend that you check them out, everything is explained in a way in which a beginner can understand and learn. I think the best place to start a discussion on pruning is at the point the vine goes dormant since we don't want to prune prior to that stage. Let's begin by explaining why a Grapevine goes dormant in the first place.
   Why does a Grapevine go dormant in the first place? - To put it simply, a Grapevine goes dormant to survive an event or events (in this case coldness) that are happening or about to happen. The Grapevine goes Dormant to basically defend itself and it does so by reserving all it's energy and redirecting it to only the basic processes it needs to survive. It does that by not expelling energy on leaves, grapes or growing Canes (branches). During the dormancy stage the vine will actually appear to have died. If the vine is indeed Dormant it is not dead but kind of in a sleep phase.  If you really think about it, the grape itself is only in reality a way for the species to propagate itself anyway. That is why there are seeds in grapes. We will not discuss G.M.O products since these are not natural, normal or healthy and require mans intervention to create and propagate.
   So what is pruning? - Pruning is simply the process of removing parts of the plant (in this case a grapevine) that for reasons of vine health and productivity are  no longer needed. That sounds simple right? Well that's because for the most part it is simple.
   Why do we Prune? - Why we prune is also simple. We prune in order to prepare the vine for the start of another growing year. The old wood that the vine grew is simply not needed.  Since there will be new wood that grows the coming year there will be too much call for the vine to spread it's energy to support parts of itself that it doesn't need. This unneeded use of energy by the vines will draw nutrition away from the reason we grow them in the first place, which is to grow grapes. For us and the Grapevine this wasting of energy or resources will result in an inferior crop of Grapes. Without Pruning there will be too many clusters of grapes and the grapes themselves will be small. One other important reason we Prune is because Grapes will only grow on first year wood. In other words the wood (Canes) the vine grew in the past year will no longer grow grapes. Can you also imagine what the vine would look like if we didn't remove or Prune it? The vine would grow out of control.
                                                          

Figure #1 - Makeup Of The Grapevine

  How do we prune a grapevine? - The first thing we should know is that there are two types of wine grape pruning. There is Spur or Cordon pruning and Cane pruning. We will start first with Spur Pruning and explain what it is. To help you visualize this I would like to refer you to Figure #1 please use it as a quick reference guide for the makeup of the vine. The first part of the vine I want to draw your attention to is what is called the Cordon(s). The second part of the vine I want to draw your attention to is the Canes that are coming off of the Cordon(s). This is where we will focus most of our attention for this article. In a properly pruned (Spur/Cordon) Grapevine the Canes or Renewal Spurs will be fist width apart from each other, which is approximately 6" (see figure #2). When we first plant the vine we don't worry about pruning because our main goal is to develop the roots of the vine. We need to ensure we develop proper roots in order to start the vine off on it's life of making quality grapes as well as to allow the vine to do what it needs to do which is to grow strong and disease resistant and develop strong Cordons. Some growers would even argue that even in the second year we don't prune but that is open to debate. However long you wait to prune is not the focus here so we will move on to proper pruning technique. By the way, depending on the varietal you will probably want to prune using one particular method over the other. Since we are talking about 1st or 2nd year vines here it is important to determine first if we are even happy with the quality of the vine itself. If you have a vine that is sparse in growth or has buds spaced far apart with many dead Buds then we may actually want to pull that particular vine out and replace it. Remember that Grapevines are long term, they can live for many, many years and we want to ensure that we start off with only the strongest ones. 
   Spur Pruning - To begin with we will discuss Spur or Cordon Pruning. To help you visualize this I would like to refer you to Figure #2 again. Cane Pruning is popular in vines that tend to have medium to high vigor. Classic grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are most often spur pruned. Let's start with learning what a Spur is. A Spur is simply what is left after we cut a Cane off leaving only 2-3 Buds on it (see Image #1 again). The Cane once cut down has now become a Spur. From this Spur will come new Canes the following year. It is very simple actually. As I have said in an earlier paragraph the Spurs should be fist width (6") apart from each other. This Spur also is sometimes also called a "renewal Spur". There are some other things to look for when Spur Pruning. Just because a Cane (future Spur) is growing does not mean that this is the Cane we want to keep on the Cordon. If there are two Canes growing in the same area and one is very skinny or either does not have buds spaced properly or do not appear to be healthy then we would look to cut that bud off at the Cordon and choose another one. We want to eventually have healthy Canes or Spurs that are appropriately spaced on our vine. Inspect the Canes by looking at the Buds on each Cane to determine if the Cane appears healthy. We also want to ensure that the Canes we pick are also growing in the proper direction or at least located in a position that we can reasonable re-direct into the right direction. The Cane we pick should be about Pencil thickness. That is it for Spur Pruning, it is that simple.
                                        

Figure #2 - Spur or Cordon Pruning

    Cane Pruning - Cane pruning (see figure #3) is considered best for low vigor vines such as in Burgundian-styled vineyards (Pinot Noir, table grapes and other lower vigor, cool climate grape varietals). Cane Pruning is also very simple. The first item to note is what is called the "Head". The Head is basically the area of the vine that originates our Canes. There are no real Cordons established in Cane Pruning since what would develop into Cordons is cut off at the end of year and replaced by new wood (Canes) that have grown the past year. In order to Cane prune you would take two strong (also pencil thick) Canes that come from the Head and twist one along along each side of the head onto the Fruiting Wire. Aside from the pencil thickness criteria some other criteria we should be looking for is the following. Remember once grown or twisted onto the Fruiting Wire we will be pruning the Canes to ensure that we have the proper 6" spacing. These next year canes will be coming from the Head of the vine. Simply put you will look at the Canes that have come off the head of your vine and pick the next years Canes that will grow to wrap around the Fruiting Wire. The two canes from last year will be cut off at the Head. The Canes that we cut off will be cut leaving Two Shoots coming from the Head of the vine. These also should be properly positioned as well as proper size and shoot positioning. These two other Canes that are not on the fruiting wire should be cut back to two Buds.
                                                     

Figure #3 - Cane Pruning

     I hope that you guys have learned about the process of Pruning. I trust that I have answered some questions that you might have had on the pruning of your Grapevines. Here are the video links I came across on YouTube that I think will really help and further explain the whole Pruning process. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um9p1eiGiwI) is a link that will show you exactly how to Spur or Cordon prune. This next link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfd2V5DFDo0) will show you how to Cane Prune.
   OK everyone, it is that time of year again. This will be the last blog of this year and I just wanted to wish everyone a great new year. I hope that this year was productive and happy also. PLEASE everyone, if you go to a holiday party or celebrate a little to much get someone who has NOT been drinking to drive you home. Once again everyone, have a great new year.

www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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



                                                                                                                    The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert Wine Guy - Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice And It's Relation To Wine

                                                           
After reading the final draft of this article I came to the conclusion that I needed to start off with what I guess you could call...a small disclaimer. If it seems like I am advertising for Welch's Corporation, I am not. Growing up in New York my family drank Welch's Grape Juice. To be honest, I never even knew there was another name for a grape juice. Today my kids drink it and they happen to be made in bottles that a have similar appearance to wine bottles. This whole idea started when I was sitting at the dinner table one night and stared at the bottle and started to wonder about the grape juice inside (weird I know). Are there real grapes that are used and are they grown like wine grapes? That is when I decided to learn about it myself and write an article. To make things even better, in this day and age to get anything that is simply and pure and is what it says it is is rare. Welch's claims it is 100% grape juice with no added Sugar, color or flavor. I actually think that they deserve credit for producing a healthy product. To make things even greater the grapes are grown in America. To finish this chapter off let me say that I have no connection, nor do I know anyone who works for or has any connection to Welch's Grape Juice. I am not getting any sort of payment or compensation for writing this article nor does the Welch's corporation even know that I am writing this article. I will be sending them a copy of this article however.  Having said all this it is time to get to the main part of this article.

                                                                                               
 While the adults are sitting around this year at the Thanksgiving dinner table drinking some wine or other Alcoholic drink, what are the kids drinking? While some will say water, juice or even soda mine will be drinking what The Desert Wine Guys kids have come to call "kids wine". What exactly is kids wine? Kids wine is actually Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice in what for all intents and purposes is in bottles that are shaped like wine bottles. My children love the feeling of drinking out of a bottle just like me. My children even drink out of real wine glasses and they feel like they are drinking wine like an adult. They do know that their kids wine does not have Alcohol and that's what makes it "kids wine" but they otherwise believe they are drinking wine like The Desert Wine Guy. While they call it "kids wine" it is really only carbonated grape juice and they love it. My children get it poured the same way that wine is supposed to be poured so they learn about wine etiquette and feel like they are a part of the entire Vineyard process. They learn and tell me about the different parts of the wine bottle and glass. They learn the names of these parts as well as how to hold the wine glass and how to place a finger in the "Punt" of the bottle when pouring even though these bottles do not have a "punt". They also know the correct method a waiter should use when pouring wine for customers. In short they learn about wine and the things that go with it. Being that my children drink the stuff and the bottle does say it is 100% real grape juice and being that I write about grapes and what is grape juice but juice from the grapes, the same as wine this is perfect. Well sit back for a few minutes while I tell you all about Welch's Grape Juice.

Young Concord Grape Vine

                       
   Welch's Grape juice comes from the Concord (Niagara for the white juice) grape which was developed in the mid 19th century by Ephraim Wales Bull who lived in Concord, Massachusetts. The story goes that Mr. Bull (Ephraim) was looking for a varietal that was was able to withstand the colder climate of the Northeast. Ephraim used the Vitis Labrusca (Fox) grape which happened to be native to the area. The Concord grape is actually one of the species of the "fox" varietal of grape. Ephraim planted 22,000 seedlings of the Fox grape and after six years he selected a single vine and named it after his home town...you guessed it, Concord. Here are a couple of interesting things about this grape and about the grape juice. This particular grape has what is called a "slip skin" which allows the skin of the grape berries to easily slip off when squeezed, instead of crushing the pulp. The other interesting item is that since it is a real grape and it is a red grape it also contains Polyphenols which, like Red wine grapes also comes from the skin. This is the same Polyhenois that is in real wine that helps our hearts. Welch's Grape juice itself actually started out as Sacramental wine and was first used by Dr. (Dentist) Thomas Branwell Welch who was also a Methodist Minister (as well as a prohibitionist) in Vineland (yes for real) New Jersey. Dr. Welch wanted to come up with a way that grape juice would not become Alcohol so he used pasteurization which killed the yeast. Believe it or not this idea didn't go over to well and some even called it a "heresy". With all the backlash the  died....at least for a while. Along comes Dr. Welch's son, Charles who was also a prohibitionist and Doctor (a Dentist as well) who started advertising the grape juice. In 1893 the juice even appeared at the Worlds Fair in Chicago and people were able to drink samples. In 1896 Welch's Fruit Juice Company became so big they had to move and move they did, to New York. The grape juice also was now being accepted in churches all over. The grape juice became so popular that in 1913 the Secretary Of State Jennings Bryan hosted a dinner for the British Ambassador actually served Welch's grape juice instead of wine. That year Alcohol was also banned from Navy ships. Today the company is said to make a half a billion dollars a year and moved to Concord Massachusetts where they grow cuttings from the original Concord vine.  Let me now discuss some more of what I see are the positives of Welch's Grape Juice.
   My younger children are getting older and more and more involved in what their Dad does concerning the garden and Vineyards.  Last year they helped me dig holes for the vines and put in the guide sticks the young vines grew up on to ensure the trunk was straight. They know where the Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard is and where the Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard is. They know which one makes a red wine and which one makes a white wine. They are now learning about Dormancy since the vines are just now starting to shut down. They will soon learn how to take cuttings of a grapevine and the process involved in that. This coming year they will learn about Lateral growing of the Laterals. They will very soon be learning about Pruning of the vines. The greatest thing is they love the whole aspect of  wine growing. When it comes to the wine making itself, they will eventually be involved with that as well. Being in the garden has helped them stay healthy also. They LOVE Green Peppers and Tomatoes and vegetables in general. Non G.M.O, no pesticides, just fresh food. They get to be outdoors and in the Sun away from the T.V. (Idiot Box). When we are done for the day we head into the pool and cool off and spend time with more Family, Their Mother and older Sister.  Later in the year we get to look at Two beautiful Vineyards and pick Fruits and Vegetables while in the pool. There is no better family time.

Dr. Welch

    I am going to get on my soap box now so please indulge me. I believe that having children accustomed to things removes the mystery or awe about those things and at the same time teaches them respect for those things as well. Teach and show them the good and the bad about these things. By the way the same thing applies to Firearms as well. Teaching them about some of the things that they will be exposed to when they get older and you are not there is  your responsibility as a parent. When they are around Beer or Wine and you are not there it will be no big deal because they are already around it normally anyway. When they get older I see nothing wrong with them having ONE SIP of wine or Beer. Teach them respect for Alcohol in general. Teach them that Alcohol is not something you want them to drink AT ALL when they are out with friends. While you are at it teach them why also. We were all kids at one time and hopefully still know how kids think. You as a parent show them WHY they shouldn't drink at a young age. To be honest I would be perfectly happy if my kids never drank Alcohol. There is really nothing that Alcohol (wine in this case) can give you that eating the actual grapes themselves can't give you, and in larger quantities.

Concord Grapes

                                              



                                                                                                                    The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert Wine Guy - 2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon

 

                                                           

2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon

    One of my greatest memories pertaining to my first trip to the Napa Valley was visiting the St. Clement (http://stclement.com/the-st-clement-story) Winery. I can remember like it was yesterday driving down Highway 29 and seeing the St. Clement Winery on the left hand side and thinking what a cute little cottage on that hill, I have to check it out on my way back. On the way back from bunny hopping the Winery's of interest along Highway 29 and ending up in Calistoga where there was (at the time) a small Coffee shop that roasted it's own beans. I had a nice lunch and a few Iced Lattes and headed the opposite way on 29. I had to keep my promise to myself of course and on the way back I just had to stop there. As everyone else does when visiting the St. Clement Winery, I parked down below the hill and took the long walk up to the Cottage. That walk was more that worth it. What a beautiful little place, the view of the Napa Valley was incredible especially while sipping on a glass of wine on their patio swing that overlooks the entire valley. When I tasted the wine I knew immediately it was one of those "different" wines that stood out from a lot of the other Napa Valley wines I had tasted on my trip but just didn't seem to be something I liked. After all these years that wine and property still stand out in my mind. When I see the wines from St Clement in the stores (which isn't too often) I flashback to the porch swing and the great wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon I bought on that day taught me and showed me the power of how great a Napa Cab can truly be. The "Cottage" as I called it is actually the St. Clement house and was built in 1878. The original owner was a man named Fritz Rosenbaum who manufactured and imported mirrors & glass. The property originally only made Riesling and Zinfandel in a cellar that is located underneath the house. The name St. Clement was given to it in 1976 when a local Ophthalmologist, William Casey bought the house and built a 10,000 case Winery there. The name St. Clement is actually a tribute to Caseys ancestors and what a tribute it is. St. Clement is now owned by Beringer and the property is still beautiful. How did this particular wine compare to the wine I tasted? Well we will see as you read on. The wine in question here is the 2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon. Anyone familiar with the weather in the Napa Valley in 2011 knows that it was kind of goofy and not the typical weather the Napa Valley is use to. Did the rough weather in 2011 negativity effect the crop and therefore effect the wine? Let's find out. As I have already said, 2011 was actually a rough year weather wise for the Napa Valley as a whole. One of the biggest issues was that it was a cooler year than usual which meant lower grape yield which also meant the need for thinning due to irregular berry development. This also delayed wine development by as much as several weeks. This particular Cabernet was aged in forty two percent new French Oak barrels for nineteen months. There was also two percent Merlot and two percent Petit Verdot added for structure just before the wine was put in the bottle. I love a wine that starts off with deep, rich, powerful aromas. This happens to be one of those wines. Let's see just how the St. Clement winery managed to do with it's Cabernet Sauvignon vines.

St. Clement House Porch Swing

                                                           
    Before we get into the pour, a word of warning here. To discuss the pour of this wine leaves us with not much to actually discuss. With all the beauty of the St. clement House and the property as a whole it's kind of ironic that such a wonderful place and such (as it turns out) a wonderful wine would have such a simple appearance on the pour. Here is a wine once again where looks are deceiving. This wine does indeed have a very simply, deep Cherry Red pour. That's it, plain and simple. Do yourself a favor and read on please.
   On the nose there was Blackberry with a slight hint of Cocoa. There was a deep clove spice that was almost hidden but still detectable if you took the time and swirled the wine long enough. You could almost sense that this was going to be a special wine. There is a sense of earthiness in the bouquet that has the cocoa almost floating in the air. I thought I also sensed some Cranberry in here also. All in all the bouquet is really nice and promises a wonderful experience.
   Let's now move onto our favorite part, the actual tasting of the wine. To open up this section I want to say that this wine has so many different flavors or notes that I tasted on my Palette.  This to say the least is a complex, full bodied wine indeed. There is a nice rich Blackberry opening when the wine first touches enters your mouth and touches your tongue. This Blackberry is so smooth that it's almost comes across like an appetizer you would have before a great steak, it makes you long for what comes next which is the main course, in this case is the 2011 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon. Next up on the Palette is a solid, deep, Plum that offers up memories of going to an Orchard and picking a ripe Plum off of the tree that is at it's peak of perfection. Some wines, even some $40 wines would be content and end here and be happy to have achieved that level of desirability, not this wine however. I guess you could say "well you should expect more from a 40$ wine" and you would be correct however it does not always work that way as I am sure you already know. Let's talk about another note that you will detect early in the development of the wine, that note is that of clove spice. What starts off as a brief low key note now quickly comes to the surface and combined with all the other notes in this wine is awesome. Now a wine that combines all this into one wine is incredible sounding in itself and so far it is rather impressive and I am totally enjoying myself up here in the 80's Loft. I am torn here. On one hand I am wishing I had invited a friend over to share this wine with. On the other hand i'm glad I didn't because then I would have to actually share this treasure so maybe I did the right thing by going it alone. One question I will throw at you is what is a Cabernet Sauvignon without Oak? Well don't fret there Oakey Cabernet fans because there is actually an incredible smoky oak to this wine that is simply wonderful. I wish all the Cabernets I tasted had this level of beautiful oak in them. To top it off there is an unusual note of dried Cranberry here. The dried cranberry blends so well with the clove note and add an almost rustic earthiness to the wine. If you think this wine is done you need to hold on a minute because here comes the taste of a light Cocoa to the mix. Yes, all of these different notes are truly in this wine and each is represented to it's fullest extent. O.K I have to take a break here because I am getting tempted to buy another bottle (or two) which I will and place one in my cellar for the future. What else is this wine missing? Did you say "but Desert Wine Guy are there any Tannins to this wine?" You want Tannins also? Yes, You have Tannins. You actually have nice, smooth, deep Tannins that help glide the wine over your tongue. There is just enough to coat your tongue but not enough to paste onto your tongue which is a taste we have all experienced and some do not like. In short there is just the right amount of Tannins to mesh with the other notes this wine has to offer. Sitting in my reviewers chair (my recliner) I thought about how the flavor of this wine was so easy to drink and that you knew without doubt that in your hands you held a prime example of why Cabernet Sauvignon is indeed the king of red, you know you are holding and drinking a Cabernet Sauvignon at it's finest. The Clove added just that bit of Spice that I like in my Cabernet and I think helps set a cheap Cabernet apart from a good one. In short the wine is the perfect package and shows the full promise of what a great Cabernet Sauvignon should be. As we near the closing of this review I wanted to add something else. While this wine is indeed full bodied at the same time it is not what I would call a heavy Cabernet. While not for the weak of heart or timid, this wine is flavorful and bright and if you are a true Cabernet lover you will truly be in Heaven. As I have just said, although not for the faint of heart, this wine also has the ability to be a favorite for fans who like a deep Merlot as well. Lovers of both varietals of wine are presented the best of both worlds here. Where does the Cocoa fit in you ask? The Cocoa comes out but strangely only at times however each time it does it seems it is a welcome surprise and comes at a time when you seem to have forgotten it is there in the first place. The wine ends in your mouth with the Blackberry/Oak notes and those irresistible Tannins. To try to be a little more specific concerning the line between a Merlot and a Cabernet if I were to draw a graph with 6 being where the Cabernet Sauvignon style comes in, I would rate this wine at the 8 to 8.5 point of that graph. Definitely what is meant by the phrase "full bodied".
   I'm going to be straight forward here. I must confess that I went into this review actually expecting a lot from this wine and it without a doubt delivered. Like I said in the opening of this article I have always had a place in my heart for this particular Vineyard. This is one of those Vineyards/Winery's (along with a few others) that helped plant and cultivate the very early seeds of The Desert Wine Guy, pre Desert Wine Guy. As any good, honest writer or reviewer should do however, I have always been able to avoid letting a bias effect my reviews. I am glad I was able to give this wine such a great review. On the other hand if it was warranted I would have just as easily given it a bad review. Thankfully that was not the case.

    Lets go ahead at this time and wrap this up. For those readers who tend to keep to the more heavier Merlot or like medium bodied Cabernets I say go ahead take the plunge here. Step out there, open your world up and expand your tastes. This is that great wine that may do all that. Let's discuss price now. When I first saw this wine on the shelf I said "$40, do I really want to spend that kind of money on this wine"? Well I decided to go ahead and take the plunge myself, as I suggest you also do. I say YES, you really do need to spend that kind of money. While I was in the store those memories came back of that first trip, that first series of wine tasting experiences and that was all that was needed for me, I bought the wine. You might not have that memory, maybe you have never sat on that porch swing, maybe you have never taken the walk up the hill to the St. Clement house. None of this matters, my recommendation is for you to buy the wine, enjoy the wine and go a few days without Starbucks to make up for the extra money you spent :) If you are searching for a wine to impress your guests for the holidays than look no further. If you are looking to impress yourself then also....look no further. This is the benchmark for Cabernet Sauvignon. This is what I am using to compare all other Cabernet's to. Buy a couple of bottles and put one away, the other open at Thanksgiving or some other special holiday. I would say this wine could last another 5-7 years if kept at the proper temperature.

   On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am giving it 94 points.


                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy



www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

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