I imagine that for many American wine consumers, particularly those who are relatively new to wine, the question, “What is a Claret?” is the thought that crosses your mind as you see this bottle on the shelves.  ”Is it a varietal?  Is it a location?  I know I’ve heard James Bond refer to a wine as a Claret.”  These are all legitimate questions and thoughts to have.  I too once thought, “What’s the difference between a Claret and a Bordeaux?”

Well, it’s really quite simple.  ”Claret” is a British term that has been used for centuries as a generic name for Bordeaux.  It’s not indicative of a particular part of Bordeaux or a specific varietal, it’s just another name for Bordeaux.  The French historically haven’t used the term themselves, although I’ve read that they are reclaiming the word in 2012 to describe wines that are “light and fruity, easy to drink, in the same style as the original claret when it was prized by the English in former centuries.”

So, the next question you may be pondering is, “Is this wine from Bordeaux?”  The answer to that question is, “no.”  In the case of Francis Coppola Winery they are using Claret to indicate this wine is the style of a Bordeaux.  It’s a Bordeaux style blend from California with 81% cabernet sauvignon, 9% petite verdot, 5% malbec, 3% merlot and 2% cabernet franc.  You may notice that the wine is also labeled as a Cabernet Sauvignon and although it’s a blend, American wines can technically be labeled as a varietal if they are made from 75% or more of a single variety.

In addition to the blend, another touch that adds to the Bordeaux-like nature of this wine is the fact that it was aged for 15 months in French oak.

Harmonious is the first word that comes to mind when smelling this wine.  Complex is the second word, as there’s a lot going on here with black cherry, blueberry, plum, vanilla and toasted oak aromas.  The palate is elegant, with a silky mouth feel serving up plum, blackberry and black currant flavors.  The finish offers a touch of spice and black tea, with the fruit flavors sustaining and balancing the bitterness of the tannins.  This is a very approachable and pleasant-drinking claret, or cabernet sauvignon… whatever you want to call it.

While the suggested retail price of this is $20, a quick online search turned up prices as low as $14.

Have you tried it?  Let us know what you think.

Wine: Francis Coppola Diamond Collection Claret
Variety: Bordeaux-style blend
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 90
Price: $20.00

Find Francis Coppola Diamond Collection Claret with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Looking for an easy drinking cabernet sauvignon for the Fall?  Well look no further than Flipflop’s 2009.  We’ve recently reviewed Flipflop’s 2009 Pinot Noir and found it to be “pleasant”.  Their 2009 cabernet sauvignon takes the same approach with simple, straightforward fruit and just enough structure to keep things interesting.

This is Flipflop’s first year making cabernet sauvignon, and as with the pinot noir, there approach to wine making is to make friends first.  Like the pinot noir, there is absolutely nothing off-putting about this cabernet sauvignon either.  Then again, like the pinot noir, there isn’t anything here to distinguish the wine.  One could argue that there isn’t a lot of winemaking happening in the Flipflop cellars.  This is about as straightforward as it gets.

There is plenty of blackberry fruit on the nose and palate, and the finish is mild with smooth, mild tannins and mild acidity.  Again, there isn’t much to write about here.  It’s wines like these that should make people who review wines worry, or, at the very least, think.  If all wines were like these, there would be no point in reviewing them.  How sad would that be?

A  Salute!

Wine: Flipflop
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price:  $7.00

Want another opinion?  Here’s what some other reviewers thought of the 2009 Flipflop Cabernet Sauvignon:

• The Good Wine Guru
• Grape Deals
• The Review Stew

Find Flipflop Cabernet Sauvignon with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

We reviewed Apaltagua’s Carménère Reserva back in April and found the wine to be a fine example of new world carménère.  We’ve finally gotten around to reviewing the vintner’s more polished Carménère offering, their 2008 Envero Gran Reserva.  While the Reserva is 100% carménère, the Envero Gran Reserva contains about 7% cabernet sauvignon.  The winery sources their grapes from 60 year-old vineyards within the Apalta region in the Colchagua Valley.

So how does the 2008 Gran Reserva stack up against the 2009 Reserva?  To put it simply – very well.  While we liked the Reserva, we love the Gran Reserva.  This is delicious wine.  The 2009 Reserva is dark and rich, and heavily extracted, and while the Envero is also dark, it doesn’t quite have the opaque plum color of its younger, less expensive sibling.  Give some credit to the additional year in the bottle, along with the cabernet for the deeper cherry red hue of this wine, as well as the much better integration of flavors and tannins.

On the nose the wine offers rich cherry, cassis and vanilla, laced with more complex, yet subtle hints of coffee and cola.   On the palate the wine offers abundant fruit, almost turning jammy, before the tannins and mild acidity tighten things up nicely for an enjoyable and lingering finish.  But more importantly, this wine possesses a special quality.  Now I’ve tasted or reviewed literally 1,000’s of wines over the years and while many of those wines were superlative, some lacked a simple, yet important quality – drinkability.

Yes, that’s right, I just pulled a descriptor from the Budweiser guide to taste-testing.  What the hell do I know, right?  But seriously, how many times have you consumed a highly extracted and tannic bombshell of a wine only to find that your tongue has knitted a wool sweater, preventing you from enjoying the wine any further.  Well, with the Envero, I found myself subconsciously pouring myself glass after glass, and enjoying every sip.  It’s why fine claret is still king – offering polished fruit with loads of character, but with finesse.  Envero hit the sweet spot with this wine, and Apaltagua is quickly becoming one of my favorite vintners from South America.

A  Salute!

Wine: Apaltagua Envero
Variety: Carménère (93%)
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 90
Price:  $15.00

Find Apaltagua Envero Gran Reserva with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

A couple weeks ago, I did a lengthy writeup about my recent visit to Paso Robles.  But I didn’t highlight any of the specific wines I tasted there.  Tonight I want to touch on a few wines I tasted on that visit, from Villacana Winery.

Villacana is a small winery run by a husband and wife team, Alex and Monica Villacana.  Of course “small” is all relative.  The property, which they purchased in 1996, is 72 acres on the west side of Paso Robles.  Now you may be thinking that 72 acres seems big not small, but only 13 acres of the property are vineyards and their total production is under 2,000 cases.  Therefore, I’d say they officially qualify as a “small winery.”

The soil in the vineyard varies from calcareous soils to acidic shales and the Villacanas have chosen locations for different varieties of vines where they will perform the best.  They produce a combination of Rhone varietals, which do better on the calcareous soils, and Bordeaux varietals, which do best with the shale.  The vineyards are also at a high elevation, which brings some challenging winds.

Part of their philosophy in wine production, consistent with others I met in Paso Robles, is they let each vintage express the wine uniquely.  They don’t want to manipulate the juice to achieve consistency from one vintage to the next.

In addition to their wines, they are making plans to get a still so that they can produce grappa and vodka.

I had the opportunity to taste three of their wines, the viognier, the cabernet sauvignon and the syrah.  Here are my notes on each.  I should point out that because I didn’t taste these in my normal environment, with my normal process, I did not score the wines.  But, I assure you that they were all good.

Villacana Viognier 2010

This wine has a light, almost watery appearance, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s going to be a thin wine.  The nose has good intensity with very nice floral aromatics, apricot and a touch of mineral.  On the palate, it shows a pleasant apricot and lime flavor, with good concentration to the fruit.   Priced at $24.00, it’s a nice wine.

Villacana Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The appearance of this wine is a shimmering brick red color.  It has outstanding intensity on the nose, with big black cherry aromas and a hint of red raspberry.  The palate offers deep black cherry flavors without being jammy.  The acidity is excellent.  It has a very long, very rich finish, filled with fruit and vibrant acidity.

The wine is a blend of 80% cabernet sauvignon with 20% merlot.  It was oaked in neutral barrels.  This is a very good wine and sells for $28.00.

Villacana Syrah 2008

Purplish-red in color, this wine shows complex aromas on the nose, including smoked meats, blackberry, cherry and nutmeg.  On the palate it has a really nice mouthfeel with rich tannins.  The acidity makes it lively too.  The flavors are ripe blackberries and spice.  It has a long finish with plenty of berry flavors.  This is another tasty wine and sells for $30.00.

Disclosure: I visited Paso Robles on a press junket with the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance.  My travel and accommodations where covered as a part of this trip and these wines were provided as samples.  I was not required to write about Paso Robles or Villacana.  The opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

We go through a lot of wine in our household.  Now before you get the wrong idea, let me add that it’s usually no more than a glass (roughly 6 – 8 ounces) a day.  But between my wife and me, we can easily consume about 4 – 5 bottles a week.  And as you can imagine, the neighbors just love to hang out at our place, particularly with all the great wine.  So 4 -5 bottles can easily turn into 8 – 9 a week.  That can add up, particularly if you like the expensive stuff.  But having a restaurant in the family has it’s advantages, and none better than being able to buy wine at wholesale!

So, recently we were running a little low, which prompted me to begin searching for good, high value reds to stock the cellar with.  My dad, who now handles all the wine buying duties at the restaurant, had actually just sampled the latest MontGras Cabernet, the 2009; and, he recommended that I pick up a case to replenish our stock.  So I splurged, solely on his recommendation, having not tasted the wine.  But I wasn’t too concerned.  I figured that if he thought is was good (and he has great taste), that, most importantly, my wife would love it.

So, as I finally got around to tasting the MontGras, and reviewing it here for Cheap Wine Ratings, I noticed that what was once a stock of nine bottles (MontGras Cabernet Sauvignon comes in a nine bottle case) was now only two!  Where did all the MontGras go?  Well, let’s just say my wife really loved it.  But how good was it really?  Let’s find out.

On the nose the MontGras offers rich currant, vanilla and traces of other black fruit, but I was also picking up heavy levels of must.  Is this what my wife was loving so much?  Or, could I have gotten the one corked bottle that’s presumably in every case.  Well before I began seriously doubting my wife’s taste in wine, the mustiness had cleared.  Maybe it was me.  Maybe there was some taint, but the wine wasn’t the worse for it after a bit of breathing.

On the palate the wine offers up fine, yet lush tannins with a deep dark fruit core on the mid-palate.  This fruit is cradled in roast coffee bean and peat, but it’s not harsh at all.  On the contrary, this is a very smooth wine for as much as it has going on.  The MontGras is actually quite complex, and offers great balance for the money.  Ok, now I know why my wife loved it so much.

The MontGras is a crowd pleaser.  It will provide something for those looking for some character and complexity, but it will also satisfy those who are looking for an easy drinking red, and quite nicely I might add.  Which reminds me.  I need to order another case.

A  Salute!

Wine: MontGras
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 88
Price:  $11.00

Find MontGras Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva with Snooth

We’re back to another box today, or an Octavin to be more precise.  This is a cabernet sauvignon from the Central Coast of California.  When a wine is labeled as coming from the Central Coast, that usually means that the fruit came from a couple different sources because Central Coast is a broad region (or AVA).  Within the Central Coast AVA there are several smaller appellations, which are typically known for higher quality fruit and wines are often labeled with those smaller appellations versus using Central Coast.  In the case of Monthaven, most of the juice is from Paso Robles and Monterey.

Although it’s in a box, it’s a serious wine.  The quality of the juice is respectable and the wine is barrel aged, which is a process usually reserved for more expensive wines.  Despite the varietal on the label, it’s not all cabernet sauvignon grapes in this wine.  It has 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petite Sirah, 4% Carignan, 4% Tempranillo, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Zinfandel, 2% Merlot and 1% Mourvèdre.  But with 75% cabernet sauvignon they are able to label it as such.

The luscious dark fruit aromas that you expect from a cabernet sauvignon are definitely found in this wine, along with a dusty herbal characteristic that distinguishes it.  The palate is all about the fruit, with plenty of black cherry and black currant flavors. There’s a bit of oak flavor on the palate too.  The tannins aren’t bitter, but deliver a pronounced dryness in the mouth.  Overall, it’s a decent cabernet — although I wouldn’t call it elegant.

Wine: Monthaven Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating:  85
Price: $24.00 for 3 liters (equivalent to 4 bottles)

Find Monthaven Cabernet Sauvignon with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

In the wine world, everything is relative.  Case in point, I present to you Jacob’s Creek 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.  The term “Reserve” is typically utilized for the best juice of the vintage, often seeing a little more time in the winemaker’s best oak.  But one winemaker’s best juice is another winemaker’s jug wine.  And not all oak barrels are made equal.  So while a winery may use the term “Reserve” to describe their best effort for the vintage, it simply may not measure up to another winery’s table wine.  So how does Jacob’s Creek measure up?  Well, the answer is relative.

When you’re presented with a wine with deep rich color, and heavy oak with strong tight tannins, it’s easy to get impressed with the wine’s “big-ness”.  But if you spend some time really concentrating on the depth of fruit, integration of tannins, and overall complexities in what the wine is offering, you can pick out the posers from the real-deals.

The Jacob’s Creek Reserve certainly fits the aforementioned description, but is it a poser or the real-deal?  On the nose, it initially serves up blueberry and hints of tropical notes, turning to cassis and then pine and cedar.   The color is a deeply opaque violet.  On the palate there’s more cassis and cedar, and the wine finishes with tight, and slightly bitter tannins.  As the wine begins to open the tannins subside slightly and become better integrated with the fruit.  But the wine continues to remain a little tight.

So what’s the verdict?  Is this reserve cab a poser, or the real-deal?  Well in this price range, I’d say the Jacob’s Creek Reserve is certainly no poser.  But compared to other well-crafted, well-integrated higher end wines, the Jacob’s Creek can’t be called the real-deal.  But if you’re looking for a big wine at a value price, check out this wine.   Again, it’s all relative.

Salute!

Wine: Jacob’s Creek Reserve
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating:  87
Price: $12.99

Find Jacob’s Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

This past week I took part in a Taste Live event featuring Stepping Stone wines from Cornerstone Cellars.  Taste Live events are wine tastings where numerous wine bloggers and media from around the country all taste the same wines and share their thoughts via Twitter.

Cornerstone Cellars is a Napa Valley, California producer and is still relatively young—1991 was their first vintage.  It was founded by two Memphis physicians, who jumped into winemaking when they purchased left over grapes from another producer in Napa Valley.  The wine they created from those grapes was a hit and they’ve been at it ever since.

The wines we tasted were from the Stepping Stone line of wines, which is an effort from Cornerstone to produce good wines at affordable prices.  So, a “step” lower in price than other Cornerstone Cellar wines.  Get it?

Unlike most tastings we do, these wines were not tasted blind.  A few of them are within the price range of wines we typically review here, but a couple are more expensive than our typical wines.  All the wines were provided to us as samples.

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Cuveé Musqué Sauvignon Blanc

The aromas are nice, but I would not call them “intense.”  This is definitely a different style of Sauvignon Blanc that the explosively tropical ones from Chile or New Zealand.  This is more of a Loire Valley style, and it’s a nice wine.  The aromas are mostly melon and some soft tropical fruit — including a clear banana aroma.  Some wine aficionados might not peg this for a Sauvignon Blanc right off the bat, but I did get a touch of green bell pepper aroma — which makes it clear to me that this is Sauvignon Blanc.

The palate has a bit more intensity than the nose.  Up front, it gives a melon and apple flavor, and finishes with a touch of citrus acidity.  The acidity is adequate, but not nearly as crisp as I usually expect from a SB, but again, it’s a style difference.  It does have a creamy mouth feel, which is nice.  The mouth feel might make you think it went through a malolactic fermentation, but the winemaker says it’s from lees contact in neutral oak.  This is a good wine, but only for those who like this style of Sauvignon Blanc.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cuveé Musqué
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 87
Price: $16.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Red Hills Lake County Rosé Corallina

The color of this Rosé isn’t bright pink, like many others, but rather it’s kind of a copper-pink.  I really like the color of it.  The nose is a little tight, but citrusy and slightly floral.  The palate has flavors of red apple peel and cranberry.  There’s a bit of cinnamon and a bit of heat to it too.  It’s a pleasant wine, but more of a rosé for food than for sipping.

Wine: Stepping Stone Red Hills Lake County Rosé Corallina
Variety: Grenache/Syrah Rosé
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 85
Price: $16.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Syrah

Wow! The nose is really fun and interesting, with a definite smokey quality, grilled meat, black cherry and black pepper aromas.  The palate has outstanding concentration in the fruit, with intense cherry and black raspberry flavors.  It has a little spice too, which makes it interesting.  The tannins are silky giving it a great mouth feel.  This is one of the best Syrahs I’ve tasted in a while.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Syrah
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.9%
Rating: 89
Price: $20.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Cabernet Franc

This wine has a really nice purple-red color.  It has an herbal quality to the nose, which I would expect from a Cabernet Franc. I’d describe the aromas as tarragon, black currant and cherry.  The acidity is bright on the tongue, making this a great wine for fatty foods.  The flavor is mostly cherry, and it has outstanding concentration.  The tannins are also well-structured.  It’s a really nice wine.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cabernet Franc
Variety: Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 91
Price: $30.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The nose is really pretty on this wine, although lacking some intensity.  It shows dusty blackberry, leather, cassis and vanilla.  The mouth feel is silky-smooth.  The flavors begin with rich, ripe, juicy blackberries, moves into a cassis flavor and adds some carmel notes on a lengthy finish. This is a luscious Cabernet.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.9%
Rating: 90
Price: $35.00

We’ve been reviewing Cabernet Sauvignon for the past several weeks and now it’s time to do the roundup of all the reviews.

Usually, we name a specific wine as the top pick in these roundups.  But this time we’re going with a wine region: Chile.  Chilean wines took the top five spots in our showdown.  To be fair though, Chile also has one at the bottom of the list.  And we did review a couple California Cabs recently that were 90-pointers, but they were also over $20 and therefore didn’t make this list.

Based on the numbers, you could say that the Ortega Fornier Urban or Santa Ema Reserve are the best choices from this lineup.  But I’d highly recommend any of the top five in this list.

In terms of real value, I picked up the Ortega Fornier Urban for a mere 11 bucks.  It’s filled with rich, dark fruit flavors and has an interesting spiciness.  It’s an outstanding wine, especially at this price.

The Santa Ema Reserve is also a really exciting wine and only a couple bucks more than the Urban.  With aromas like sage, coffee, cocoa, raspberry and blackberry, there’s a ton of complexity in this wine.  The fruit flavors are equally solid, making this an easy pick.

Another great deal in terms of quality-to-price ration is the Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon.  It’s a bag in a box wine that comes in a 3 liter size and the price is equivalent to $5.75 per bottle.  You might be reluctant to buy that much wine because of a concern about it going bad before you can drink it all, but no worries it stays fresh for about a month after opening.

Here’s the full list of the Cabernet Sauvignon we reviewed.

Although Viña Carmen has been around since 1850, it was reborn in 1987 when it was acquired by Claro Group.  Today, their main vineyards are in Maipo Valley, but they also have vineyards in Rapel, Casablanca and Curicó Valley.  And they are one of the top producers in Chile.

This wine continues the trend we’ve found of Chilean wines delivering exceptional quality for the price.

Although it’s labeled as Cabernet Sauvignon, technically it’s only 85% Cab, with 10% Syrah and 5% Merlot.  This is a well-oaked, but not over-oaked wine, with 80% of it aged in a combination of French and American oak for 10 months.

There are some interesting things going on in the nose of this wine with some nice herbal and spice characteristics, like mint, tobacco and cedar.  The palate has good acidity, tannins and fruit.  In fact, the tannins are superb.  Intense cassis and blackberry flavors make the palate rich.  It has good structure, good complexity, and it’s just a really good wine.  I highly recommend it.

Wine: Carmen Reserva
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 88
Price: $16.00

Find Carmen Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.