Clif Bar – The Climber Red Wine

The headline is not a typo. The folks who create those tasty organic Clif Bars are now in the wine business too via the Clif Family Winery. My reaction to hearing about this was mixed. On one hand I thought it was great, after all, Clif Bars are pretty good and they hopefully produce wine with the same care and quality. On the other hand, what do they know about winemaking? Well, of course they brought in a winemaker, Sarah Gott, to help with the stuff they didn’t know. And they did deliver on quality with this wine.

The Climber Red Wine 2006 is a blend of 32% Zinfandel, 28% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon,  11% Merlot and 4% Petite Sirah.  Most of the grapes come from Somerston Vineyard, east of the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley.

Deep, intense purplish-red color is indicative of the fruit aromas you’ll find in this wine.  Dark fruits abound in the nose of this one.  Blackberry, currant and black cherry leave no subtlety to the fruit.  There is also a wisp of cedar weaving in and out of the fruit aromas.  Intense fruit on the palate continues the powerful theme with this wine.  Slightly jammy boysenberry, plum and black cherry, followed by black pepper and cocoa on the mid-palate and into the finish.  It’s big, bold and tasty, but I would not call it elegant.  Still, it’s a very enjoyable wine if you’re into fruit-forward wines.

This would make a great wine with barbecue… it almost makes me want to eat some smoked ribs with it.  But then, I’m a pescetarian.  I guess I’ll just enjoy the wine.

Wine: Clif Family Winery – The Climber
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.7%
Rating: 88
Price: $17.00

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