Napa Wines: 2013 Raymond Vineyards Reserve Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
Twitter has introduced us to so many different wine producers. You see, we’re the kind of nerds that talk about wine all the time, EVEN ON THE INTERNET. Each week our online friends at @WiningHourChat host a “tweetup” (yes, we’re putting that in quotes; we refuse to accept it as an actual word). It’s a chance for like-minded wine fanatics to share tasting and pairing notes about a specific wine varietal, region, etc. Occasionally they have a producer join the conversation to talk about their wine, and thus we were introduced to Raymond Vineyards. Wanting to join in on the fun, we went in search of one of their wines and came home with a bottle of their 2013 Reserve Selection Cabernet Sauvignon.
This is a really good Cabernet with somewhat of an old world sensibility. Specifically, it reminds us a bit of Bordeaux. We’ll get to that in our tasting notes...now:
It has cherries, sage, menthol, and dry mulch on the nose. The menthol comes through as a light clear note at the end of a deep inhale. We were originally going with eucalyptus, but the way it opened up our sinuses pushed us toward menthol. The dry mulch scent is a combination of wood chips and dry garden soil. It made us think of our vegetable garden in autumn. That subtle earthiness is what first reminded us of our favorite right-bank Bordeaux.
On the tongue there are flavors of ripe cherries, bay leaf, molasses, currants and espresso bean. The tannins are nice and smooth and it has a medium mouth feel. This is a well structured wine. Nothing is out of balance. There are notes of dark chocolate and cinnamon on the finish. While the ripe cherry is in the forefront, the other flavors combine for a darker, meatier experience. The bay leaf notes add to the old world feel.
This is a really nice Cab and a decent value for the money. We payed $35 for this bottle. That’s a bit expensive for us, but we’re pretty confident we could mix this in with some $50 Napa Cabs at our next dinner party and no one would be the wiser.
