My Favorite Neighbor Red Blend 2017
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
What started as an homage to Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure Winery and his Bordeaux roots quickly became an obsession. Stretching wide across the Westside Hills of Paso Robles is clay soil amazingly similar to those found in Napa and Bordeaux. Today, these special sites are farmed meticulously by the farmers who have become My Favorite Neighbors. With their dedication to the land, we are able to craft a world class wine without any shortcuts or compromises. Welcome to the Neighborhood.
My Favorite Neighbor opens softly with luscious, dark fruit notes, seamlessly crosses the mid-palate and leaves you with a lengthy finish of blackberry compote and espresso.
*Receive one of five possible labels.
*Specific labels cannot be requested.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 My Favorite Neighbor is also terrific and I suspect would cost 2-3 times its going rate if it was from Napa Valley. It's also the more elegant, perfumed, red-fruited release compared to the darker fruited Harvey and Harriet release. Classy notes of black raspberries, spice box, white flowers, lead pencil shavings, and tobacco leaf all emerge from the glass of this medium to full-bodied red, which offers a seamless texture, fine tannins, and a great finish. It will be better with 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for over a decade.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The My Favorite Neighbor 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon contains 22% Syrah and 3% Petit Verdot and was aged in 75% new French oak. It has a medium to deep ruby color, and the nose offers aromas of fresh blackcurrants, blackcurrant bud, exotic spices, bitter chocolate and blue fruit hints with classic touches of pencil shavings, cedar and baking spice. Full-bodied, it explodes with ripe black fruits and has a firm, grainy frame and great freshness, finishing long and spicy. Give this another 3-5 years in bottle. 7,200 cases produced.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.