Winemaker Notes
Blend: 67% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2002 Reserve Claret (two-thirds Merlot, one-third Cabernet Sauvignon and a tiny dollop of Petit Verdot) is the most flashy, exuberant and flamboyant of this trio. Close to full maturity, it offers complex, intense, pervasive notes of unsmoked cigar tobacco, licorice, graphite, spring flowers, blueberries and blackberries. Gorgeous ripeness, full-bodied opulence, decent acidity, and ripe, silky tannin make for a hedonistic as well as intellectually provocative wine. This rich, mountain-styled proprietary red can be drunk now and over the next 10-12 years.
-
Wine Spectator
A seductive style that provides a rich mix of ripe, juicy wild berry and blackberry fruit with an overlay of smoky, toasty oak. But on the finish, it comes together nicely, with the fruit pushing past the oak flavors, caressed by supple tannins. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2009. 400 cases made.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.