Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

This week’s selection:

Winery: Beringer
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Price Paid: $18.00 - $20.00
Vintage: 2007
Area: Sonoma, CA
Alcohol: 14.3%
Purchased: Costco

Overall: Simply the best Cab in this price range I have ever had in almost 20 years of drinking mainly Cabs. Right now I am drinking the late 90’s vintages out of my cellar. I learned the aging potential of this gem from Ron Edwards, Master Sommelier. Serve this to company with grilled meats, roast beef, etc. and no one will be disappointed. I poured this 2007 through an aerator before drinking and found the 2007 outstanding and delicious. If you don’t have an aerator you may want to decant.

Reviews
K & L Wines
According to Robert Parker: "Several other great values emerge from Beringer, including the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Knight’s Valley. A major sleeper of the vintage, this $27 wine will probably be marked down at discounters, making it a terrific value. This sexy North Coast Cabernet offers copious quantities of black cherry and black currant fruit intermixed with smoky barbecue, roasted herb, sweet cassis, and blackberry scents. Round and gentle with silky tannins, this is a plush red to drink over the next 5-8 years." (12/09)

89 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Good deep, bright ruby. Black cherry, licorice and fresh herbs on the slightly medicinal nose. At once dense and juicy, with lively acidity and a firm tannic spine keeping the bright dark berry and licorice flavors under wraps today. This has good weight and balance and finishes with broad, serious, building tannins that call for a year or two of patience. Already showing a bit of flesh, but give this another year or two to round out in bottle." (May/June 10)

Airfield Estates 2008 Riesling

This week’s selection:

Winery: Airfield Estates

Varietal: Riesling

Price Paid: $15.99

Vintage: 2008

Area: Yakima, WA

Alcohol: 14.1%

Purchased: Colasanti’s Market

Overall: I like my Rieslings on the dry side but this had a pleasant sweetness with enough acid to balance it out. Apple, citrus and a good Riesling to have with Chinese or Curry in particular.

Reviews

Winemaker’s Notes:

A family owned and operated winery located in Prosser, Washington -- in the heart of the Yakima Valley AVA. Great wines begin in the vineyard! Airfield Estates uses 100% estate grown fruit. Our first vines were planted in 1968 by Don Miller. Today, the estate vineyard spans over 860 acres and includes 26 different varieties.

The vineyard is located at the foot of the Rattlesnake Mountains in the Yakima Valley. All of the vineyard blocks are situated within a 3 mile radius of the original WWII airbase. Within this range, there is a considerable amount of diversity of soil and microclimatic conditions. To maximize quality, we carefully match grape varietals to the most suitable sites.

Well balanced with impressive acidity, this slightly sweet Riesling offers a bouquet of citrus and apple with a touch of minerality. It begs for Asian inspired foods, oysters, shellfish, and salads.

From Fullpullwines:

http://fullpullwines.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/2008-airfield-states-riesling/

This Riesling comes from a block of 30-year-old vines that also goes into Ste Michelle’s Eroica Riesling program, routinely recognized as one of the state’s premier Riesling bottlings. Lots of citrus notes on the nose, with just the barest hint of petrol adding attractive complexity. On the palate, there is zingy acid that immediately hits the sides of the tongue, bringing flavors of lemon, flower, and clay. The 1.7% residual sugar is almost imperceptible, balanced beautifully by all that acid.

Maipe 2008 Malbec

This week’s selection:

Winery: Maipe

Varietal: Malbec

Price Paid: $11.19

Vintage: 2008

Area: Mendoza, Argentina

Alcohol: 14%

Purchased: Bella Vino Fine Wines

Overall: Another enjoyable bottle of wine at a good price point. As my friend Rinart has said, this varietal when from Argentina (originated in Cahors, France as Auxerroix not Malbec, the grape does so well in Argentina that they have made it the up and coming wine that it is today) seems to have more consistency than most and he really hasn’t had a bad one. Pour in the glass and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Calls out for grilled meats. The Pascual Toso Malbec reviewed several months ago was even more enjoyable.

Reviews

From the K & L Wines Website: (www.klwines.com)

90 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2008 Malbec is a glass-coating purple color with a striking perfume of violets, black cherry, and black raspberry. Exhibiting surprising complexity for its price category, the wine has gobs of fruit, savory flavors, and excellent depth and length. It is an outstanding value for drinking over the next 3-4 years. Alberto Antonini (think Altos Las Hormigas) is a consultant at Maipe which in and of itself is an indicator that the winery is focused on quality." (12/08)

The largest selling wine in the history of K&L, in terms of bottles sold, was the 2006 Pascual Toso Malbec for $8.99. I'm sure many of you remember this spectacular value. Well, I think I've found the next Toso. For the same price here is another Malbec that you can afford by the case and drink on a nightly basis. With its big nose chock full of cacao, espresso, violet, bitter root and gobs of wild berry fruit, this is aromatically packed for a wine at this price point. With air the nose becomes brighter and more high-toned, expressing more of a raspberry and cinnamon note. Full weight and with a plush feel, this is full of ever-so-slightly jammy blackberry fruit laced with cedar, chocolate cream and coffee bean flavors. Bursting with flavor, the finish is packed with black pepper, tar and mocha. Inexpensive, full of character, ready to drink, what more can you ask for? (Bryan Brick, K&L)