My first time trying the wines of Schug Carneros Estate was this past January at the Sun Wine Fest. Up until that point my familiarity with them was by reputation. So when I noticed they were represented, I made a point to taste through their wines. The wines were sufficiently impressive that I knew immediately I wanted to cover some o
f them here.
Today's selection is a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Just over 3,000 cases of this Sonoma Valley designated wine were bottled. 13% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 1% Syrah were blended with the Cabernet Sauvignon. The retail price is $26.
The first thing apparent to me about this wine is how much the Cabernet Franc does to lift the nose of this wine. Dark berry fruit abounds in the bouquet along with subtle spice notes. The first sips reveal a lot more spice and copiuous black cherry fruit. As these carry through the mid-palate they are joined by some clove and strong mocha characteristics. This Cabernet finishes with an underlying earthiness and continued spice notes. This wine is rich and mouth-filling. It's a natural companion to heartier fare. A steak would certainly suit it rather well. I found it to pair perfectly with a beef barley stew.
To fully enjoy this wine now, I recommend decanting it for a minimum of an hour. It needs that time to really open up and reveal all it's layers and charm. As with the other releases I have looked at from Schug, this Cabernet is very well balanced and quite frankly elegant. The use of oak is apparent but well in check. The style of this wine reminds me a bit of a Wellington Cabernet I looked at a few weeks ago. Both are well crafted wines from Sonoma, whose balanced style strike me as more typically European than Californian.
Although it's drinking well now I'd expect this wine to improve nicely over the next handful of years. The earthiness which is present now will likely become more readily apparent. Whether you want to drink it tonight with dinner, or lay it down for a few years, the 2005 Sonoma Valley Cabernet is another solid bet from Schug.
Coming Friday: This weeks look at Schug Carneros Estate closes with two Pinot Noir releases
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price is $22. With just over 7,300 cases made, this is Schug's second largest production. The nose reveals a lot of citrus and a hint of spice. The first sip shows more spice and citrus notes along with peach and pear characteristics that carry through the mid-palate. The finish of the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay has white pepper and little touch of candied apple. This is a medium bodied wine with firm acidity. Oak is detectable and adds to the spice characteristics throughout, but never overshadows the fruit. I found this wine to be a great complement for a classic panini with tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella. Most lighter fare will be a good match for it as well. It's also light and refreshing enough to enjoy on it's own.
The Carneros Chardonnay comes mostly (96%) from Carneros fruit. Half of that is from the Schug Estate. In a lot of ways the Carneros Chardonnay is a bird of a different feather. Even from the vanilla in the nose it reveals the additional use of oak which lends itself to greater complexity. Pear and spice present themselves in the first sip. The mid-palate has a buttery apple pie note accompanied by significant mulled spice characteristics. The finish is clean, crisp and quite refreshing. This is a bigger, richer wine with a rounder mouth-feel than the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Still the use of oak is restrained and never over the top. Sufficient acidity is present to make this a well balanced effort. More than the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, this one seems to need food.
1,600 cases of this wine were produced. Retail price on this Sauvignon Blanc is $18.
A ton of grapefruit is the main story of this Sauvignon Blanc's nose. The first sips reveals an accompanying zesty tartness. That tartness disappears pretty quickly as the wine opens up a bit in the glass. This gives way to a lot more fruit flavors that coat the mouth through the mid-palate. More grapefruit, melon and lychee fruit come out and carry on through the substantial finish, which also features an underlying spiciness that tingles the tongue and back of the throat in a very pleasant manner. This wine is clean, crisp and very well balanced. Some of the wine was aged in large oak casks. This added a layer of complexity, but is subtle enough not to detract from the fruit.
operation that was founded in 1980. They produce approximately 25,000 cases of wine per year. Walter Schug whose roots run deep in California Wine industry history, founded Schug. Previous to striking out on his own he worked for Gallo and was then the winemaker at Joseph Phelps. While at Phelps, among other things, he made Insignia which remains a benchmark California Wine.
Since 1996 their head winemaker has been Michael Cox, a Somoma native. He had previously worked side by side with Walter Schug as his assitant winemaker. Prior to that he'd worked in the cellar at Dry Creek Vineyards and at Napa's De Moor Vineyards as Winemaker. At the time he was Napa's youngest winemaker. 
Santa Ema is a Chilean Winery founded by Italian immigrants. Best known for some of their value priced wines, they also make some selections in premium price ranges.
The 2003 Santa Ema Syrah is amongst their value priced offerings. Retail is around $11 but it can generally be found in the $8 price range.
Mondavi Winery.
literally 2 people, Tara and Rich Minnick. They do just about everything themselves, including hand numbering and hand-waxing every single bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon. They planted their vineyard in the foothills of the Russian River in 1995. Their 100% varietal, 100% Estate, Cabernet Sauvignon is the only wine they make. Their total annual production is between 300 and 500 Cases. In 2005 they made 359 cases.
The first thing apparent about this wine is that it's a little on the young side right now. Decanting it for a couple of hours is highly recommended if you want to enjoy this one in it's youth.
The nose of the Mohrardt Ridge offers up lots of spice, blueberries and cedar notes. The first sip reveals oak that is firmly present but in check and reserved. The mid-palate features a lot of dark berry fruit along with continued spice notes that tingle along the tongue and back of the throat. The finish, which is substantial in length, has some light earthiness and subtle black pepper. This Wellington Cabernet is very well balanced with good acidity and firm tannins. An hour or so in the decanter does wonders to change the flavor profile of this wine and allow it to open up and shine.
California. Fruit from Napa, Sonoma, Lodi & Lake County went into this wine. It was aged for 15 months in a combination of French and American oak. Just over 9,000 cases of this wine were produced and it retails at $17.
The diversity of fruit really helps make a wine of wide-ranging character and appeal. The first thing apparent is a bouquet of candied black cherries that just explode in your nose. The first couple sips of this wine are tart and tight but it opens up and smooths itself out very quickly. There is an absolute ton of dark, jammy fruit up front that leads to a huge rich mouth-filling mid-palate. The finish features some mocha notes that are underpinned by tingly white pepper. Joel Gott's 2005 California Cabernet is lush and the finish is hefty and substantial. The wine has good acidity and is well balanced. The rich heady fruit makes it very much the New World wine that it is. It has easy drink-ability and sufficient complexity to make it interesting and a bit thought provoking. This wine will pair very well with BBQ and grilled meats in general. It also drinks very well on it's own.
in 50% new French oak. 3,100 cases of this wine were produced and it's retail price is $22. I found this wine to need a solid hour in the decanter to really show all it's true colors. Initially it had some tartness but that dissipated. The nose is full of black raspberry and earthy mushroom aromas. The first sip reveals toasted cherry flavors that follow through to the mid-palate along with substantial pepper and overall spice elements. The finish features some white pepper notes and clings to the back of the throat for a noticeable amount of time. "Etrusco" is well balanced with terrific acidity. It's clear that the Sangiovese blended in really helps balance this wine and make it very approachable. This wine works very well with pasta and red sauce as well as fairly strong cheeses.
spent two full years in 80% new French oak. Fruit was sourced exclusively at the Weyrich Family Ranch and production was limited to 500 cases. Retail price is $35.
Today's selection is the final Cabernet for the week in the value category. The Castillo de Molina Cabernet is from Curico Valley. This is estate fruit grown in 
is a sub label of 
some terrific values for my money with wines coming from South America. And Maipo Valley, where this selection hails from, has been a specific source of some of my favorite Chilean finds over time. In general I have often been able to find Chilean wines with a great earthiness to them, which is appealing to me.
The 2005 Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon was aged in a combination of American oak and stainless steal vats for 8 months. This one is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose features mostly black fruit characteristics along with subtler anise and a bit of clove. The first sip out of the bottle was tart and tight. The mid-palate has some dust and earth on it along with dark berry and soft tannins. Even after breathing the finish showed some tartness along with a few white pepper notes. That finish however is well below average in length. After the bottle is open for an hour or so and the initial tartness dissipates as do most of the other limited flavor notes this wine features. In fact, what little fruit it has seems to disappear rather quickly and be replaced by an unfortunate vegetal quality that isn't appealing.
list of wines scheduled for coverage include (not necessarily in this order):
Santa Rita - A Chilean Wine in the value category.
That at almost 75 years of age, and close to 50 years after the release of his debut album, 
does a fine job of combining Willie Nelson originals with well chosen covers. Dave Matthews' "Gravedigger" retains enough of the original versions funky vibe while simultaneously being unmistakably Willie. "Takin' On Water" has some organ parts that bring to mind mid 70's Stevie Wonder in their soulfulness. "You Don't Think I'm Funny Anymore" with it's old juke joint stomping feel to it is the best of the Nelson originals on the album. The closer though, a cover of Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody," delivered with stirring conviction is the definitive highlight of the album.
As with the previous three it was produced from fruit sourced in Ribera Del Duero. Hemar's older vineyards at 80 years old are also at an average elevation of 2,730 feet and the soil is quite stony in nature.
The 2005 Hemar Crianza spent 13 months in French oak followed by 9 months in bottle before it was released. As with the other wines I tasted in the Hemar line the Crianza straddles the line of New World fruitiness and Old World Elegance. This wine needs about 30 minutes of breathing time before it's fully ready to come out and play. Once it has had that time though it reveals itself nicely. The nose gives of an earthy mushroom muskiness that puts me in the mind of Burgundian Pinot Noir. The mid-palate is an absolute buffet of dark berry fruit with underlying notes of vanilla and a hint of clove. Hints of subtle dark chocolate hit the back of the throat and tease it with their richness. Hemar Crianza is somewhere between medium and full bodied. It's incredibly rich and full in the mouth but doesn't overwhelm. The finish is long, lingering and well above average. More of the earthiness that was apparent in the nose as well as some peppery notes come out in the finish. The acidity and balance of this wine are perfectly in check. This wine will go well with an assortment of grilled meats and other fairly hearty fare.
Rioja region. The Barón de Ley 2001 Reserva was aged for 20 months in new American oak. After that it spent a full 24 months aging in bottle.
This first thing the nose of this wine gave off was a strong whiff of menthol. I didn't find that very pleasant but it was also accompanied by some subtle cherry. The initial sip was very tart. This wine needs to be decanted for at least an hour. Once that hour passes the menthol notes dissipate and the cherry come out front and center. Accompanying the sour cherry notes, which are fairly typical of Rioja, is plenty of out front oak. As time goes on the oak fades from the forefront. The mid-plate features more cherry accompanied by some vanilla and spice notes. The wine has tremendous acidity. Not so much that it's distracting but it is ever-present and should be considered when looking for a dish to pair this wine with. The finish brings out some white pepper and a touch of earthiness. However for a wine that retails at around $22 the finish is below average in length and frankly unimpressive. Overall the wine doesn't have nearly enough complexity to justify it's price tag.
Today's selection is the third of four from 
As Spanish Wine weeks extends into it's 6th day I'm taking a look at another wine from