The August Cab-of-the-Month is the 2016 Bellacosa Cabernet Sauvignon by Daniel Cohn from California. As a Cab lover myself, we are always looking for interesting wines, of varying price points. While I personally don’t have a problem spending over $100 on a quality bottle of wine, let’s face it, it’s not often an average Tuesday night warrants opening that type of bottle! It’s always such a treat when we find an excellent, hand-crafted and delicious wine for a steal. And, this wine gives us an opportunity to cover a few different points on wine labeling.
In this bottle, you’ll find a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc. These grapes make up 4 of the 6 red wine grape varietals allowed to be grown in Bordeaux, France, and make up some of the most expensive wines in the world – Bordeaux blends. Did you know? As long as a bottle of wine contains at least 75% of a single varietal, the label can hold the name of that varietal. The wine maker is not required to tell us on the label if the bottle contains any additional grapes to make up the remaining 25%. It’s common practice to label a wine Cabernet Sauvignon, even if there is a small percentage of other grapes in the mix. But why is this common, and why should we care? It’s a common belief by most American wine consumers that a bottle of wine made from a single varietal of grape is better quality than a blend of grapes. Many of us in the wine industry, and many wine conosuires understand that the blending of grape varietals often leads to a more balanced and more complex bottle. Wine makers know this to be true as well, which is why blending a few different grapes in small amounts is common practice. To appeal to the average consumer, the label often reflects the single varietal that makes up more than 75% of the wine. This isn’t hurting anyone, but may explain why there is often such a flavor difference in wines from the same region that all hold a label for the same single varietal. Often wineries will post the exact composition of the wine on their website. So if you’re curious, grab your smart phone and start Googling.
You probably enjoy Napa Valley Cabernets, as many Americans do, as do I. Yet California is home to numerous grape growing regions which are lesser known. This Cab utilizes fruit from NapaValley, blending with Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley and the Red Hills in Lake County AVA. You may already know AVA stands for American Viticulture Area. But did you know California has ___ of these areas? Because this wine is made of a blend of grapes from 4 distinct AVAs, it is labeled as North Coast. I often think of viticulture areas like states, counties, cities and neighborhoods. Of course, California is the state, North Coast would be the ‘county.’ Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Alexander Valley would represent the ‘cities’ within the ‘county’ of North Coast. Yet the grapes can come from any one or multiple places within that valley, or ‘city.’ And then we have Red Hills, which is a smaller, more specific area, or ‘neighborhood’ within the ‘city’ of Lake County.
2016 was a very high quality vintage on the North Coast. The vines bud break started early, coming out of a warm and dry winter. Moderate temperatures during the final ripening stages of the fruit led to perfect balance. This combination of factors led to wines with pure and layered flavors with excellent characteristics. The finished wine yields a deep ruby color, with complex aromas, and layers of dark fruit flavors, including blueberry, rich plum and red raspberry. Soft notes of vanilla and toast provide aromatic richness. For production, all fruit was hand sorted and destemmed to small stainless steel tanks. There followed a period of about 6 days of cold soaks, followed by warm fermentations (85-90° F) and moderate pump overs twice daily. Total skin contact ranged from 19-34 days with all fermentations being carefully basket pressed and put into barrel on full fermentation lees for malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged in 13 months in French oak barrels, of which 50% were new. The finished 2016 Bellacosa is lush in the mouth with smooth tannins and a long finish, due to the blending of appropriate grape varietals.
If you love Cabernet, ask about becoming a member of our exclusive Cab Club!!