Cabernet Sauvignon - My Seven Top Picks!!!
It is time for me to share my top pick Cabernet Sauvignon's with you. I truly love so many different styles of wine from the Shirazs to the Merlots, the Crianzas and on and on. But the ivy league of the red wines has to be the Cabernet Sauvignons. There is just no way around it. Here are my recent 7 top picks:
Put this wine on your radar. This is an upcoming South African icon. This wine will have a future similar to what happened with Mondavi's Opus One! The Californian winemaking consultant Zelma Long, her viticulturist husband Phil Freese, Warwick Estate's Mike Ratcliffe and US importer Bartholomew Broadbent teamed up for this first South African-American wine joint venture called Vilafonte. The Vilafonte 2002 Series C made from a Paarl grapes blend is really, really convincing and promises a wine of major proportion in the future. From the getgo Vilafonte was able to get into the 90 scores with Parker. That is impressive. As always; You heard it here first!
A great California Cab! The Shafer 2002 Hillside Select is on its way to receive a perfect score of 100 by Robert Parker. Need I say more? Rich berry, spice and mint nose. Wonderful balance, powerful cassis, blueberry fruit, spice, coffee and savory notes. Just a blockbuster. Get it, if you can afford it!
Anybody that knows me, knows that in my books there is no greater Italian than this one! One of the few wines in the world that can truly rival the greatest Bordeaux! The Tenuta San Guido 2003 Sassicaia is another stellar production! It is worldwide sold out and hard to find and off course expensive. Intense blackberry and cassis aromas, offset by notes of smoke and spice, are confirmed on a palate of lush concentration underscored by firm, ripe tannins carrying into a long, elegant finish. A must have - If you can find it and afford it!
The Vasse Felix 2003 Heyterburry Cabernet Sauvignon is a incredible Australian production that comes at a very economic price and delivers quality well into the 90 scores. 88% Cabernet Sauvignon along with Malbec & Merlot, giving it a deep, rich and complex wine with notable power and concentration - enhanced by 18 months in French oak. Highly recommended!
Although classified as a fifth growth in France, Lynch Bages is one of those properties which illustrates the single most important failing of this classification; it is outdated and in desperate need of review. That, of course, will never happen, but it hardly matters. Those in the know recognizee that Chateau Lynch Bages, under the direction of Jean-Michel Cazes and with financial backing from the AXA insurance group, often produces wine worthy of a higher classification, no matter what the label says. The 2003 Chateau Lynch Bage is a spectacular example. A great, nutty, macerated fruit nose. Nice, cool style on entry, well structured with ripe and supple tannins, again nicely knitted into the fruit and texture. Dark fruit flavor profile. A definite buy!
In this small (29 ha.) Spanish vineyard only the most select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are grown. These are used to make strictly limited quantities of Torres most prestigious red wine, now known to connoisseurs all over the world. The Torres 2001 Mas Plana is a top Cabernet Sauvignon in my books. Well into the 90 scores, this wine brings a deep dense cherry color, with a touch of mahogany. Wonderfully intense bouquet with hints of cranberries, cherries and truffles. Hard to find and even harder to keep!
A great Cab from Chile. Owned and run by the Rothschilds, this Vina Almaviva 2003 scored 95 points. Very dense, with loads of raspberry ganache, black currant and fig fruit layered with loam, tobacco, mineral and cedar notes. Lots of grip on the finish, with impressive balance between the tannins, acidity and oak. Built like a true Pauillac. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenre and Cabernet Franc.
Put this wine on your radar. This is an upcoming South African icon. This wine will have a future similar to what happened with Mondavi's Opus One! The Californian winemaking consultant Zelma Long, her viticulturist husband Phil Freese, Warwick Estate's Mike Ratcliffe and US importer Bartholomew Broadbent teamed up for this first South African-American wine joint venture called Vilafonte. The Vilafonte 2002 Series C made from a Paarl grapes blend is really, really convincing and promises a wine of major proportion in the future. From the getgo Vilafonte was able to get into the 90 scores with Parker. That is impressive. As always; You heard it here first!
A great California Cab! The Shafer 2002 Hillside Select is on its way to receive a perfect score of 100 by Robert Parker. Need I say more? Rich berry, spice and mint nose. Wonderful balance, powerful cassis, blueberry fruit, spice, coffee and savory notes. Just a blockbuster. Get it, if you can afford it!
Anybody that knows me, knows that in my books there is no greater Italian than this one! One of the few wines in the world that can truly rival the greatest Bordeaux! The Tenuta San Guido 2003 Sassicaia is another stellar production! It is worldwide sold out and hard to find and off course expensive. Intense blackberry and cassis aromas, offset by notes of smoke and spice, are confirmed on a palate of lush concentration underscored by firm, ripe tannins carrying into a long, elegant finish. A must have - If you can find it and afford it!
The Vasse Felix 2003 Heyterburry Cabernet Sauvignon is a incredible Australian production that comes at a very economic price and delivers quality well into the 90 scores. 88% Cabernet Sauvignon along with Malbec & Merlot, giving it a deep, rich and complex wine with notable power and concentration - enhanced by 18 months in French oak. Highly recommended!
Although classified as a fifth growth in France, Lynch Bages is one of those properties which illustrates the single most important failing of this classification; it is outdated and in desperate need of review. That, of course, will never happen, but it hardly matters. Those in the know recognizee that Chateau Lynch Bages, under the direction of Jean-Michel Cazes and with financial backing from the AXA insurance group, often produces wine worthy of a higher classification, no matter what the label says. The 2003 Chateau Lynch Bage is a spectacular example. A great, nutty, macerated fruit nose. Nice, cool style on entry, well structured with ripe and supple tannins, again nicely knitted into the fruit and texture. Dark fruit flavor profile. A definite buy!
In this small (29 ha.) Spanish vineyard only the most select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are grown. These are used to make strictly limited quantities of Torres most prestigious red wine, now known to connoisseurs all over the world. The Torres 2001 Mas Plana is a top Cabernet Sauvignon in my books. Well into the 90 scores, this wine brings a deep dense cherry color, with a touch of mahogany. Wonderfully intense bouquet with hints of cranberries, cherries and truffles. Hard to find and even harder to keep!
A great Cab from Chile. Owned and run by the Rothschilds, this Vina Almaviva 2003 scored 95 points. Very dense, with loads of raspberry ganache, black currant and fig fruit layered with loam, tobacco, mineral and cedar notes. Lots of grip on the finish, with impressive balance between the tannins, acidity and oak. Built like a true Pauillac. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenre and Cabernet Franc.
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posted by ddb at 12:01 PM
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