Of all of the places in the world I’ve visited, one of my favorite places is still Napa Valley, California. Unlike most of their French counterparts in say Bordeaux for example, most wineries here in California Wine Country welcome non-collectors, non-critics and those with simply curious palettes.
But there is always a downside…And here it’s that tasting rooms can often be somewhat commercial and often very busy, leading to a somewhat hurried and less than satisfying experience.
Waterstone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
I have to admit that I am a sucker for a good mystery, especially when it relates to wine and where the fruit is sourced. It’s always exciting to find a wine that is relatively inexpensive yet made with fruit from well pedigreed growers or producers that charge considerably more for their wines. Take the Pine Ridge Encantado Red Blend I recently reviewed for example.
I feel like these opportunities are few and far between in the wine world. As a consumer we usually have a good idea where the fruit used to make the wine was sourced (particularly when estate grown), or we have little to no idea (the winery sources their fruit from various growers). But with the Waterstone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, it is rumored that the fruit was sourced from declassified Harlan Estate lots!
Terrazas Reserva Malbec 2009 | Terrazas de los Andes
The Terrazas Reserva Malbec hails from the province of Luján de Cuyo, located in Mendoza, Argentina, far away from Malbec’s origins in the south of France. Not far off, however, is some serious French influence. It turns out that in the 1950s the French Champagne producer Maison Moët & Chandon commissioned their wine analyst, Renaud Poirier, with the task of exploring the possibility of South American wine production. Renaud’s conclusion: That Luján de Cuyo was the best location in South America for fine wine production.
