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Red Wine Review: Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2008 | Napa Valley, California, USA

On first whiff the nose expresses enticing black and red berry fruits — both fresh and mature, but then as it sits in the glass it’s chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. In the mouth it is similarly dominated by a milk chocolate flavor mixed with blackberry and sweet black raspberry. It has a pleasant finish of more chocolate, vanilla, sweet red berry, black cherry, and boysenberry flavors that linger. There is ample, mouth-puckering acidity and mild tannins. Texture is smooth, with good weight, feeling almost syrupy.

I’m not sure what to make of this wine. It’s clearly complex with enough acidity to match with food, but when I drank it with a juicy ribeye, all I got from the wine was chocolate. Sometimes I like the taste of chocolate, but not when I’m eating steak, so perhaps it should be more of an after-dinner wine with a cheese plate. Though the acidity was ample, the tannins were surprisingly mild. Despite all the ripe fruit upfront, there was no heat on the finish, which was nice.

Also surprising was the sediment; generally I don’t expect that from a 4-year-old wine. Sediment doesn’t bother me and I don’t consider it a flaw, but I do find it curious.

My thought is this wine was going through a “dumb phase” when I poured it — a time in its evolution when it wasn’t integrated, and showing less than its full potential. I say this because there is clearly a ton of fruit, complexity, and attractive aromas and flavors, but for whatever reason it isn’t hitting on all cylinders. If you have a bottle of this vintage, keep it in the cellar for at least another 6 months to a year before giving it a try. How long can it age? Hard to say, as the acidity will hold it together, but the lack of tannin — which with acid is also a preservative — suggests that this isn’t a wine for decade-holding. On the other hand, maybe I don’t understand what this wine is — which is possible (probable?) as I consider myself a novice when it comes to California wine.

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Disclosure: I received this wine as a press sample

This wine was also reviewed by Drinkhacker, Bigger Than Your Head (2009 vintage), Pull that Cork, and The Wine Cask Blog, among others (if you’ve seen another review or written one yourself, let us know in the comments).

Rubicon 2004

Rubicon 2004

If you’re looking for a Jeep review, move on. This is a site for cork dorks.

Rubicon wine bottleLast week we learned about Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate, and the one white wine produced there, Blancaneaux. Today we’ll review the flagship wine of the estate, and the wine that gives the estate its name: Rubicon.

The 2004 vintage was one of the ripest ever seen in Napa, which means the wines of that year should be “huge”, or have a high concentration of fruit. It was the earliest harvest since 1994 due to the warmth of the season — which was a fortunate anomaly since there have been more cooler vintages than warm in the last fifteen years.

However, that warmth and ripeness did not equal abundance. In fact, 2004 was a fairly light crop, with not much fruit — it yielded 25% less cases compared to 2003. In contrast, the 2005 vintage was the largest harvest in history, but didn’t have quite the same ripeness (but it was still pretty damn ripe!).

Because of the extreme ripeness and concentration of 2004, winemaker Scott McLeod chose to age the wine in 100% French oak barrels (small ones, called “barriques”). When you have a lot of fruit, you can give it some oak to add vanilla and spice components without worrying about the wine tasting like a tree. McLeod chose French oak because it leaves less of a “stamp” on the wine; American oak barrels tend to impart more “woodiness” to a wine.

Rubicon 2004 Tasting Notes

The nose is full of violets, with blackberry and other black fruits, as well as some vanilla spice.
In the mouth you get ripe black fruit right away: black raspberry, plum, black cherry. There are equally ripe tannins and good acidity holding things together, and an incredibly silky texture. There is lots of complexity, with flavors of rum raisin, sour cherries, vanilla and other spices. Additionally, it has great length (meaning, flavors hang around in the mouth for well over a minute after swallowing), finishing with black fruit and licorice. It’s OK alone, but it’s very big and most valuable with food — I’d drink it with a braise or a stew or a hunk of cheese.

a-10 t-10 b-10 fc-9 v-7 ~ 96 Points

In addition to the 2004, I was able to get a sneak preview of the 2005 out of barrel. It’s huge, with a wide open nose of red and black berry fruits — licorice, violets, boysenberry, earth. Flavors are similar, but this wine was way too young and nowhere near ready to judge. I can tell you it’s going to be a monster. Meantime, there is the 2004 to drink (or cellar).

Winery: Rubicon Estate

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