Wines
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Torre Muga 2004. Grapes: 75% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo and 10% Graciano This wine is aged for 6 months in wooden vats, 18 months in new barrels and at least 12 months in bottle. |
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Tasting |
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Wine with a powerful chromatic range going from deep purple to bright red in the rings around the rim. Seductive nose, with elegant aromas of preserves and patisserie over a spicy layer with hints of cinnamon, caramel, cocoa, dill and hay. A silky mouth-feel, with especially sweet tannins, and in the retro-olfaction phase the highly complex nuances of dried herbs and scrubland nuances come to the fore. |
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Prado Enea 2004. |
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Grapes 80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. |
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Vinification. |
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The grapes used for making Prado Enea, along with those for Torre Muga, are always the last ones to be brought into the winery. This late picking ensures ideal ripening. The grapes are then fermented naturally in 10,000-kilo oak vats with no temperature control or added yeasts. The maceration time can vary and may go on for up to twenty days. This wine is aged in 16,000-litre capacity oak vats for twelve months and then (minimum) thirty-six months in oak casks and (minimum) thirty-six months in the bottle. After cask-ageing the wine is gently fined using fresh egg whites. |
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Reserva Selección Especial 2004. |
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Grapes 70 % Tempranillo, 20 % Garnacha, 7 % Mazuelo and 3 % Graciano Fermentation with indigenous yeast in oak vats. Aged for 28 months in casks made from oak specially selected from our cooperage. Before bottling the wine is fined with fresh egg whites .Once bottled it will undergo a process of rounding off in the bottle for twelve months in the wine cellars. |
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The single vineyard wines of Rodney Strong are featured in this month's Connoisseur Club selection.
Some member of the Gold Level will received the Rodney Strong Brother's Ridge 2006 vintage, described as "Firm, intense and concentrated, rich and layered, this full blown red shows dense chew currant , anise, mineral, sage and cedary tobacco flavors....RATED 93 BY WINE SPECTATOR.
The 2007 is velvety and rich. It is full bodied with complex flavors of cassis tobacco, plum, cocoa and spicy oak, with a pleasant finish.
The 2008 Symmetry (Meritage) recieved 91 point in the Wine Spectator while the Wine Enthusiast calls it the most important red wine produced by Rodney Strong, with a 93 rating. It is a blend of all five bordeaux varietals but primarily Cabernet Sauvignon.(Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec, Petite Verdot, and Cabernet Franc)
At the Bronze Level our members will receive one bottle each of the Rodney Strong Sonoma Merlot and Cabernet, so they can see how these wines begin, and anticipate the taste experience of the single vineyard wines.
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Cakebread Cellars' winemaker, Julianne Laks, has sniffed, smelled and tasted her way through more wines than she can count during her 25 plus-year career in the wine industry. Fortunately for us, the last 20 of those years have been at Cakebread Cellars, first as an enologist and later as assistant winemaker under head winemaker, Bruce Cakebread. Julianne was promoted to winemaker when Bruce Cakebread, took the reins from his father as president of the winery in 2002.
Julianne's winemaking skill, artistic passion and intimate understanding of our vineyards are just a few of the reasons Julianne was chosen to follow in Bruce's footsteps. Her promotion marked a milestone for Cakebread Cellars; she is the third winemaker in Cakebread Cellars' history, and is the first non-family member to hold the position. Her favorite part of the job, she says, is harvest. "Because I've worked with these vineyards for such a long time, it's like seeing old friends when the grapes come in. My job is to give them the best possible reception when they arrive at the winery."
We have organized this section by variety and vintage. The descriptions are what we taste at the release of the wine. If you are looking at an older vintage, keep in mind that as the wine ages it will develop bottle bouquet and the flavors
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May begins Springtime, a season of rebirth, the beginning of soft warm breezes, and Mother's Day. Each year we dedicate the month of May as Women in Wine month and feature many, many wines from well known, well made, woman winemakers from California to Argentina, Italy to South Africa.
This month's Connoisseur Club features three different vineyards and three different woman vintners:
At the GOLD level customers will receive a Molly Meeker Meritage and the unique handprint bottled Merlot.
At the Silver level customers will receive the Geyser Peak Meritage and Reserve Cabernet. And at the BRONZE level a bottle Chateau St. Jean Cabernet.
We all know the beneficial properties of wine. Add to it the wisdom and techniques of these professional wine makers and you truly have a salubrious combination, of warmth, and liquid dedication in every sip.
Tyr it...you can taste the difference !!!!
a votre sante
Gene
