Enobytes Wine Blog

This blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot was a stunner. After befriending a very nice couple in the tasting room where I spend my days when I am not writing about wine I was regaled with a story of a wine that I had probably not heard of nor tasted that was worth seeking out.

Imagine my surprise when Daniel Florence, a nice young man who is a financial advisor for Waddell & Reed shows up a few days later with a bottle of this wine that he was so very proud to have discovered and rightly so.

It is absolutely the best wine I have tasted this year slightly edging out even some of the best samples during our recent trip to Spain. I was told by Daniel our friend Scott Behrens formerly of the “Wine Behrens”, which is now called Friendly Vine out in Forest Grove looked for this wine for a long time and it was very hard to get.

He recited some story about tracking it down at a retail store back east. After doing a little research it turns out the local distributor, Domaine Selections, still lists the wine in their book here in Portland.

After calling Domaine Selections, it turns out they were out of the 2003 Gala 2. I will say if you get a chance to try any vintage of this wine anywhere it would be worth checking out.  Luigi Bosca makes serious wines that should be cherished and admired. ~Marc Hinton

Rating: 96 | $30 | 14.5% ABV

Find this wine: Vinquire | WineZap.com

The 2006 Bodega Luigi Bosca Gala 1 from Mendoza, Argentina is a blend of 85% Malbec, 10% Petite Verdot and 5% Tannant that needs to be in your collection if wowing your dinner guests is your objective. Big, smooth, powerful and stylish, this is a wonderful blend that gives and gives then gives some more.

The fruit aromas are dark combining vanilla and blackberry. On the palate the wine blankets your taste receptors with the type of pleasure that allows you to take your mind away from almost anything going on around you. That distraction lasts a while as the finish is just as good as any of the other characteristics this fine wine displays. ~Marc Hinton

Rating: 93 | $45 | 14% ABV

Find this wine to buy: Vinquire | WineZap.com

The driving question going into 2008 about wine, for me, revolves around integrity. Wine producers have surprised me this year in their ability to market wines that happened by mistake or the cellar rat mixed two tanks. Oreana’s Red Table Wine, from Santa Barbara (available at Trader Joe’s), the label reads mistake or fate, and then they launch into a tale of two tanks being mixed. Wasn’t that the story behind the Non-vintage Chardonnay from the Paso Robles Winery "Eos" (Novella)?

Regardless of the story behind the wine, the bottom line becomes, is it good wine at a price-point that represents value? The value of integrity continues to be challenged regarding consumers and wine producers. It does not only reflect on the producers. Consumers have their own concept of marketing integrity now believing the best quality can be mirrored at any level. A good example would be this scenario; the most asked for wine this year was Rombauer Chardonnay. Well not actually – the question usually goes like this, “My favorite wine is Rombauer Chardonnay”. I always reply, “Regrettably, we do not carry that wine” and most often the customer replies with “what do you have at less than $10 that will taste like Rombauer”? My response is always the same, “nothing", at its current asking price of $30 there is a reason I do not sell anything as good at less than $10. The wine is phenomenal and undervalued. Rombauer continues to make wines that represent integrity year after year.

Hands down, the favorite Cab people ask you to mirror would be Silver Oak “Napa
Valley” Cabernet Sauvignon again at less than $10. Read the rest of this entry »