WTN: Columbia Valley C.S., Anjou Villages, Hopper Creek

J. Bookwalter 2003 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Dark inky color. Tons and tons of oak...almost Silver Oak levels. Funny...the Cellar Tracker comments don't mention the heavy oaking. Despite the oak, there is a nice, smooth, silky, earthy and savory Cabernet peeking out. Definitely not my style because of the oak, but I can see that this is a "classy" version of an Oak Monster...and my friends slurped it up. I actually drank more than one glass myself...the savory fruit WAS that good... If only they had mellowed out on the oak.

2005 Chateau L'Avocat Rouge (Graves). K&L Wines had brought in this wine, and the Chateau co-owner and winemaker was in the house on Friday. $17.95. Yes $17.95. This was simply wonderful. Fantastic bright cassis fruit...plenty of fruit and in no way closed. Awesome savory/soy notes from the tannins????? Bright refreshing acidity...my one caveat is if you dislike noticeable bell pepper, you may not like this wine as much as I did. But,. as part of a balanced package...the green notes were refreshing and delicious. This would be worth $30+ to me...sometimes direct imports are a good thing!
--------------------------------
Hopper Creek (Yountville)
The person holding down the counter had a hilarious Yellow Lab who chased balls the whole time we were there.

2007 Sangiacamo Chardonnay (Sonoma County-Carneros). Beautiful bright Chardonnay fruit...does not undergo full Malolactic. Lemon curd...bright acid, savory notes to reel it in. We were on our bicycles, so did not purchase, but very fine.

2002 Las Chamizal Vineyard (Sonoma Valley) Cabernet Sauvignon. Bright acid, savory, strong licorice notes..very spicy. I've enjoyed this before. Prefer over the 2005 Atlas Peak cab, which had a disconcertingly candied note to the fruit
--------------------------
2005 Chateau Pierre Bise Sur Schistes Anjou Villages (Cabernet Franc). This started out when popped and poured with an unpleasantly candied note to the fruit. But...the herbal character of Cab Franc kicked in and became much more drinkable. However, this may be the most tannic Loire Cab Franc I have ever tasted. Had nice texture, but definitely drying tannins. Not sure how I would rate this one...is it simply closed down hard>?

2005 Chateau Pierre Bise Sur Schistes Anjou Villages (Cabernet Franc). This started out when popped and poured with an unpleasantly candied note to the fruit. But...the herbal character of Cab Franc kicked in and became much more drinkable. However, this may be the most tannic Loire Cab Franc I have ever tasted. Had nice texture, but definitely drying tannins. Not sure how I would rate this one...is it simply closed down hard>?

I assume you know that Anjou-Villages is a mixture of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. I don't know the exact percentages for this wine but there is definitely a good amount of Sauvignon. Which helps explain the vicious tannin. Along with the fact that this is some pretty rough terroir prone to tough tannic wines. If you ever see Pierre Bise's Anjou Villages Sur Spilite, that is often more suave and elegant (for the region of course!), apparently because there are more water reserves under the soil which allows the grapes to mature more slowly. But Anjou-Villages is rarely a 'pretty' thing. Fun though it may be.

By any chance do you remember who imported this wine? I was under the impression that they stopped being imported by Dressner around this time. But perhaps they still have a small West Coast importer?

And as a side note, I was working with Claude for this 2005 harvest and may have picked some of the grapes in this bottle. Hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable!

Thanks, Rahsaan...did not realize there was Cabernet Sauvignon in the bottle, too...just sorta assumed it was all Cab Franc! That explains the tannins!

Unless it was your "cooties"

I actually liked the wine more after the candied fruit disappeared. So...maybe it would be better in five years. I thought the importer was Dressner but did not write it down.

[Jenise]

Not a fan of Bookwalter as the wines tend toward heavy and sweet--in fact, yours being from the hottest year in the last ten, I'm surprised you could find any savory character at all.

Not a fan of Bookwalter as the wines tend toward heavy and sweet--in fact, yours being from the hottest year in the last ten, I'm surprised you could find any savory character at all.

Maybe its a bit of bottle age? It was not particularly "fruity" by modern American standards, but boy what a lot of oak...blanketed in oak.

[Jenise]

Not a fan of Bookwalter as the wines tend toward heavy and sweet--in fact, yours being from the hottest year in the last ten, I'm surprised you could find any savory character at all.

Maybe its a bit of bottle age? It was not particularly "fruity" by modern American standards, but boy what a lot of oak...blanketed in oak.

I'm sure bottle age played a large part in making your bottle palatable--just think how much oak it had if after all this time it's still that "blanketed"!