Weekly Wine Online

Fello winos... it has been a long time. But we're back, and thank goodness for that!

After a 15 month hiatus in which I've been mired in financial data, I dipped my toe back into the wine world and found myself blissful yet again!

What got me back: a good friend and a chance to pour wine in St. Helena on Saturdays.

What made me want to write: Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Monitor Ledge Vineyard.

And what a wine it is!

Duckhorn is, in my opinion, one of the classiest wineries in Napa. You can bring your parents and grandparents here, but you can also bring the boyfriend or girlfriend you’re looking to impress. Sitting in the middle of a sauvignon-blanc vineyard, abuted on one side by mountains and the other by the Napa River, it is just hard to beat. And the wines – they’re extraordinary! The one that blew me out of the park this week was Monitor Ledge:

My boyfriend and I opened the Monitor Ledge Cab on dreary Saturday in San Francisco. After a day of fog, he was hankering for a stew; and like usual, I was hankering for some wine. What yielded was a beautiful compromise: he cooked; I poured.

The Monitor Ledge Cab initially smelled like your typical California cab: big blackberry and blueberry on the nose with a hint of cigar and leather. The first taste to me also tasted cigar-like with a powdered sugar quality. But as the wine oozed over my tongue, blackberry jam and cassis flavors emerged. And the longer the wine sat in the glass, the more the powdered sugar sweetness dissipated and real, dark and luscious fruits emerged. I felt like I was bathing in a dark, velvety soup.

And speak of soup, the stew, which was a tomato-based beef stew, brought out the darker qualities of the wine. Since the stew had so much acidity, the sweet fruit and earthy qualities that had been previously overshadowed by blackberry could emerge. Nice coffee and dark chocolates were underneath with just barely a hint of earthiness. Both with and without the food, the wine was excellent. And much to my delight, resulted in absolutely zero headache the next day – the sign of a truly perfect wine!

Wino Rating:

Yumminess: 9/10

Pairing with food: 8/10

Buy it again: 7/10

(It was a little out of my price range for every day... but perhaps for a special occassion)

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any other semi-objective write-ups about Duckhorn’s Monitor Ledge Cabernet Sauvignon. But you can read about the soil and grapes by clicking here or visiting www.duckhorn.com.

For those hankering for a try, you can purchase Duckhorn Monitor Ledge Cabernet Sauvignon at Wine.com by clicking here or at LaMaisonGournmet.com by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Pictures found at www.duckhorn.com