2014 Peju "The Experiment" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Sunday!  It was a bit of a lazy day for me today, I came back from church and then did a bit of laundry, caught up on the interwebs and just generally relaxed.  So what better way to cap off an afternoon of relaxing than with a nice bottle of wine!  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle of wine the boss gave me, he's really swell that way, particularly since he does a lot more Napa visits than I ever do, the 2014 Peju "The Experiment" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  After reading the label, I did a little searching on the Peju website and found the story of this wine to be fascinating.  Apparently, Peju winemaker Sarah Fowler has an annual experiment where she try various methods for toasting and constructing the oak barrels and then shares the results with her fellow winemakers in a tasting.  For the 2014 vintage, she experimented with 33 different toasting styles and 20 coopers to make this wine, so let's see how it tastes!

The wine is a deep inky black at the center, with bright garnet along the edges, classic for a Napa Valley Cabernet.  The nose is a cascade of vanilla bean, white floral notes and a hint of white pepper that practically scream for you to take a deep sip.  The taste is a rush of sweet black fruit up front, black raspberry, plum surrounded by hints cinnamon that transition to some wonderful dark chocolate and white pepper notes midpalate.  On the finish, you have a distinct emergence of vanilla bean as the well integrated tannins provide for the long, smooth and very dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, it's just a classic big Napa Valley Cabernet, with a lot of flavor complexity that you seldom see on many of the Napa styled red wines today.  This wine would be great to enjoy with hearty Italian dishes, roasts, wild game or a classic steak, but I think it would be even better just to sip on the patio with some salted dark chocolate.  Tonight I'm enjoying this wine with a rare grilled prime ribcap, topped with fresh rosemary and garlic scapes, along with a baked potato with sour cream and chives, and some fresh steamed green beans with red and yellow peppers.  Cheers!