2014 Cellier des Princes Reserve Chateaunneuf du Pape

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This is always a challenging holiday for wine, what with all the green beer floating around, but I figured since this is a Catholic holiday I might as well go right to the top and try the wine of the pope on this St. Patty's Day!  Tonight I've opened a rather young bottle, the 2014 Cellier des Princes Reserve Chateaunneuf du Pape, a blend of Grenache (90%), Syrah (5%) and Mourvedre (5%) in this father of GSM blends.  So let's see how this one tastes!

The wine is a lighter ruby color in the glass with great clarity, just as you'd expect from a wine so heavy on Grenache.  The nose presents aromas of fresh strawberries, rhubarb, floral notes of violets and a bit of green grass.  The taste is mindblowingly different that what you'd expect from the nose, this is a rush of ripe red berries, currant, strawberries, raspberries and tart cherry that just envelop your palate before transitioning ever so gently to some mineral and green tea notes midpalate.  The tannins are soft, providing for a very smooth, dry finish with just a small reprise of tart cherry.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, it's drinking surprisingly well right now, but will no doubt improve with another few years in the cellar.  This wine would be ideal with many of those dishes that are so hard to pair with red wine, like chicken, turkey, milder fish and of course, corned beef and cabbage!  Given the holiday, this is my one day of the year to stink up the house with a crock pot full of corned beef, carrots, red potatoes and cabbage.  The fruit in this wine offers just the right amount of sweetness to counter the salty, fatty richness of the corned beef.  Cheers!

2013 Sullivan Family Vineyards Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

It's a lovely Saturday in autumn, with bright sunshine and crisp, cool air, perfect college football weather and perfect Cabernet weather!  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle of 2013 Sullivan Family Vineyards Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, one which a number of critics have described as a wine for the ages.  Now call me skeptical, but I am still hearing critics raving about how awesome the 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet vintage was, and in my experience I haven't been all that impressed with the '12s, they certainly are no match of the '07s which are now
reaching their prime.  And now I'm hearing critics rave about the '13 vintage, it was even better than '12! (in my opinion that's not such a feat, but I digress).  So before I go full on cynical, let's give this one a try.

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, with nice clarity and a classic inky center.  The nose is nice, with some nice smoky mineral note over a thin layer of ripe black fruit.  The taste is quite nice, with some ripe blackberry and cherry up front that transitions to some notes of rhubarb, spice box and dark chocolate midpalate.  The finish is quite nice, with the fine grained tannins providing a nice foundation for the long, smooth dry finish.

Overall, this was a very nice example of a quality Napa Valley Cabernet that I rate as an 8.5, with opportunities to improve with some time in the cellar.  It was also a good value for $30 from Wines Till Sold Out.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic pairing of thick Angus New York Strip grilled Pittsburgh style, with some grilled purple asparagus and a baked potato.  A nice big Cabernet like this one is the perfect complement to a nice steak.  Cheers!