Optima Wine Cellars

Alexander Valley may never get the respect it deserves, because it’s home to too many grape varieties and not enough wineries. So it doesn’t have a lot of wine brands calling it home, nor does it have one grape to hang its hat on. You can bet, however, that the appellation produces superior Cabernet Sauvignon fruit year in and year out. The trick is getting your hands on bottles of it. This wine is a good place to start. For one thing, it’s already barrel- and bottle-aged for you. It came from two vineyards and comprises two grapes (Cab Sauv and Cab Franc), so it has some specificity. And there’s enough of it out there that you can actually find it.

The aromas are classic Cabernet Sauvignon, meaning red plums and rhubarb with green bell pepper (rather than the blackberry jam of recent times). The wine enters much darker, however, with dark red cherries and blueberries carrying chocolate, menthol and oak-toast layers that blend fairly well as the wine gets a grip on your palate. The tannins are still tight but the fruit is so intense that any decanting would make a big difference. When you decant, remember that the wine was not filtered (just racked with great care), so there may be some sediment – a testament to the wine’s authentic personality.

Reviewed August 2, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.