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Wine Recommendation
Black Coyote Wines
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bates Creek Vineyard(Stags Leap District ~ Napa Valley)
Two doctors and their hospital services colleagues – Dr. Bates, Dr. Olin Robison, Jack Ruffle, and Stanley Trotman – merged their talents and resources to form Black Coyote Wines, a consortium that produces exclusively Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Judd’s Hill winemaker, Art Finkelstein, oversees production of the 300 cases or so of Cabernet Sauvignon. He sources Cabernet Sauvignon from Steltzner’s Stags Leap District vineyards, and blends in Merlot from Juliana Vineyards, located in Pope Valley just east of Howell Mountain, one of the premier sites for Merlot in the Napa Valley.
With excellent expression of varietal and appellation – Stags Leap District Cabs, are, according to Alan Goldfarb, “powerful wines with firm tannins….they have a sense of elegance and grace” – this well-priced wine has vibrant fruit notes of boysenberry, cassis, and sour dark cherry that meld with creamy, vanillin oak notes.
Beautifully balanced, bold, mouthfilling, and slightly chewy, it sashays effortlessly from cocktail hour to dinner.
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Consulting winemaker Marco DiGiulio, with clients including
Livingston-Moffet, Petroni, and Hidden Ridge, makes Black Coyote’s Monterey County Chardonnay (48 cases were produced from the 2004 vintage).
Reviewed September 22, 2006 by Catherine Fallis.
The Wine
Winery: Black Coyote Wines |
The Reviewer
Catherine Fallis
Founder and President of Planet Grape LLC, a company committed to bringing the joy of wine, food, and good living into the lives of everyday people, Catherine is creator of the “grape goddess guides to good living,” a series of books, television presentations, seminars, and e-learning programs. The fifth woman in the world to become a Master Sommelier, grape goddess Catherine Fallis is still very much down-to-earth. |