2009 Calluna Vineyards Cuvée (CVC)
I’ve had this wine for a while. I’ve tasted with Calluna Vineyards’ winemaker David Jeffrey twice, once in April 2012 at Vinoteca in Santa Rosa, California and again at the estate in September 2012. I purchased this wine during our first tasting and promised to review it. Life got in the way. A few times I selected the bottle to drink, but put it back. When I taste a wine I really like, I want to hold onto it and drink it at just the right time. During last night’s snowstorm, I decided it was time.
The 2009 Calluna Vineyards Cuvée (CVC), Chalk Hill AVA (Sonoma County), is a Right Bank (Bordeaux)-style red blend. Jeffrey learned to make wine under Dr. Alain Raynaud of Chateau Quinault in Saint-Émilion and he captures that style of winemaking in this wine. It is comprised of 43% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec. It has a dark, purple-reddish hue. If I could describe this wine in one word, it would be balanced. It is not an over-the-top, in-your-face wine. It has aromas of black and red berries. It was aged in French oak barrels, 40% new oak, so there’s a nice balance between the oak and fruit, with flavors of blackberry, black cherry, raspberry, redcurrant, and warm spice. It is so elegant. I’m not sure being at home in a snowstorm was the appropriate venue for such a refined wine, but it sure was delicious.
Calluna Vineyards still has this wine available. Don’t let this one pass you by.