Saturday, January 18, 2014

Beaulieu Vineyard 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon / Estampa 2004 Gold Assemblage (California / Chile)


Beaulieu 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coastal Estates - When you pull a bottle out of the cellar like this (a relatively inexpensive wine with mucho age on it) that you have most likely just lost track of over the years you wonder if you should open it or just make salad dressing with it ... well my experience has always been to open it and let the chips fall where they may.  This wine ended up being kinda smoky with dried fruit character, sure it opened a little but it never gained  anything but some odd dried fruit and earthy notes on the palate - this was a bottle that would have been best to have stayed hidden, but I am glad I got it out of the cellar so that something else can take its place.   

Estampa 2004 Gold Assemblage - Whenever I pull out a wine like the previous attempt, I also pull out something as "back up" and here I used the Estampa 2004 Gold Assemblage (Red), form Chile ... this one proved to be much more interesting with its smoky mint quality right from the get go; from there it added blackberry and cassis along with hints of vanilla and mocha.  Happily it was delightfully delicious and complex.


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