Bordeaux-style Red Blend

Country: US / Alloy Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend California Winery: Silver Mountain / Santa Cruz Mountains Quite dark in the glass, this blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot and 4% Merlot starts with snappy boysenberry aromas and grows more savory with dust and dried pine needle notes. The palate’s acidity […]

Country: US / DuBrul Vineyard Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Washington Winery: Owen Roe / Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (71%) is in the lead here followed by Merlot (24%) and Cabernet Franc. Brooding aromas of herb, smoke, cherry and spice are followed by an elegantly styled palate. Lightly crunchy tannins and tart acids provide support. It’s […]

Country: France / Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Bordeaux Winery: Château Rauzan Despagne / Bordeaux This is a bright, ripe wine. It has a sense of lightness, attractive acidity and black currant flavors. This delicious, juicy wine will be ready to drink in another few months.

Country: France / Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Bordeaux Winery: Château Larose-Trintaudon / Haut-Médoc This exotic, spicy wine’s wood flavors give it a lively character. This is a medium-bodied wine, not heavy in any sense, its fruitiness and attractive acidity producing a wine that will soon be ready to drink.

Country: US / Arctos Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Washington Winery: Baer / Columbia Valley (WA) This is a Bordeaux-style blend, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc and Merlot filling it out. All the fruit comes from the Stillwater Creek Vineyard. The initial aromas are dominated with sweet, toasty, pretty new French oak, with the irresistible […]

Country: US / Del Rio Vineyard Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Oregon Winery: Cana’s Feast / Rogue Valley Southern Oregon, unlike the northern Willamette Valley, is warm and conducive to growing Bordeaux varieties, as evidenced by this hearty, tannic blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc. Right away you get kirsch and cassis from this […]

Country: South Africa / Classic Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Stellenbosch Winery: L’Avenir / This Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend, with 25% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, is complex and intriguing. It boasts a full profile of ripe fruit tones, expressed in layers of baked cherry, plum and rhubarb cake that are accented by notes of cured bacon, […]

Country: Canada / Oldfield Series 2Bench Red Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend British Columbia Winery: Tinhorn Creek / Okanagan Valley This Bordeaux-style blend is 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot, 6% Malbec (new this vintage) and 3% Petit Verdot. Carrying a whiff of musty leather, it nonetheless impresses with mixed black berries, a hint […]

Country: France / Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Bordeaux Winery: Château Sainte Barbe / Bordeaux There is plenty of ripe fruit here, the richness of 2005 evident. The flavors are of ripe blackberry jam, red plums and a strong structure of sweet tannins. There is a fresh, acidity-driven juicy lift on the finish.

Country: France / Les Comtes Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Bordeaux Winery: Château Lagarosse / Premieres Côtes de Bordeaux High toast and burnt wood are initially off-putting. The tannins in the wine are also on the smoky side. However, there is fruit here, offering some balance in this powerful, dry wine, and giving some blackberry juiciness, […]

Country: Chile / Anka Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend Maipo Valley Winery: Pargua / This is an interesting six-grape blend that’s not like most other Chilean specimens. It starts with a leathery note as well as eucalyptus, licorice and lightly minty fruit aromas. It feels cheeky and tannic but mature, with baked berry, raisin and chocolate […]

Country: US / Crane Creek Cuvee Variety: Bordeaux-style Red Blend California Winery: Lambert Bridge / Dry Creek Valley A really wonderful wine. It seems classic Dry Creek Valley, in terms of bright, spicy fruit, as polished as marble on the surface, with maybe less stuffing than, say, Napa. But that’s not to put it down. […]