Conway Deep Sea Napa Cab 2009

Conway Family Wines Deep Sea Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Selecting a pizza wine, for sipping with Friday night pizza, I pulled from the cellar this ten year old entry level Napa Cab. Its been four days short of exactly four years since I last tasted and posted a tasting note about this label. At that time I wrote that it had been a year ago that week, that I wrote in these pages about Conway Family Wines sending me a kind note from them about my post. At that time, I had just opened their wine for a casual weekend evening of wine, fruit and cheese.

As I have written before in these pages, I found and obtained this wine downstate Illinois at the wine merchant Friar Tucks. I tasted it and then went back and bought more. Previously, I found this producer's Syrah and went back and bought more, twice, ending up buying out their entire stock. After buying out this Cabernet, I returned to the same retailer again later and discovered they had another case on the shelves which I acquired and shared with a colleague. Such it is with these wine finds.

Based on the earlier tasting experience with this wine, we only consumed only half the bottle the first evening we opened it and found the remainder of the bottle when revisited the next evening was as good or even better than it was initially. Such it is with hearty well structured wines of a half dozen years of age. This was the same as the notes from my earlier tasting experience, when we opened re-opened it, it improved upon revisiting the following day!

Here are my notes from the previous but similar tasting of this wine, earlier this year.

Earlier I wrote that one should consider this a Negociant wine since, according to the wine producer, it is sourced from a "number of the finest, well regarded vineyards within Napa AVA’s of Rutherford, Atlas Peak and Pritchard Hill, with each one contributing their unique characteristics to our blend".

According to the producer's release, "the dark fruit notes along with distinctive and pleasant chalky sagebrush notes greet your nose at first. This Cabernet has as plush an entry as we’ve seen in a lot of years. A round, soft, mouth filling wine that shows a smooth backbone of tannins and balanced acidity. The finish wraps up nicely with a lingering reminder of the mature dark fruits, ever so slight a hint of new oak, and the ever present palette of flavors that make Cabernet so sought after!"

This has incredible QPR - quality price ratio, at its price point below $20. The wine producer lists it at $39. 

As with earlier tastings, reported on earlier, this was dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, full fruit forward black berry and black cherry fruits with a layer of smoke, spice and hints of graphite and tea, turning to tones of sweet mocha, almost caramel like, with nice balance and smooth polished tannin finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1517213

http://www.conwayfamilywines.com

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/conway-family-wines-deep-sea-napa.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/10/conway-wines-deep-sea-cabernet-sauvignon.html

Deep Sea White Hawk Vineyard Santa Barbara Syrah 2008

Deep Sea White Hawk Vineyard Santa Barbara Syrah 2008

Like another Syrah that I hold in my cellar that I discovered under the same circumstances, I found this downstate at Friar Tuck's, a wine merchant with stores across Central Illinois cities and suburban St Louis, Missouri. A few years ago I discovered Flinders Run Flinders Ranges Shiraz there and went back and bought out all that they had. Downstate for a client meeting, I picked this up last evening to enjoy with a carry out rib dinner back at my hotel. I went back today and bought out their complete inventory.

Deep Sea is a producer in Santa Barbara that speaks of their quest to feature wines that represent "maritime influenced vineyards of merit and singularity .... their origins and the impact of California's coastal climate. California's appellations are ideally influenced throughout the growing season by the unique climes created by the Pacific Ocean. The ethereal 'fog-like wave' on the label references the focus of Deep Sea wines showcasing the impact of this natural cooling on some of California's most recognized maritime appellations."

This Syrah is made with grapes from the White Hawk vineyard in Santa Barbara County.  It is aged for eighteen months in French Oak barrels. 

Dark inky purple, full bodied, thick, concentrated, chewy black and blue berry fruits with a layer of alcohol, tones of caramel and vanilla, turning to hints of black pepper and mint on a moderate tannin laced lingering finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1201424

http://www.deepseawines.com/

http://friartuckonline.com/