UnwindWine: Red Blend

Showing posts with label Red Blend. Show all posts

Friday, April 3, 2026

Lunch at The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop DG

We lunched at the The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop in Downers Grove, (IL).

The Cellar Door offers a wide selection of wines BTG, by the glass, or by the bottle for purchase, to take home, or drink in the store with food, for a nominal corkage fee of $10.

The Cellar Door was founded by Sean Chaudhry in 2005 and purchased by longtime General Manager Ryan Jansky in 2021. Sean also owns The Hinsdale Wine Shop in nearby suburban Hinsdale, IL. Sean has traveled the world, developing personal relationships with winemakers and exporters who specialize in small wineries that still hand-pick grapes and personally tend to the day-to-day management of their craft vineyards. It’s because of these relationships, he’s able to provide remarkable wines at a good value.

The Cellar Door was created to offer enthusiasts a place to relax and enjoy great food and wine, at reasonable prices.

The Cellar Door consists of a literal wall of wine, opposite a tasting bar, with casual seating inside, at the bar, or out front outside on the patio.

The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop seeks out interesting wines representing all the popular and designated varietals, to pair with a selection of food options, at agreeable prices.

Besides Daily Specials, the food menu includes Salads, Sandwiches, Cauliflower Crust Pizzas, and Cheese & Charcuterie Flights, market portions served with toasted focaccia bread, GF crackers, and three accompaniments and Warm Meat Options - Chicken Liver Pate (Brandy & Sage), and of course, Desserts.

For each food selection, there is a suggested Wine Pairing.

For lunch we ordered a Cheese & Charcuterie Flight with toasted focaccia bread, GF crackers, and olive oil. We also ordered the Truffle Burrata Bruschetta - grape tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic & truffle oil, burrata, balsamic fig glaze, toasted baguette, Maldon salt, and the Bacon Wrapped Dates (g/f) goat cheese, medjool dates, Benton’s bacon, red pepper coulis, dressed greens.

All were artfully prepared and presented by friendly, attentive, knowledgeable staff, and were delicious, actually exceeding our expectations in all respects!

In addition to the Truffle Burrata Bruschetta and Bacon Wrapped Dates, we also selected a cheese and pate’ plate. Our selections:

- Delice de Bourgogne (soft triple cream, cow's milk, Burgundy, France)
- Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk (soft triple cream, cow's milk, California)
- White Stilton with Mango and Ginger (sweet semisoft cow's milk, UK)
- Benning's Goat Gouda (aged, firm goats milk, Holland)
- Warm Meat Option - Chicken Liver Pate’ (Brandy & Sage).

For a wine accompaniment we selected this interesting Napa Valley Red Blend -

Robert Foley “The Griffin” Napa Valley Red 2019

Winemaker Robert (Bob) Foley began his wine making career in the Napa Valley in 1977, after graduating from UC Davis with degrees in both Viticulture and Enology. He spent his first year working for Heitz Cellars, followed by 15 years as the founding winemaker for Markham Vineyards.

In 1992, Bob began another 15 years as the founding winemaker for Pride Mountain Vineyards. During this town, he also created the highly acclaimed Switchback Ridge, Hourglass, Paloma, and School House wines.

In 1998 he founded Robert Foley Vineyards where he is predominantly focused, as well as serving as winemaker for Padis Vineyards, Herson Family Vineyards, and JennaMarise Wines.

In 1998 he produced Robert Foley Vineyards flagship Claret and has since expanded to offer a diversified portfolio of big reds including Petite Sirah, Merlot, Charbono, in addition to the limited-release estate bottled Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and Howell Mountain Merlot, as well as a Carneros Pinot Noir, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon, and this interesting blend wine that we drank, “The Griffin”.

Bob has also bottled four of his favorites: a medium-bodied Chablis-style Chardonnay, a Syrah he calls Kelly's Cuvée, a Cabernet Franc, and a Port-style dessert wine named Conclusão.

Bob’s reputation for producing very expressive wines that finish gracefully continues to develop at his winery facility on Napa County’s Howell Mountain, where more than 1,000 barrels are housed in an extensive cave system (completed in 2008) for the production of Robert Foley wines.

When Bob's not making wine, he spends time with his wife (and RFV's business manager) Kelly Kehoe, and his children and granddaughters. You can also find him mountain biking local trails, singing and playing guitar in The Robert Foley Band, or SCUBA diving.

“The Griffin” is a blend of the best in the red cellar that changes varietal composition each vintage. The Griffin on the Foley family crest in Irish heraldry combines the strengths of the lion, king of beasts, with the eagle, king of the skies. A winemaker’s dream is to be artistically free to combine characters into wine that is purely hedonic and non-compliant with varietal regulations, so The Griffin’s blend changes with every vintage.

Winemaker notes for this release of “The Griffin” - “Ripe black and red berry fruit abound! Full-bodied and mouth-coating, this fine red blend is all about fresh clean fruit with ultra-soft tannins and a long lingering finish. The Griffin blend will satisfy every need for a red wine.”

Like its namesake, this Griffin ’is a powerful combination of strengths.’ This year’s blend is 57% Syrah, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Petite Sirah.

Jeb Dunnuck rated this release 93 Points,.

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex concentrated brambley black berry fruits with notes of cassis, creosote and hints of black pepper and spice with full tannins on a rich finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?5012401

https://www.robertfoleyvineyards.com/about

https://www.cellardoorwine.com/

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Mollydooker Two Left Feet with Ribs and Sliders

Wife Linda went out to lunch with a friend and brought me back an order of ‘Sliders’. With them and leftover BBQ Ribs from earlier in the week, I pulled from the cellar this complex and robust but easy sipping red for an accompaniment.

Readers of these pages know this producer and their portfolio of cartoonish characters’ labels from our long history collecting and drinking these wines, as featured in blogposts - Mollydooker 'Carnival of Love' Shiraz 2011, and Mollydooker "Scooter" Merlot, to name a few.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/search?q=Mollydooker

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2014/02/mollydooker-carnival-of-love-shiraz-2011.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/02/mollydooker-scooter-merlot.html

Mollydooker Two Left Feet 2019

This is another whimsical, comical label from Mollydooker, which gets its name from the affectionate knickname given a “left handed person” in Australian slang. The name “Two Left Feet”, according to the producer, is “What can happen when you dance after a glass or two of Mollydooker.”

This interesting Red Blend 69% Shiraz, 16% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is sourced from several vineyards in the Western Australia Barossa Valley region - Home Blocks, Reedy Creek, Seaview Road, Mongrel Hill, Gemtree, Coppermine Road, Aldinga Road, Gateway, Ryan Road, Birchmore, Long Gully Road, Hawthorn Ridge, Malpas Road, Joppich and Semmens.

It was Barrel fermented and matured/aged in 97% American oak; 3% French, 44% new; 46% 1yr old; 10% 2yr old.

Winemaker Notes - “This seamless blend of Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet has created an enticing wine that exceeds all expectations. Ripe fruits of dark cherry, blackberry, plum and raspberry are complimented by the secondary notes of vanilla and mixed spices. The silky, satin like fruit profile, encompassed by lovely ripe tannins, cascades effortlessly through the palate providing fantastic depth.”

This everyday sipper is bold, concentrated and complex - ideal with grilled meats, pizza, and hearty pasta dishes, robust cheeses and savory stews.

Wine Spectator-Australia wrote - "Ripe and jammy, with candied notes of milk chocolatecovered cherry, raspberry preserves and violet on a supple, juicy, easy-drinking frame. Hints of herbs, tobacco and cardamom linger. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot..."

Winemaker Tasting Notes - This seamless blend of Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet has created an enticing wine that exceeds all expectations. Ripe fruits of dark cherry, blackberry, plum and raspberry are complimented by the secondary notes of vanilla and mixed spices. The silky, satin like fruit profile, encompassed by lovely ripe tannins, cascades effortlessly through the palate providing fantastic depth and WOW factor.

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3868657

https://mollydookerwines.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/USA_2019_2LF_Techsheet.pdf

https://mollydookerwines.com/

Saturday, December 13, 2025

Big Red Wines for Christmas & Birthday Celebration

Big Red Wines for Christmas Lights Tour and Birthday Celebration Gathering

Alec and Vivianna hosted a gala second birthday celebration for daughter/grand-daughter Millie, that included for the second year, a bus tour of neighborhood Christmas holiday decoration light displays.

Highlights of the Napeville Christmas Lights tour including the “Believe” house and the Taylor Swift Tribute display.

The gathering provided an opportunity to share a broad selection of festive food and wines.

Alec served a flight of whites and reds ….

Alec served a favorite label, Venge Vineyards Scout’s Honor from a large format magnum, paired with another Venge, Stagecoach Vineyard Shiraz, that I brought from our home cellar.

We have fun with the Venge branded portfolio of wines with their prominent “V” on the label, in regards to daughter-in-law Vivianna!

Venge Vineyards Napa Valley Scout’s Honor Red Blend 2018

This is a mainstay of our cellar that we keep on hand for such occasions. We have a half dozen vintages of this label in our cellar, drinking and cycling the oldest, replacing it as we go with the latest current release. This is the latest, most current release in which they introduced the new branding of a painted wine bottle as opposed to the more traditional and modest glued paper label. This was our first tasting of this vintage release that just appeared in distribution in Chicagoland in recent weeks and is slated for general distribution this winter.

This wine is based on a tradition of producing a full bodied, robust, fruit filled red wine based on old-vine Zinfandel and blended with dry-farmed Petite Sirah, old-vine Charbono, and finished with mountain vineyard Syrah.

The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.

This is unique Red Blend is always a crowd pleaser!

The blend for this release is 63% Zinfandel, 16% Charbono, 12% Petite Sirah, and 9% Syrah; aged in 50% new American Oak and the balance in once-used tight grained French Oak for 14 Months.

Grapes were farmed and harvested from four single vineyards in Napa Valley. The Zinfandel was picked from two, old-vine (60 to 100+ years old), dry-farmed vineyard sources: Venge’s newly acquired “Signal Fire Vineyard” estate, and the Frediani Vineyard—both located in the heart of Calistoga. The Charbono is from old, dry-farmed vines (60 to 100+ years old) also planted in the Frediani Vineyard. Robbie Mondavi’s Oso Vineyard located on Howell Mountain supplies the Petite Sirah; the Syrah from Napa’s finest, from Stagecoach Vineyard, high in the mountains of the Atlas Peak AVA.

The Winemaker notes sum it up perfectly: "The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.'

"This vintage has a gorgeous, concentrated assemblage of violets, anise, honeysuckle, blue herbs, and a touch of vanillin. The palate is pure richness with loads black fruits and currants, pepper spice, and an enveloping masculinity of char and tannins from the Syrah, Charbono and Petite Sirah. A seamless balance and mouth coating deliciousness lead to a wine that is quite pleasing to the senses. Cellared correctly it will age for 5 to 8 years."

Everyone loved this wine, especially with the tangy BBQ ribs.

RM 92 points.

https://www.vengevineyards.com/

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3525137

I took from our home cellar another Venge “V” wine - a favorite label that we all enjoyed together last month as part of another family celebration that was featured in this blogpost, Venge Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz, which is excerpted here.

Venge Napa Valley Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz 2015

As we did when we visited our newest grand-daughter, Ryleigh, home from the hospital/delivery, and took from our cellar this big bold ‘sipping’ wine to enjoy with artisan cheeses, for the occasion. Shown below, proud grand-mothers and the new grand-baby.

We took one of our Venge Vineyards wines, with their signature “V” branding, that we have fun with daughter-in-law Viviana, now able to drink again after her maternity abstention.

Venge Vineyards up in Calistoga, Napa Valley, is owned by Kirk Venge, son of legendary Nils Venge, whose family emigrated from Denmark four generations ago. Originally in wine and spirits importing, the family became winemakers in the 1960s, when Nils studied viticulture at the University of California at Davis. By the 1970s Nils was producing wine in the Oakville district of Napa Valley. He started Saddleback Cellars and became one of the valley’s leading winemakers.

We visited Nils at Saddleback and at other wineries, several times during the nineties. One of our more memorable days, featured in this blogpost, Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils Venge, we toured Saddleback, then lunched together at Tre Vigne in St Helena, then we drove up to Calistoga to meet Kirk at the new Rossini Ranch location where they were digging wine caves.

The old Rossini Winery in Bell Canyon, had a historic stone building that dated back to 1891. The Venge’s purchased this property in the mid 1990s and completely restored this old ‘ghost’ winery which had sat vacant from prohibition until their purchase.

They produced their wines there until they sold the winery in 2008 to the Foley Wine Group, (although they kept the rights to the Venge brand and name). Nils sold that property to vintner William Foley and it is now home to Merus Vineyards.

After selling the Rossini property, Kirk acquired their Calistoga property including the Bone Ash Vineyards, as well as taking over the Venge Vineyards brand from Nils. They built a new winery that was completed two years later. In the fall of 2020, the winery survived a very close encounter with flames from the Glass Fire burning right onto the property and almost up to the winery itself.

Venge wines are popular and highly allocated, the most premium labels exclusively to their wine club, appropriately titled “In Venge Veritas” and now is called the Wine Guild; it is limited to 1,000 members and is at capacity, subject to a waiting list.

We hold numerous Venge labels spanning a dozen vintages, including a few dating back to the early days when Nil’s was still principle. We acquired a mixed case of several vintages, from 2013 through 2017, of this limited release label at auction.

This vineyard and Lot specific designated label is sourced from the notably Stagecoach Vineyard that sits high in the Vaca range on the east side of Nape Valley, high above Oakville and St Helena, about eight miles up Soda Canyon Road sitting about 1,800 feet above the valley floor. This was considered some of the last frontier of the Napa Valley – a wilder, more rugged country, fragrant with wild herbs and dotted with rare native plants.

The Stagecoach site rugged terrain first made history when gentleman bandit Charles Earl Bowles, known as Black Bart, robbed the daily stagecoach that travelled over the hill from St. Helena to Monticello. The hills were planted to vinis vinifera (wine grape vines) by early German settlers in the late 1800’s. They were abandoned during Prohibition and the remote ground lay fallow until 1995 when Dr. Jan Krupp purchased the 1,100+ acres that stretches from the southern edge of Pritchard Hill overlooking Oakville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak Appellation.

Today, nearly 600 acres of the vast site are planted to various varieties, most notably stagecoach is Cabernet-focused however Syrah is planted in the highest elevations. Venge has a long-term contract on the I-4 Block, that sits on the highest peak of the vineyard, adjacent Pritchard Hill. It is considered one of the most ideal areas for growing mountain Syrah.

The property was acquired in 2016 by the E. & J. Gallo Winery. Today the 600+ acres of Stagecoach vineyard planted to vines, is the largest contiguous vineyard in the Napa Valley. The 1,300+ acres of rocky, volcanic terroir extends from the south-eastern of Pritchard Hill area overlooking Oakville and Yountville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak appellation.

Over 80 Wineries source grapes from Stagecoach Vineyard, with over 30 wineries featuring the Stagecoach name on their labels, and over 25 produce vineyard designated labels specifying the Stagecoach Vineyard.

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner.

Venge Napa Valley, Atlas Peak, Stagecoach Vineyard “Block I-4” Syrah 2015

We hold a half dozen vintages of the Venge Single Vineyard designated labels. This particular vintage is from the year that the new parents, Alec and Vivianna first met.

This single vineyard, select block designated label is 100% Syrah from the iconic vineyard high up in the Vaca range near Atlas Peak.

Winemakers notes for this label - “Goodness, this is pure, volcanic mountain Syrah at its finest! This wine possesses a bold, deep, dark color that opens the door to an array of black fruit aromatics. Cassis, blackberry, warm toasted bread and French Oak vanillin all fill the glass with purpose. While still young and in development, the palate shows superior promise with minerals, tongue swirling acidity, cherry and black plum. The tannins are firm and support the back palate for several moments beyond the initial taste. If cellared correctly, this wine will continue to improve for over a decade. Limited production runs make this single-vineyard Syrah all the more precious”.

This was produced according to the “Method, Pellenc Destemmed Via Gravity to Open Top Fermenters, 5-Day Whole Berry Cold Soak, Slow Cellar Temp Fermentation Over 19 Days On Skins, 100% Carbonic Native Primary and Secondary Fermentation, Free Run and Press Fractions Combined to Build Structure and Durability”.

This was aged in 100% French Oak, 60% New Francois Frères, then bottled Unfiltered

Typical annual production for this label is about 400 Cases

Various releases of this label were rated 95 points by The Wine Independent and 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 93 from The Wine Enthusiast and 92 from Wine Spectator. Wine Advocate gave the 2011 release 96 points, while the 2010 got 94 points from The Wine Enthusiast.

This was dark inky purple colored, full bodied, rich, dense concentrated, super sweet ripe black berry and plum and blue fruits, with notes of cassis, bacon fat, clove spice, cigar box and tobacco leaf on the full round tannin lingering finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3223878

https://www.stagecoachvineyard.com/map/index.php

https://x.com/vengevineyards @VengeVineyards

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner.

Monday, October 20, 2025

Gia-Mia Carry-out with duo of Big Reds

Gia-Mia Carry-out with medley of red wines

We visited kids and new grandbaby and took carry out dinner from Gia-Mia Restaurant (Naperville).

For wine pairing with the hearty zesty Italian fare I brought from our home cellar a robust red wine from Venge Vineyards. I’ve written regularly in these pages the fun we have with this label and their prominent “V” branding, a signature brand for our daughter-in-law Vivianna.

Tonight, we took Venge Scout’s Honor, their unique big red Zinfandel based blend. As part of proper cellar inventory management, I took the oldest vintage release of this label from the half dozen vintages we hold and maintain for such occasions. We wrote about the producer and this label as part of previous tastings of this label from earlier vintages in these blogposts -

Venge Vineyard "Scout's Honor" Napa Valley Red Blend 2017

Venge Vineyard "Scout's Honor" Napa Red 2015.

Venge Vineyards Scouts Honor Red Blend 2018

First produced in 1996, this wine is dedicated in memory of the Venge family beloved, yellow Labrador Retriever, Scout. Rescued in 1989 from the Napa County Animal Adoption Center, he welcomed visitors to the winery for seven years. I recall the vineyard dog Scout from our earliest visits to the winery and estate vineyards.

This unique Zinfandel-dominated Proprietary Red Blend is 63% Zinfandel, 16% Charbono, 12% Petite Sirah, and the remaining 9% Syrah.

This is sourced from many old vine vineyard sites across Napa Valley and Sonoma County, that are managed by families who have been farming for over 100 years and who own and work the vineyards themselves.

The Vineyard sources included:

Signal Fire Vineyard, Venge’s Calistoga Estate, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 70+ Years)

Frediani Vineyards, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years)

Luvisi Vineyard, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years)

Moss Creek Vineyard, Capell Valley, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 50+ Years)

Korte Ranch Vineyard, Saint Helena, Napa Valley (Old Vines |70+ Years)

Monte Rosso Vineyard, Moon Mountain, Sonoma County (Old Vines |100+ Years)

Grist Vineyard, Bradford Mountain, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County (Old Vines | 50+ Years),

Kick Ranch Vineyard, Rincon Valley, Fountain Grove, Sonoma County

The unique dual AVA (Napa Valley plus Sonoma County) listing of this wine allows Venge to continue to produce a high-quality red blend in volume from year to year. Napa Valley, old-vine vineyards are becoming very scarce commodities as they are being replanted to Bordeaux varieties or purchased by competing interests.

So, Venge have ended up including Sonoma County fruit sources from their sister winery, in Russian River Valley, where delicious, old-vine crops are abundant and contribute complexity and expressive, concentrated flavors in the resulting wine.

Note it is labeled ‘Napa Valley’ which means the majority, more than 75%, to be precise, of the contents are sourced from Napa Valley.

Winemaker Notes - “The small, individual lots of fruit were destemmed into a combination of stainless steel tanks and open top fermenters, where whole-berry fermentation took place for an average of 20 days. The wine was barrel aged for 14 months in 50% new American Oak and the balance in once used tight grain French Oak. No conventional pumps were used in the making of this wine. Only diaphragm air pumps, forced air pressure movement, or bulldogging, and transfers by gravity were employed to preserve the pure fruit integrity in the wine.”

This release was rated 92 points (and ‘Editors’ Choice’) by Wine Enthusiast, and Jeb Dunnuck, and 91 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

Consistent with earlier tasting (s) … Deep garnet-purple color, full-bodied, rich, forward, bright vibrant expressive ripe plum, jammy blackberry and cherry fruits with cedar, spice, cigar box and earthy balsamic notes with vanilla and oak turning to soft tannins on the round finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3525137

http://www.vengevineyards.com/

@VengeVineyards

Alec then pulled from his cellar this rare limited release big red Napa Cabernet.

Scarlet Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

I have the 2013 release of this label in our cellar which I wrote about in this blogpost back in 2016, McGah Family Vineyards Scarlet (excerpted below), so I was eager to try another release from this producer.

McGah Family Vineyards Scarlet

We first discovered this McGah Family Vineyards Scarlet when it was a highlight of a Vin Chicago Naperville Weekly Wine Tasting where we tasted and acquired an earlier release of this wine.

Vin Chicago is a City (Chicago) wine merchant who back in 2016, had a Naperville and some other suburban locations (since closed), who would host a weekly wine tasting at their local store (s). They regularly featured premium and ultra-premium wines such as this one. While the store only had one case of this premium McGah Family Vineyards Scarlett, yet, they still opened it for tasting from which I acquired the last remaining couple of bottles. That 2013 release was awarded 95 points by Wine Advocate.

Having loved that release, I was excited and eager to try this more recent release of this limited production boutique label. Alec acquired this as an after market auction purchase.

McGah Family Vineyards "Scarlett" Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

The McGah Family own and operated 64 acres of vineyards in the storied Rutherford appellation on the east side of the central valley near Silverado Trail, where the proprietors reside to this day.

For four generations, the McGah Family have sold fruit to other producers, and also produce Scarlett Wines under this rebranded label which was named after the producer/founder's daughter.

The McGah Family were most notably known for co-founding the Bay Area Oakland Raiders NFL team. Sherratt Reicher was grandson of E.J. McGah, former Boston Red Sox player and second generation Oakland Raiders owner.

Following a sports career as defensive assistant and scout for the Raiders, he formed the Hudson Companies in 2002 that included Scarlett Wines and McGah Family Vineyards in its portfolio. The McGah family maintained its ownership in the Raiders until 2005.

Scarlett "McGah Family Vineyards" Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

This is estate sourced, 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot. It was barrel aged in 85% new French oak consisting of Darnajou, Taransaud, Marcel Cadet, Remond, Trueil, and Sylvain barrels.

Winemaker notes - “The 2018 McGah Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a brooding, complex, and beautiful Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon that can only be made in this storied appellation. The uplifting aromatics showcase multiple layers of black cassis, red fruits, and earthy components known for this terroir. The mid palate is perfectly balanced with abundant blue, red and black fruits, followed by a full-bodied mouthfeel that hovers across the spectrum of the palate. Perfectly integrated structure and polished tannins lead to a detailed and long finish that carries the signature Rutherford dust component that our wines are known for. A blend from five of our Cabernet Sauvignon blocks on the estate, this wine showcases the unparalleled terroir of the McGah Vineyard. Allow 2-3 years for the tannins and fruit to come together or enjoy it in its prime 5-10 years out.” - Mike Smith, Winemaker

This 2018 release was rated 93 points by International Wine Review and Jeb Dunnuck,

Dark inky, blackish purple colored, full bodied, dense rich and concentrated yet smooth and polished, complex core of sweet black raspberry and black currant fruits accented by cassis, mocha, graphite, touch of vanilla and sweet spicy oak with smooth polished tannins and mouthfeel on the lingering finish.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3286306

http://www.scarlettwines.com/

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Wine Medley with Pasta Shrimp Tenderloin in vodka cream sauce

Diverse flight of wines with Linguini Pasta, Shrimp and Ground Tenderloin in vodka cream sauce

Following our gala neighborhood social end of summer celebration gathering, Linda prepared a delicious Linguini Pasta with Shrimp and Ground Tenderloin in a vodka cream sauce.

We opened the medley of wines remaining from the labels served the previous evening.

The remaining wines from the wine flight included:

Gérard Bertrand Languedoc Hampton Water Rose’ Blend 2023
JC Wickens Swerwer Chenin Blanc 2018
Stolpman Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara County Rousanne 2019
Madame de Beaucaillou Haut-Médoc 2018
Spring Valley Vineyards ‘Katherine Corkrum’ Walla Walla Cabernet Franc 2015

Each of these wines were featured in detail in these pages in the blogpost - End of summer neighborhood social - small plates and assorted wines.

The shrimp, beef tenderloin, and pasta with the robust, vibrant tangy vodka cream sauce paired well with the whites, the Rose’ and the Reds, offering a fun food and wine pairing tasting opportunity. It was great fun sampling and comparing the pairing of the different wines with the meal.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Robert Craig Affinity Duo with Grilled Beefsteaks

Robert Craig Affinity Duo Mini-Vertical with Grilled Beefsteaks

We were invited to son Alec’s and D-in-law Vivianna’s for midweek dinner of grilled beefsteaks, roasted potatoes and grilled onions - a chance to enjoy family including our grand-daughters.

Prior to dinner, we enjoyed some artisan cheeses with crackers and fresh grapes, and Linda brought a mixed green Ceasar salad.

For pairing with the grilled beefsteaks, I pulled and brought from our home cellar an aged vintage Red Blend - Robert Craig Affinity Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007.

This label is the Bordeaux varietal blend from Robert Craig. We have a long history with this producer and their numerous Napa Valley Cabernets dating back to their inaugural release in 1993, and they represent one of the largest and longest holdings in our wine cellar collection.

Notably, Alec had just received a recent release of this same label which allowed the opportunity to do a mini-vertical comparison tasting of the 2007 and 2022 releases. He shared, and I took home a bottle of this release extending my vertical collection to nearly two dozen vintages.

We first tasted the 2007 vintage of this wine from a barrel sample, and acquired this label release during the Robert Craig Harvest Party, at the Winery and Vineyards estate high atop Howell Mountain back in 2009 as featured in this blogpost - Robert Craig Howell Mountain Harvest Party 2009.

Linda, Robert and me
With Bill and Beth C and Rachel,
Robert Craig Hospitality Ambassador

I’ve written about Robert Craig and their Cabernet Sauvignon portfolio and this label numerous times in these pages, which are excerpted here - as last featured March 2, 2025 - Robert Craig Affinity Napa Cabernet 2007, and previously January 25, 2022 Robert Craig Affinity 2007.

We hold more than two decades of this label dating back to the inaugural release in 1993. This is part of a case we acquired of this label at the release party at the winery high atop Howell Mountain, so it is one we know well.

I have written about Robert Craig Affinity Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in these pages many times including this detailed blogpost back in 2019, and again in 2021 in this post - Tomahawk Rib-eye Dinner features Robert Craig Affinity Duo, both partially excerpted below.

Robert Craig is one of our favorite Napa Valley producers and represents one of our largest holdings in our cellar. We've held many wine dinners with Robert and Lynn Craig and attended many events at the estate and winery. We have many fond memories of those dinners, lunches and other tasting events, and hearing Robert talk about this label.

We visited Robert Craig's site high atop Howell Mountain several times, as shown here with wine buddy Andy, sister Jan and bro-in-law Bill, and wine buddy Bill and Beth C. One of our memorable trips featured a picnic lunch at the site overlooking the valley below shown below. It was during that trip that Bill discovered and subsequently sourced Howell Mountain Cabernet, Affinity and Robert Craig Zinfandel which they served at daughter Krista's wedding.

With Robert Craig at the estate high atop Howell Mtn
back in 2008.

As mentioned above, we hold as many as two decades of Robert Craig’s portfolio of labels’ vintages dating back to the inaugural vintage release in 1993. This label, Affinity, represents the Robert Craig Cabernet Sauvignon based blend of Cabernet Sauvignons and other Bordeaux varietals sourced from the various Napa Valley appellations.

Robert Craig flight of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons

Affinity is the Bordeaux Blend of the Robert Craig portfolio such that Robert always took immense pride in this label, as the entry level introduction to his 'three mountains and a valley' appellation select Napa Cabernets, referring to his appellation designated premium labels from Mt Veeder, Howell Mtn and Spring Mountain. There were also bottlings from Atlas Peak and Mt George and in later years he would say ‘five mountains and a valley’. He took pride in this providing early gratification quality drinking at an early age, yet as shown tonight, it has some longevity for aging for a decade or more.

I recall many times, Robert speaking fondly of this label and the QPR - quality price ratio it provided, as he strived to hold the price point of this wine to provide excellent value and be a draw to the Robert Craig brand. The appellation designated labels sold for twenty to thirty percent more. I wrote recently about the discontinuation of the Mt Veeder label after two decades of being one of the flagship labels. This was especially poignant as this was Robert's favorite label of the portfolio, having started his career on Mt Veeder.

Sadly, Robert passed away in 2019 and I wrote about him in a Tribute Blog at that time. I opened a 2007 vintage of his favorite label, Robert Craig Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon that evening.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/09/robert-craig-tribute.html

I wrote back in 2019 about Robert's passing in a Tribute to Robert Craig, when the business turned over to new leadership.

Robert never promoted or played up the fact this label was a carefully crafted Bordeaux Blend comprising all the Bordeaux varietals, rather he focused on it as an introduction to the portfolio of Robert Craig Napa Valley Cabernets.

Robert Craig "Affinity" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend 2007

This release was awarded 96 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 92 points Wine Enthusiast.

As noted above, we first tasted this wine from a barrel sample and acquired this release during the Robert Craig Howell Mountain Harvest Party '09 back in 2009.

Robert Parker wrote in 2009, "Give it 2-3 years of cellaring and drink it over the next 15 or possibly 20 years. This is the best group of wines I have ever tasted from Robert Craig Winery. Not only is there not a single disappointment in this portfolio, but these are all noteworthy wines, with thrilling levels of quality. Moreover, they are moderately priced for Napa Valley as well as ageworthy. I think these are the finest wines that I have ever tasted from Robert Craig Cellars."

Wine Enthusiast wrote of this release, 'Craig has produced his best bottling since the late 1990s'.

This year’s blend is heavier on the petit verdot, with a composition of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 8% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Malbec.

Back in 2022 I wrote, “this exceeded my expectations for this label and indeed was one of the best drinking Affinity's in memory. At fifteen years, this seems to reaching the apex of its drinking profile. Tonight, this 2007 release was as good as any Affinity I recall ever having - a perfect accompaniment to the grilled tenderloin beefsteaks. At eighteen years this was at the apex of its drinking window, not likely to improve further with aging, but available for pleasant drinking for several years yet to come.”

Robert Craig "Affinity" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend 2007 vs 2022

Tonight, at eighteen years, the label, foil and most importantly, the cork and fill level of the 2007 were pristine, ideal for the age. However, the 2007 was starting to show its age, most notably in the color, which has started to take on a slight hazy brownish rust hue, when compared to the bright garnet color of the recent release (as shown 2022 on left, 2007 on right).

Furthermore, while the two vintages showed amazing similarity in the overall tasting profile, the 2007 was starting to take on notes of dusty, earthy leather. The 2007 showed more depth, weight and concentration than the lighter and slightly more austere 2022.

Historic notes for the 2007 release - Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, elegant, polished and smoothly balanced, black berry and black currant fruits with notes of mocha chocolate and spice, hints of cassis, smoke and cedar with smooth silky tannins on a lingering cloying finish.

Tonight, based on these tasting results, I reduced my rating from RM 93 points to RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=802059

I rate the 2022 release at 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5119384