Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

With daughter-in-law Vivianna out of town, Alec joined us for a taste of this Alexander Valley Cabernet that we opened for our beef roast dinner. From the 2007 vintage, at fourteen years, I thought this would be at an ideal age, at the apex of its drinking window. Wine Spectator rated the 2007 vintage 97 points, a top vintage, a "Textbook year; small crop, ideal ripening, wines defined by complexity and plush tannins". 

We found this lackluster and short of expectations, hopefully perhaps due to bottle variation or result of poor handling - too often bottles may be subject to excessive heat during shipping, or other undesirable conditions. Our records show we acquired this bottle back in 2012. In any event, this bottle was mediocre and reflected sentiments and experiences of several fellow Cellartrackers. 

This was a bit disappointing as we were reminiscing over our Silver Oak Cooperage experience of last month when we visited the Oak Cooperage in Higbee, Missouri where the Silver Oak barrels are crafted from native Missouri white oak. It was a highlight of our Missouri Wine Experience.

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Silver Oak writes of this vintage release, "Our 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has a beautiful purple hue with very few signs of age. It displays a spicy freshness with violet nuances aromatically and enters the palate with a broad and dense dose of blackberry fruit. It remains full across the mid-palate and very structured, with strong tannins that will still need time to resolve. Given proper cellaring, this wine should improve through 2032."

11/5/2021 - Bodyfxr wrote: 87 points. Decanted and drank over the course of an evening and then the next night. This wine is past its prime and is on a down hill roll. The drinking window goes until next year. Fruit is flat and the secondary notes are out of balance with oak dominating the profile

5/15/2021 - Trolson wrote: 88 Points Disappointed. Lacked both nose and body. Maybe cellared too long.

 

Garnet colored, slightly opaque, medium bodied, somewhat flabby blackberry fruits with notes of spice, hints of green pepper and olive tapenade and slightly funky wet wood and earth which burned off after an hour, with tangy tannins on the moderate finish. 

 

We tried it again a couple evening later and the results were the same - acceptable modest sipping, but uninspiring. 

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1176173

https://silveroak.com/wines/2007-alexander-valley-cabernet-sauvignon/

https://twitter.com/SilverOak

@SilverOak 

 

 

 

Tribute to Dean Derby - Spring Valley Vineyard

Tribute to Dean Derby - Spring Valley Vineyard - Derby Cabernet Sauvignon

We were saddened to read the announcement from Spring Valley Vineyard of the passing of Dean Derby, patriarch owner proprietor of the family owned and operated SVV in Walla Walla, Washington.

According to their memo sent to wineclub members yesterday morning, "Spring Valley was built on the strong foundation of grit, authenticity, hard work, love for this land, and love for family. Papa Dean was the epitome of these values, and raised our family with the same strong foundation.' 

"Papa Dean passed away peacefully at home with family by his side Early morning on Friday, October 29. We will miss his larger than life smile (shaded by his cowboy hat), his storytelling, and so much more, but the memories we have of him will be shared forever.'

"Please raise a glass of Spring Valley with your family or friends, and cheers to my Papa Dean, a man who lived an amazing life and whose legacy will live forever!"

So, last night we opened a Derby Spring Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, namesake wine named for Dean Derby, and toasted Dean and our fond memory of meeting him.

I've written in these pages, and sent out an email to our wineclub that, one of the highlights of our trip to Walla Walla was when we had the pleasure of meeting Dean Derby during our visit to the vineyards during our Walla Walla Wine Experience in 2019. 

We ran into Dean Derby patriarch, husband to Shari Corkrum Derby, ancestor and co-owners of the family business.

As I wrote in that earlier blogpost, we drove north from Walla Walla, out Middle Waitsburg Road, around the Walla Walla airport, to Corkrum Road, aptly named for the early ancestors of the Spring Valley producer's family, to the winery and vineyard site. 

There we ran into Dean Derby patriarch, husband to Shari Corkrum Derby, ancestor and co-owners of the family business. What a treat and honor to meet Mr. Derby and what a delightful visit we had.

We encountered him on the driveway to his farm. As he approached us, I yelled out that we came out to see the site, that we were big fans of his wine. “We admire your artwork,” I said upon encountering him on the country farm. “It’s not my work, it’s the Lords!”, he exclaimed! What a delightful man, he was.

 

Linda followed up and appended my email with a note: "What an incredibly welcoming man he was. We were heading north to Spokane for a later flight and decided to go cross country near to where Rick thought was the Spring Valley Farm. It was beautiful. We were encountered by a man and his dog in a John Deere 4X4 who then engaged with his humble story of the farm not disclosing who he was nor what he did. Rick asked directly if this was his farm…the rest is now his personal eternal history as a man of God." 

Dean Derby moved to Walla Walla where he met Shari in the 6th grade at Sharpstein Grade School. Shari and Dean graduated from Walla Walla High School and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. Shari Corkrum and Dean Derby were married in 1954 and had two children, DeAnn Derby and Devin Corkrum Derby.

Dean Derby was football captain for UW. He still holds the record for longest run from scrimmage for a touchdown at Husky Stadium (92 yards against Illinois).

Dean was drafted into the NFL as the 1st pick of the 4th round by the Los Angeles Rams, then traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 1st league game in September 1957. He was named All Pro Defensive Cornerback and played 4+ years with the Steelers and 1+ years for the Minnesota Vikings.

Dean and Shari planted wine grapes on the ranch in Spring Valley in 1993. The first wine – URIAH, a Merlot-based red blend was released in 2001. 

The Spring Valley Vineyards from a distance down Corkrum Road. 

The Spring Valley Vineyards adjacent to the farmstead site

 The Spring Valley Vineyards adjacent to the farmstead site

Toast to Dean, indeed. I am sure he will be missed immensely by family, friends and many of us distant followers. May he rest in peace. 

Spring Valley Vineyards Wines Portfolio
labels named for Corkrum Family Members

The Derby's devotion to family was profoundly apparent in their naming each of their wines for a member of the family. I write about their branding and the portfolio of the wines in many of my blogposts in these pages. 

We acquired one of the horizontal vintage release collections that featured a bottle of each of the labels that feature a family member. We've also had fun gifting this collectable OWC - Original Wood Case boxed set to folks on special family oriented occasions. 

Thank you, Kate Derby Raymond for thinking of us and reaching out and sharing the sad news. 

Linked referenced in this blog:

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/10/spring-valley-vineyards-tasting-and.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/11/spring-valley-vineyards-nina-syrah-2017.html

https://www.springvalleyvineyard.com/

Halloween eve dinner with Dragon's Tooth Red Blend

Halloween eve dinner with Dragon's Tooth Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend 2009

Halloween wine? Well, no there isn't any such thing that I know of, but the closest I could come up with in our cellar was Dragon's Tooth Red Blend by Trefethen. We selected this from our cellar to take BYOB to dinner at Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria.

R&L in the Trefethen
estate gardens

We discovered and acquired this wine during our visit to the Trefethen winery estate in the Oak Knoll District Appellation of southern Napa Valley, along St. Helena highway, just above the town of Napa. 

The Red Dragon on the label of this Dragon's Tooth Napa Valley Red Wine originated in ancient Welsh ancestry of the proprietors. 

According to British legend, two dragons, one red, one white, fight in the sky. The boy Merlin watches them with King Vortigern and when the red prevails, driving the white across the sea, the boy foretells the coming of King Arthur who will lead Vortigern's people, the Welsh, to victory over the invading Saxons.

Catherine Trefethen, Matriarch, First Lady of the Trefethen estate family, was Welsh. Her loves for wine, gardens and family were the inspiration for the estate in Napa Valley's Oak Knoll District. Although she has departed, her spirit is said to be still felt, especially in the cool foggy mornings when mist envelops the vineyards. 

This label showcases the newest plantings of Malbec and Petit Verdot of the rockiest part of the estate vineyard where obsidian flakes occasionally remind one of the toothy smile of Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon) guardian and symbol of Wales. 

 

Trefethen Dragons Tooth Napa Valley Red Wine 2009

The 2009 Vintage release of this label was a Bordeaux Blend of 67% Malbec, 18% Petit Verdot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Merlot, all 100% sourced from the Trefethen Oak Knoll District Appellation, Napa Valley Estate Vineyard.

It was aged 21 months in 67% French 20% American 13% Hungarian oak. 

Winemaker's Notes: "The Vintage 2009 was an excellent, even-keeled vintage in Napa Valley. Consistently mild weather throughout the growing and harvest seasons resulted in stress-free vines, long grape hang times, and fruit with finely developed flavors at lower-than-normal sugar levels. The third vintage of this lively wine is deep purple in color with aromas of black currant, blackberry and cinnamon. The palate is full with flavors of plum, cherry and chocolate. This voluminous wine finishes with balanced, structured tannins that emphasize the rich fresh fruit and hints of spice. Food Affinities The addition of some blackberries or blueberries to smoky grilled or roasted beef, lamb, pork or duck brings out the best in both food and the wine."

Trefethen Dragon's Tooth 2011 labels

This wine has been sitting in our cellar for a decade, waiting for the right occasion for this peculiar label. It was ideal this evening, so much so, I ran out the next day and picked up the current release vintage of this label to replace the one we drank. I had forgotten this was a Bordeaux Blend, noting the prime anchor varietal is Malbec.  

This label was awarded 93 points by Wine Enthusiast.

This was the third vintage of this distinctive blend, medium-full bodied, deep purple in color with aromas and flavors of black currant, blackberry and cinnamon turning to tones of plum, cherry and mocha and hints of spice, finishing with nicely balanced but structured tangy acidic laced tannins.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "This is so smooth, rich and mellow, you hardly notice how intense the tannins are. But they are hard, and lock down the flavors of black currant and black licorice, plus the complex notes of minerals, roasted game and dark spices."

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1370334

https://www.trefethen.com/

 

Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery Vintners Cuvee

Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery Vintners Cuvee

We discovered and acquired this wine during our recent visit to the Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery estate and hospitality center in northeast Indiana north of Ft. Wayne, which I featured in a chronicle of our estate visit recently. 

We opened this for pleasant casual sipping with roast beef and pasta leftovers - a suitable pairing and occasion for this wine. 

Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery Winemaker's Blend NV

According to the winery tasting wine flight offering sheet, this is a non-vintage blend sourced from grapes from Calaveras County, CA.

Dark garnet purple colored, medium-full bodied, somewhat complex tangy gripping blackberry and ripe plum fruits accented by a layer of smoke, tobacco box, woody leather with notes of toasted poppy seeds, soy and black pepper with a lingering menthol and whisper of cognac laced acidic finish.

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4136331

https://countryheritagewinery.com/

https://twitter.com/CH_Winery

@CH_Winery