The Negress lined up these four wines because she wanted to share a few thoughts about them before she completely forgot she had drunk them. This is how you can tell she writes drinking notes, not tasting notes. Most these wines met their end when she cooked a Rick Bayless tomatillo salsa verde braised pork loin so note the pairing for those of you who note such things. Anyway, She was charmed by all of the wines for different reasons. First the 2008 Bonneau Petit Sirah is a big but graceful wine that doesn’t pitch off the cliff into jamminess. As is usually the case, you won’t easily find this outside of California but a quick click over to Cellars of Sonoma (full disclosure: I belong to their club) can remedy that. The Silverado 2006 Merlot is also a club-only wine with a little being sold direct at the winery. The Negress is ferociously partial to the North Fork Merlots and usually finds their Cali counterparts to be blanketed with fleecy tannins and very little structure. Well, not this Merlot. It’s got structure, some blackberry and is, well, a bright and happy wine.
The Negress is nursing shoulder injury (not sure what it is but it seems to be improving thanks). She might have gotten it lifting the Fantesca bottle. The bottle feels full even when it’s empty. Perhaps this weightiness is a good match for a Spring Mountain Napa Cabernet, but methinks it just adds to the price. The Negress brought this wine back from a Wine Writers Symposium a coupe of years ago. A little more bottle age seems to have been OK, but the Negress felt this wine was just OK. She loves some of the wines from the Spring Mountain AVA and expected to love this one. Place it under the usual suspects category.
Lastly, the 2007 Krutz Family Cellars Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a bottle from the winery’s limited edition artist’s series. The Negress got hers from Cellars of Sonoma, and it made sense why they would feature this Napa cab in their club. The wine was supple, nimble and exciting with nice but not engorged fruit. Not sure how much of this is left, but it ‘s worth seeking out.
All of these wines weigh in at between 14.5 and 14.8 percent alcohol bu volume. As has often been said, 14 is the new 12.
Not long after you read this, the Negress is heading off to the National Restaurant Association show here in Chicago. You can follow her doings there over at FoodserviceDailyNews on their Twitter feed @FoodTalkToday.










