Wine of the Week - a Cabernet??!!

To be totally honest with you all, I hardly drink this bottle of Alexander Valley Cabernet.  ONLY because I can't ever get my hands on a sample since it's the fastest selling Cabernet Sauvignon I've ever worked with.  

All of us at Brack Mountain are in the same boat, the owners and winemaker - nope, none of us, not a drop of Bench Cabernet to be found in any of our stashes. It's selling incredibly quick - by the glass at some high-profile restaurants across the US, poured out of a wine KEG at the United Center's Stadium Club in Chicago and countless shiny bottles are put into the hands of customers in fine wine shops from the West to the East.  

It's a damn good bottle of Cabernet - especially for $20. 

Wine Geeky Facts about the 2009 Bench Cabernet Sauvignon

Vineyard is located in Southern Alexander Valley, along the Western bench of the Mayacamas. These soils are rocky and volcanic, with excellent early and mid-day sun exposure.  Yield: 3 tons/acre. Fermentation: the grapes were destemmed only, then transferred by gravity to a stainless steel fermentation tank.  After a long cold soak, the fruit was inoculated with a proprietary blend of yeasts to imbue the wine with greater complexity. After a steady fermentation to complete dryness, the new wine stayed on the grape skins for an extended maceration to develop mouth-feel and structure. The wine was pressed off 45 days after it went into tank. Malolactic fermentation was left to complete indigenously.  Aged for 18 months in 100% French Oak, 50 % new. 1400 cases produced. pH: 3.58 TA: .57

Check out the chatter!

K&L Wine Merchants - LA, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, CA

It is a rare thing to find a Cabernet at this price from Northern California with as much depth, complexity, and real Cabernet character as the Bench from Alexander Valley. Made by the Brack Mountain Winery, this small lot wine comes from the western bench of the Mayacamas Range, hence its name. It's full of rich and dark fruit flavors backed up by firm tannin and cedar and cigar box spices. It is a real Alexander Valley Cabernet for a great price! Read 4 more K&L staff reviews. 

Red Carpet Wines  - Glendale, CA

Now, everyone who knows a little bit about wine knows about The Alexander Valley. Sure, there is Jordan, Lancaster, and Silver Oak to name a few. Oh, but there are so many others and excellent value too. The Top 100 is about the best wines for the money; we present to you a 100% Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for just under $20. The Bench has a brilliant deep garnet hue and is a perfect representation of this noble varietal. Aromatically, it is a cavalcade of blueberry, red forest fruit, sensual suede, loam and even a slight hint of eucalyptus. It is so robust, yet elegant with tannins that bring together a mesh of currants, tobacco, and fresh herbs. Age worthy for sure, but ready to be enjoyed right now, so why wait. -H.K. #1 Wine of 2012 - read more from Red Carpet.

Cheers - Ali