Up for air this morning after quite the action packed summer and a big trip in Texas last week selling the Brack Mountain Wine Co. portfolio. My inbox has been flooded with questions of "where can I find Bench Cabernet?". In large part - this post from last March is the #1 hit on google after searching this phrase: "what's a good bottle of Cabernet for $20?" SHAAZAAM! Bench Cabernet it is!
The 2009 Bench Cabernet from Alexander Valley was a complete sell-out at the winery mid-summer, so now you'll begin seeing the 2010 on shelves and restaurant wine lists. More details on the 2010 when I have a few minutes later.
So - here's the #1 hit on google:
Wine of the Week - a Cabernet??!!
Saturday March 17, 2012
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
