Sanguis Infidels Red, California, USA

點擊次數：2794

The 2006 Infidels has come on like gangbusters since I rated it from barrel last year. It is a provocative wine that may be controversial to many people, but I fell in love with it this year. It tips the scales at 15.5% alcohol and is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grenache from vineyards in the Santa Barbara area. Sweet ripe cassis, melted licorice, chocolate, blueberry pie, and spring flowers are all present in this dense, full-bodied wine that, despite its massive size and full-bodied power, has surprising elegance, purity, and depth. This may well turn out to be the best wine I have yet tasted from Sanguis, and I am still aghast at how I didn’t see this much quality coming from the barrel sample I tasted last year. Readers who compare last year’s barrel tasting notes with those for the finished wines will notice that these 2006s are dramatically superior to how they showed last year, which is the way it should be. This is an impressive group of wines that, from an appearance standpoint, are clones of Manfred Krankl’s Sine Qua Non, especially the distinctive artistic labels done by the proprietor, much like Krankl does, and the back-breaking heavy bottles.Tel. (805) 640-9432

One of the winery’s drier and more tannic wines, this Syrah, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon blend comes from the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos valleys of Santa Barbara County. The big structure and slight astringency presently dominate a solid core of blackberries, grilled meat and black cherry jam. A dramatic wine, but still a little gritty after four-plus years. Drink now–2013.——S.H.(2/1/2011)—— 92