Sbragia Family Vineyards Rancho del Oso Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, USA

斯布拉吉蘭喬奧斯陸赤霞珠干紅葡萄酒

點擊次數：3992

An absolutely brilliant wine is the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Rancho del Oso. This Howell Mountain cuvee offers up a beautiful texture and full body, and exhibits copious quantities of black currant, mulberry and cherry notes intermixed with some wet rocks, spicy oak and barbecue scents. Irresistible already, this wine is in mid-adolescence and should continue to drink well for at least 10-15 more years. The bigger-than-life, formidable, long-time winemaker at Beringer, Ed Sbragia, has his own operation in Sonoma and turns out some of the best wines money can buy. Sbragia has never forgotten that ultimately it is the consumer who makes the market. That consumer has to make a living as well as have discretionary income to buy fine wine and Ed always seems to have realistic, if not humble, prices. His six wines I tasted from 2004 all performed well. Sbragia’s Cabernet Sauvignons are one of his strengths, along with his Zinfandels and Chardonnays. Tel. (707) 473-2992

Lean and austere, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Rancho del Oso (a vineyard whose fruit is often used in Beringer’s Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon) is tannic and backward. While it possesses abundant character, at present it is totally shut down and nearly impenetrable. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring, keep your fingers crossed, and drink it over the following 15 years. Ed Sbragia, the long-time and highly-esteemed winemaker at Beringer, also has his own family operation where he produces 5,000 plus cases of wine, primarily top-notch Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.Tel. 707-473-2992

Those mountain tannins are here in spades, and even though they’re ripe and sweet, they give the wine a powerful astringency that demands cellaring. But age will certainly reward, for the wine is huge in currant, black cherry and unsweetened chocolate flavors. Open after 2010 and the fruit will shine through in all its ripe, succulent glory.——S.H.(3/1/2008)—— 94