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Taste of Oakville 2007 When you get the opportunity to taste the new vintage of any Oakville winery you take it. If you get the opportunity to taste more than one Oakville winery in the same day you simply can’t pass it up. After all, Oakville is home to some of the world’s most coveted wines. One of Napa most famous sub- appellations, Oakville is most notably known for producing stellar Cabernet Sauvignon that command hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars on the world’s best wine lists. Imagine having some of the most sought after Oakville reds all in one room including Screaming Eagle, Opus One, Kelham Vineyards, Nickel and Nickel and Harlan Estates. Each year, the Oakville Winegrowers Association organizes the annual Taste of Oakville for the trade and select members of the press. Overall, this tasting offered an incredible insight to how the Oakville winegrower’s personalities shape this AVA. The tasting offered traditional Bordeaux-style wines as well as, what made Oakville famous, the classic California-style Cabernet Sauvignon. At this year’s event there were some stand-outs. The inaugural vintage of Tierra Roja (www.tierraroja.com) is set to release in September 2007, and, with only 120 cases available this year it is sure to become a cult classic. Emilio’s Terrace (www.etvine.com) released a new wine called “Sophie’s Rows” with plenty of dark concentrated fruit and soft subtle tannins perfect for aging yet very drinkable now. Casa Nuestra (www.casanuestra.com) showed off the last remaining old-vine true field blend. Although it isn’t the typical Oakville red, the 2005 Casa Nuestra Tinto Classico is a delightful look at popular varietals Zinfandel and Petite Sirah blended with lesser known grapes such as Alicante Bouschet, Carignane, and Refosco. Other stand-outs included Hoopes Vineyard (www.hoopesvineyard.com) 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ghost Block Estate 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Miner (www.minerwines.com) 2004 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2004 Bond Estates(www.bondestates.com) Vecina. We will have complete tasting notes and reviews of the wines in upcoming editions. |
