Blog Archives
CellarTracker Review: Lenora Winery 2005 Cabernet Franc
Purchased at the winery on a day trip to Ramona Valley wineries in Oct 2012. Lenora Winery was our first stop, and this was my favorite wine that we tasted. I unfortunately cannot recommend much of what we tasted that day, but I think we all agreed on this one.
Cabernet Franc is usually blended with other Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Merlot. This vintage of grapes (sourced from Santa Barbara County) warranted this wine to be bottled on its own (or as the primary varietal).
Opened to pair with a plate of whole wheat pasta, mushrooms, & marinara sauce. Wine pours a dark purple hue, nose was earthy, not getting much of a bouquet. Nice smooth mouthfeel, not too tannic. Flavors of berries, leather, and tobacco on the mid-palate. Finished smoothly, albeit with a bite of alcohol (perhaps due to the age of this bottling).
Overall, a very good wine for the value that had me refilling my glass. Another example of the many finds awaiting San Diegans who explore the wine regions in our own backyards.
Score: 88
14.8% ABV
Stone/Bear Republic/Fat Head’s Brewery collaboration beer: Texas Brown Ale
This latest Stone collaboration beer just came out last week, and I couldn’t wait to try it. I had hoped to fill up a growler at the 30th Street tasting room this past Friday, but things came up, and when I made it in Saturday afternoon the kegs had already been tapped out by my fellow beer enthusiasts. Luckily, they had some 12 oz. bottles sitting in the fridge!
This time Mitch Steele at Stone joined with co-conspirators Richard Norgrove, Jr. of Bear Republic Brewing and Matt Cole of Fat Head’s Brewery (out of Cleveland, OH) for what’s described as an “extra hoppy brown ale brewed with brown sugar and molasses.”. It seems Cole took the lead in the enthusiasm generating this project, with fond recollections of one of his first home brewing experiments from the early ’90s being in this style.
The result is a brown ale with a lower gravity than most, and a hops-forward flavor that will find immediate enjoyment by West Coast hopheads. Nicely balanced, easy drinking, and with an understated sweet finish that shows off the brown sugar and molasses that went into the recipe. This beer probably won’t be around too long, so seek it out and drink what you can before it goes dry like a sagebrush landscape in the Lone Star state! (Rating on a scale of 10…I was gonna go modest and say 8.75, but it’s a 9, solid! Now let me stop typing and enjoy this….)
Vines & Steins 