Dan's Papers - July 27, 2007 - Over the Barrel... with Lenn Thompson

This time of year, red wine seems to rarely cross my lips. Sure, maybe I'll drink some Cotes du Rhone with a char-grilled burger or some fruity, cherry-driven Zin with honest-to-goodness barbeque. But, in the heat of summer, rose is about as close to red as I get most of the time.

That is, unless, I taste some newly released reds from a local vineyard.

I don't know if late July really qualifies as the "dog days" of summer, but the new reds from Vineyard 48 definitely have me thinking about (and longing for) the cooler temperatures and richer foods of the fall.

Rose and Joe Pipia, who own and run the property formerly known as Bidwell Vineyards, have only been at the helm for a couple years, but the improvement in that time has been consistent. In general, the Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling have proven to be better than some wines priced much higher. The reds have been somewhat more inconsistent. A nice Cabernet Franc here. A soft, but integrated meritage there. And some others with somewhat coarse tannins.

Winemaker Matthew Berenz, formerly of Pindar, took full advantage of the soon-to-be-classic 2005 vintage, with its hot, dry growing conditions, to make the neophyte winery's best reds yet.

The Vineyard 48 2005 Vignetta ($32) is a meritage-style blend made with 44% Cabernet

Franc, 32% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Sauvignon and is a lightly opaque, medium crimson in the glass. The nose is an alluring melange of red cherries, raspberries, fresh sage leaves and crushed mint leaves. Medium weight on the palate, there is a nice integration of ripe fruit, oak influence and tannins. Cherry is the predominant fruit flavor here, with herbs, a little earthiness, black pepper and a faint mint finish that lingers just a bit. This is by far the most ready to drink today.

Probably a little young to really enjoy now is Vineyard 48's 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon ($40). A deep, well-extracted violet, this one is a little lacking on the nose, offering only a little dark berry and plum fruit aroma. Fuller bodied than its blended brother, the tannins are a little astringent and despite ripe berry flavors and some earth, a bit disjointed over all. It seems almost like Berenz is aiming for a California cab here, but not falling a little short. There is potential here, but it's hard to know now if that potential will be realized. Come back to this wine in out.

Merlot rules the North Fork, right? Well Vineyard 48 just released one of those too, a 2005 Merlot ($36). This deeply extracted red features a ripe, rich nose with cherries, tobacco and a little spice. Super-ripe, almost sweet, fruit flavors of red berry, cherry and red currant. A little spice brings interest to this plump wine that is even a little juicy. Drinking pretty well now, I'm excited to try this one again a year or so from now.