Wine Review – 2006 Vineyard 29 "Cru" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California
Winery: Vineyard 29
Bottling: 2006 “Cru” Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: California
Sub-Region: Napa Valley
Estimated Retail Price: $50 – $60
Purchase Details: Purchased for $51.99 plus tax at K&L Wine Merchants in San Francisco, California.
Tasting Notes: A beautiful dark, pure garnet with some blue hues. On the nose, sweet pencil lead, cherries, berries and herb. In the mouth, this wine is unbelievably lush, dense chewy and concentrated. A creamy, creme de cassis undertone, with minty herb on the extremely long finish. The wine has a firm structure, with tannins that definitely signal that the wine could use some cellaring, but they are also velvety enough to allow for early drinking. This is a very well-made, clean and polished wine. A little much for me, but still a delicious and balanced effort.
Food Pairing & Context in Which to Enjoy: We had this with a couple of nicely grilled New York strip steaks with an intense red wine sauce made from the leftovers of a slightly corked Cahors red wine we had the night before. Also on our plates were roasted brussel sprouts and roasted potatoes. The wine went perfectly well with everything.
Again, we don’t normally spend this much on an individual bottle of wine, but it was one year since we closed our small retail shop, and we wanted to celebrate in some way. Not the most obvious reason to celebrate, but we were trying to look at our experience in a positive light, so when we did, we thought a nice bottle of wine was appropriate.
Winery & Other Background Information: My only knowledge of the Vineyard 29 winery is that Phillipe Melka is the winemaker. I know that he is a consultant to several high-priced, cultish, expensive Napa properties and I’ve been curious to taste his wares for a long time now. I had his private label, Metisse, years ago when it was only $40 and he was just a rising superstar at the time. I think his label now sells for well over $100.
The “Cru” bottling is a blend of grapes from several vineyard sites and is the winery’s “entry-level” cabernet into their premium, and I mean premium line of wines. Their estate cabernet is priced well into the $100 range, while their other wines such as another cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel from the Aida vineyard are near the $100 mark as well. I’m sure the wines are amazing, but I probably won’t get a chance to try them until I open and close another business venture of mine in the future.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Sounds like great wine! I haven’t seen it in the market here in AZ, but I’m sure it’ll make it’s way here. Has great packaging too!
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:01 am
It would be a shame if the wine didn’t make it there. Hopefully it will happen soon for your market. You should contact the winery directly and lobby them for AZ distribution. Thanks for visiting the blog, I appreciate it.
-Andre
September 1st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
The 2006 Estate is now over $200 ($225) this fall. The Aida is $175. The 2007 Cru is being released at $54, so it sounds like you got a good deal from K&L.
Time to open and close a few more business ventures…
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 am
Hello Ted,
Thanks for visiting the blog, I appreciate it. The prices of Napa cabs continue to amaze me, and that people are able to purchase many of them regularly, amazes me even more.
As of this writing I’m working on a business plan for my next business failure.