Clif Family Winery Kit’s Killer Cab Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Tuesday I felt like a kid waiting for Santa, except I was waiting for a little snow fall. Is there any better way to get into the holiday swing than a nip in the air, tiny little snowflakes and a little something in your wine glass? I can’t think of a single thing. To help get us in the mood, I chose a wine that I hoped stood up to its name and did it ever! Clif Family Winery Kit’s Killer Cab was like an early Christmas present. My husband and I needed a little pampering after spending 30 hours with no running water. Ah, the joys of living in the country and getting water from a well. Seems one of the hoses had a quarter size hole that for two days allowed sediment to come into the pipes and mid-Sunday, allowed no water at all into the house. You never really appreciate in-door plumbing until it’s gone. Heck, I would have been happy with outdoor plumbing at that point. All is well now so back to Kit’s Killer Cab.

Seductive plum and leather aromas draw me in for the first sip. Flavors are full of cherries, cocoa and vanilla. Well structured tannins and a long spicy vanilla finish. A great holiday splurge to bring to the table or just to drink on its own.

Appellation – Napa Valley

Varietal Blend – 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Cab Franc
Alcohol: 14.1%
Release Date: Spring 2011
Cases Produced: 250
Winemakers: Sarah Gott and Bruce Regalia
Suggested Retail Price: $38

When I first wrote about Clif Family Wines, I was two days away from moving from warm, sunny and flat Florida to sometimes warm, sometimes sunny always hilly and mountainous NE Georgia. I spoke then about how the Clif Family embraces a certain lifestyle and I longed to have a different way of living myself. In the three months we’ve lived in our home, we’ve taken to more of a living off the land and buying local lifestyle. We’ve purchase 1/8 of a cow from Loganberry Farms in Dahlonega, my husband planted a small winter garden and plotted where multiple gardens, berry patches, fruit and nut trees will be planted in the upcoming months.

As I look out our front window, I marvel at the thousands of leaves blanketing the lawn. Every day the landscape takes on more of a wintery look. Makes me wonder, will the last of the leaves still clinging to their branches be covered with a fine white snow later today? No, I guess not but I look forward to waking up to a wintery wonderland in the near future. Just hope I don’t have to drive anywhere that day! Good thing I always have plenty of wine in the house.

If you would like to send samples for my review, please contact me at kstargaard@yahoo.com.

2011© Kellie Stargaard.  All Rights Reserved.

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Cline Cellars Cashmere 2009

Wow, I can’t believe we’re in October already; it’s my favorite time of year. This is my first real experience with the changing seasons, in Florida we have palm trees and the only time they change is during hurricanes. Then the fronds are all blowing in one direction or have blown off altogether. Mother Nature is right on cue, leaves are changing, temps are dipping, winds picking up sending leaves dancing across the roads and pumpkin and fall displays are dotting the rural roads to my home.

Another indication we’re in the month of October, all those pink ribbons. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I thought what better way to support the cause than with the purchase of Cline Cellars Cashmere 2009, a Rhone style varietal blend. Cline Cellars supports Living Beyond Breast Cancer and has contributed more than $200,000 to breast cancer foundations. The Cline Cashmere serves as a symbol of this ongoing support.

Aromas hint at something wonderful, spicy and woodsy. Loads of currant and raspberry wash over the palate. The wine is medium sweet but not jammy. Body is a little on the light side and I think I would have preferred something more full bodied on this fall evening. The finish was a little disappointing as it was extremely short lived. I envisioned myself wrapped in its silky soft liquid but found it to be a little rough around the edges. May have just been an off night for my palate.

Varietal – 50% Mourvèdre, 33% Grenache, 17% Syrah

TA - .62g/100ml
pH – 3.84
Residual Sugar - .30%

Family run by Fred and Nancy Cline, the winery is located on 350 acres in Sonoma County and is one of the first wineries on the Sonoma “wine road”. Originally located in Oakley, Fred’s maternal grandfather, Valeriano Jacuzzi, yes of the spa Jacuzzi fame, farmed orchards and vineyards. On summer visits, Cline learned how to turn those plump ripe grapes into wine. After studying Agriculture Management from UC Davis, Cline founded Cline Cellars near Oakley. In the early 90’s, Cline and his wife relocated to its present location in the Careneros region of Sonoma County and as they say, the rest is history.

Cashmere is a Rhone style blend of Mourvèdre, sourced from 30-year-old vines planted in sandy soil, dry farmed and head-pruned to develop flavorful fruit. Grenache vineyards in Oakley involve cluster thinning and leaf pulling, increasing fruit concentration. Syrah grapes come from Oakley, and have warm days and cool nights resulting in lush fruit flavors.

With the changing season, my husband and I took a drive to Blairsville to take in the local scenery in the mountain town. When we moved to NE Georgia just two months ago, I didn’t know what to do with the hilly roads. Having moved from the flat lands of Florida, going up and down and around was something I had to get used to. While looking at houses, our speed racer realtor, Kathryn, used the term, “hold onto your skivvies”. I then coined my own term for some of the roads leading up to and through the Chattahoochee National Forest, “turn your britches brown roads”. Well, good thing I wasn’t the one driving to Blairsville, because there were a few twists and turns where I just had to close my eyes and my husband leaned over and asked, “are your britches brown yet?” I replied, “not yet, but close!”

If you would like to send samples for my review, please contact me at kstargaard@yahoo.com.

2011© Kellie Stargaard.  All Rights Reserved.

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Running with Scissors Cabernet Sauvignon Livermore, CA

Boxes, boxes and more boxes. Whether they be unopened, repacked or flattened, my life is now full of boxes. The excitement over rediscovering all my stuff has turned into an overwhelming feeling of doubt and wonder. Doubt of whether I’ll ever get everything into place and wonder of where in the world am I going to put all this stuff. Now I look forward to some much needed storage solution. A wine storage solution will be the purchase of a riddling rack to hold all those wonderful wines. This brings me to my next wine, Running with Scissors Cabernet Sauvignon.

Aromas were a little closed even after some in glass swirling but I can detect some hints of blackberry and vanilla. Cherry and blackberry hit the palate, nice balance between sugar and the round and smooth tannins. Very drinkable but was a little disappointed. I was told by an associate at Total Wine, the wine is a second label produced by  Concannon but I wasn’t able to find anything online that confirmed this statement. If anyone knows, please let me know. I did purchase this at Total Wine before we left Florida for $9.99.

Unfortunately the only website I found for Running with Scissors is under construction, so I have zero info on this wine and winery. For $9.99 it’s worth a try and it really was drinkable, I just found it to be a little closed. Perhaps a different variety or vintage will be on my shopping list soon.

While I make friends with our new house, the land is stunning. We’ve already had a bear or two, deer feed in our woods on a regular basis, the squirrels are busy preparing for the upcoming winter and the local wineries are wrapping up their harvests. More to come on those very soon. 

As I dive into the mountain of boxes, unpack some things, repack others, drag boxes back to the basement, it hits me. Why is it, I can find all the high school crap my mother made me store and all of my old Fisher Price toys, yet I can’t find the box with the DVD player? Frustrating…. Ah, I look forward to the day when everything is in its place, even if that place means stored in the basement. The basement, big plans for that area…will eventually become the wine bar. A place of my own where I can sit back and enjoy a few glasses of wine with my husband, or friends and family. The roads are around are too winding to go out and have a few glasses, much safer and smarter to enjoy in the comfort of our own home. Until then, there’s always the front porch and the rocking chairs, which is still blissfully clutter free.

If you would like to send samples for my review, please contact me at kstargaard@yahoo.com.

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2011© Kellie Stargaard.  All Rights Reserved.

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LibertySchool Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2007

Today’s the day, my husband and I close on our new house set on 3 acres of wooded Georgia land, amidst the NE Georgia Mountains. We’ve been apartment dwellers since moving to Georgia 32 days ago. It’s a two bedroom, two bath but the dining room and second bedroom are jammed packed with boxes and furniture. With the majority of our belongings still in boxes, we’re surviving with the bare essentials and even some of those still have not been located. I find myself opening boxes and fingering my treasured belongings. I miss my possessions and can’t wait until I can liberate them from their cardboard prison and have all the true comforts of home around us. Of course I took extra care to ensure we had a few essentials on hand such as; wine refrigerator, wine collection, two wine glasses and one very important corkscrew. I know it’s a stretch but I felt Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2007 tied in well with my quest for freedom for my possessions.

Aromas are full of leather and vanilla. Fruit forward plum and blackberry wash over the palate. Cassis and well balanced tannins all provide for a very well rounded wine. Priced at $9.99, you won’t mind liberating a few dollars to enjoy this wine.

Need another reason to check out Liberty School, how about that it’s family owned and operated by the Hope Family in Paso Robles, CA since 1978. You may even say this is the poor man’s Caymus. As Napa Valley vintner Chuck Wagner of Caymus Vineyards, was in search of Cabernet for his second label, Liberty School, Wagner approached Hope Farms as a fruit source. Growers over the next decade, the Hope family helped build the brand known for quality wine at an affordable price. In 1996, the Hopes established Treana Winery, providing a natural transition for Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon to join the Treana family of wines.

After we close on the house, we’ll head over with those two wine glasses, that one wine opener and a bottle of wine which will be carefully selected, where we will sit on our rocking chairs overlooking the beautiful view. This wine ties in more with our move than I realized. For months my plan was to purchase a bottle of Caymus to celebrate the move into our new house. After some deep and serious waffling, I decided that money would be better spent on a new light fixture for the kitchen, helping to bring it into the current century. While I have second thoughts on spending my money on Caymus, I have no qualms about buying more Liberty School wines.

If you would like to send samples for my review, please contact me at kstargaard@yahoo.com.

2011© Kellie Stargaard.  All Rights Reserved.

http://winechicksguidetoeverydaywines.blogspot.com/

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