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It tastes like a brilliantly made Merlot, has that rich, lush
quality and dark cherry rapture that is often a hallmark of
Merlot. But this elegant, supple wine is 100 percent Cab.
And here's why the Brookdale 2000 Cab is so alluring; because
vintner Mike Seitz picked between a ton and two tons of fruit
off five different vineyards that belonged to his clients in
Stag's Leap District, Rutherford, Atlas Peak, Howell Mountain
and in Yountville. In essence, Mike cherry-picked the vineyards
for their best fruit.
Mike,the 34-year-old wiz kid wineman behind Brookdale Vineyards,
died tragically in a vineyard accident in September 2003. He
had named the winery for the horse farm in Lexington, KY, where
his dad grew up and which his uncle owns today. If you look
closely, you'll even see a tiny horse neatly woven into the
design on the label. But few wine lovers are going to keep a
bottle around long enough to devote to label gazing; this wine
is going to bolt off the shelf, or out of the cellar, like a
proverbial two-year-old filly out of the gate.
This is a wine to enjoy NOW, even though it will mature gracefully.
Mike’s wife Kristi and her sister Gina and a friend, Bonnie
Mott, operate one of the only food concessions on the Silverado
Trail, the Soda Canyon Store. This is a deli, a wine bar, an
espresso bar, a grocery store, a lunch outlet, but most of all,
it's THE place to hang out and meet well respected winemakers
and suntanned vineyard managers. The place is quieter now, sadder
now, without Mike’s big grinning face making the rounds,
but Kristi and her partners have kept the store on keel.
Mike was originally from New Jersey and when we joked, saying,
"oh, you're from Soprano-land," he rebutted without
losing a beat: "you're not kidding. My brother was actually
born in the house which they use as a beach house in Long Branch
in the Sopranos." Mike started out with a business degree
and moved to San Francisco to work in the financial district.
But he soon found himself longing for rootstocks instead of
industrial stocks, so he enrolled at UC Davis for an agriculture
degree.
Upon graduation, Mike worked with Jack Neal's vineyard management
firm for three years, then decided to branch out on his own,
creating Brookdale Vineyard Management.
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2000 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
A gorgeous, voluptuous, elegant wine. The kind of wine
tasters are reluctant to spit out. You want to "rent"
it for even a short while. Lots of black cherry on the
nose; even more on the first sip. You'd swear there
is a mother lode of Merlot in this blend, but this is
100 percent cab from five different single vineyards
in Napa Valley, including parcels in Stag's Leap, Rutherford,
Howell Mountain, Yountville and Atlas Peak.
Perhaps the most original aspect of this wine is that
it is truly "refreshing." You sip… and
you want to go back for more immediately. The wine is
not hot, is not alcoholic. It is beautiful, balanced
and extremely food-friendly.
"Supple" comes to mind on the attack, on
the middle palate and on the finish. Only $48 in neighborhood
Napa Valley retail stores. $48 a bottle.
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
$48 |
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