2013 Pérez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon “Reserva”, Maipo Valley, Chile (Alcohol 13%) LCBO General List $14.95
It’s not very often that one finds a sub-$15 bottle of red wine that it capable of some pretty serious cellar time, and that’s exactly what we have here, with previous vintages dating back as far as 2003 tasting extremely well-developed and yet remarkably bright today.
At a recent Charton Hobbs vertical tasting of some seven back vintages with longtime Winemaker German Lyon, the assembled Sommeliers and Writers were quite frankly astonished at just how well this modest wine developed over time. Closer inspection revealed that the wine’s ageability was greatly increased in cooler vintages. Now that’s not to say that the warmer vintages didn’t age well, just that they evolved with a little less grace than those from the chillier years… well, for my palate anyway.
The nose is a classic one, composed of dense, ripe, black berry fruit with a good dollop of warm oak spice, and just a hint of mint. The palate is incredibly juicy, with a dark fruit core, but has a considerable tannic value… quite chewy actually, dependant upon vintage.
(Three and a half apples out of a possible five)
Edinburgh-born/Toronto-based Sommelier, consultant, writer, judge, and educator Jamie Drummond is the Director of Programs/Editor of Good Food Revolution… And he’s going to be laying a few of these down just to see what happens.
