Understanding Wine Descriptions

Things you hear at a wine club’s wine tasting.

A lot of the wine tastings language you hear if you’re a member of a wine club and you’ve been invited to a tasting is easy to understand. If you’re familiar with the smell and taste of various fruits, vegetables and spices, much of the description of the aroma and flavor of wine will make intuitive sense. Some of these terms might seem not exactly food-related, such as “leather” or “crushed rocks.” Think of the smell of leather or wet cement, and imagine tasting that smell (taste and smell are closely linked). Then there’s “cigar box,” a taste and smell which comes from oak aging.

Physical Sensation of Drinking Wine

Then there are the physical sensations. A hot wine is one that has the throat-burning quality of too much alcohol. A wine with high acidity is one that is just a little bit tart. It can also be called “bright.” A rich, concentrated wine is “fat,” “massive” or “opulent.” This is good, unless the wine has no acidity — then it’s just “flabby.”

But there are many other terms that seem to defy such intuitive understanding. What does it mean, for example, to say that a wine is “angular” or “round?” This refers to the mouthfeel. The sensation of drinking a round wine is very smooth and pleasant, and its effect is evenly distributed over the whole inside of the mouth, like a smooth, rounded surface. If a round wine is particularly fruity, with low acidity and tannins, it can be called “soft” or even “silky” or “velvety.” (If you find a wine that merits this description, you’ve found a good one.) An angular wine affects the mouth only at certain places, giving the feeling of points and edges inside the mouth, and is less pleasurable.

Wine tasting at a vineyard just outside St. Helena

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, holds tastings in its barrel caves, where visitors can sample current releases and library wines and learn about the process of making and storing the wine. Cave tastings are $65, but one tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club or making a $100 purchase.

One wine you might get a chance to try is the 2011 Right Bank. 2011 was a cooler than average year, but Conn Valley saw plenty of sunlight. Harvest was late and yield was low, but the resulting wine is perfectly balanced. It has a nose and palate of roses, blue violets, red currants, fresh red raspberry compote, menthol, clove, anise and allspice. Its grape and oak tannins blend smoothly together to accompany the bright acidity and fruit. This wine is expected to age well for up to 30 years. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. Join their wine club today and schedule a wine tasting.

The Winemaker Experience

Learning about the winemaker experience at wine clubs

Winemaker experience in St. Helena, CA

Joining a wine club means getting the chance to talk to real winemakers about their work. The winemaker experience is not quite like any other. The process of growing grapes may have a lot of similarities to growing, say, tomatoes, but being a winemaker means knowing your produce will be judged more exactingly, and delighted in more thoroughly, than that of any tomato grower.

The winemaker learns the terroir of his or her vineyard — the precise microclimate of the area, the levels of sunlight and moisture that prevail at various points in the day and the temperature and rainfall most common at different points in the season. He or she then carefully matches the variety of grape to the terroir. Then comes the growing of the grapes, protecting them from bugs, weeds and mildew while pruning them to make them concentrate on producing fruit. The winemaker considers the weather at every stage of growth and what effect it is likely to have on the grapes. From time to time, he or she tastes a grape to see how close it is to being ready.

The busiest time of year, of course, is the harvest. In the best wineries, the grapes are hand-picked to ensure quality. Precisely what process is used to crush the grapes depends on whether the winemaker is trying to make red or white wine. There is also maintaining the wine barrels and bottling the wine.

The winemaker experience at a winery near St. Helena

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, is a great place to learn about the winemaker experience. It holds tastings in its barrel caves, where visitors can sample current releases and library wines and learn about the process of making and storing the wine. Cave tastings are $65, but one tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club or making a $100 purchase. Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards produces world-class wines at affordable prices. The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain, and has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983.

One wine you might want to try there is the 2008 Èloge. This dark ruby red blend was born of a turbulent year with a cold, dry early spring, a cool late spring and summer and a hot early fall, producing a wine both rare and excellent. The aroma carries the smell of black cherries, chocolate, cedar, cassis, leather, mocha and crushed rocks, with a distant hint of smoked meats. The wine has a rich flavor of chocolate-covered black cherries, currants and plums, with hints of toffee, mocha and spices.

Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. Order some today.

Estate Cabernet an Expression of the Art of Winemaking

Wine clubs and estate wines

Estate wine Cabernet in St. Helena, CA

One good reason to join a wine club affiliated with a winery is to try an Estate Cabernet Sauvignon or other estate wine. An estate wine is a wine produced and sold where the grapes are grown. It is the type of wine in which the winemaker has the most control over the process, and in making it, the winemaker has the greatest opportunity to display the full extent of his or her skill.

History of an Estate Cabernet

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards makes its Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from a blend of clonal varieties of Cab grapes grown only on the estate. Let’s look at this history of this distinguished wine, every year of which is expected to be worth preserving for decades.

2007 was a dry year that began with very cold days, which warmed up later in spring but never quite reached the full heat of a proper summer, except for a few days. The result was a dark ruby red wine with an aroma of sweet black fruit and a taste perfectly balanced between fruit, tannins and acidity.

2008 was another dry year, but one that began with heavy storms followed by early frosts and ended with a hot spell in early September. The harvest was smaller than average, but yielded a dark purple wine with many of the same aroma notes as ’07 and a layered mouthfeel and lingering finish.

2009 was a perfect year for winemaking, with optimum conditions prevailing in Napa Valley. Aged in French oak for 22 months, the resulting dense purple wine has a strong cassis aroma with perfumed flowers, loamy earth and concentrated minerals. In the flavor, dark and bright red fruits are tightly woven with earth elements. This wine has a full-bodied mouthfeel and finish.

2010 began cool, but bright sun and high temperatures meant that the vines needed to be allowed to develop a good canopy to protect the grapes. Fortunately, after the last heat wave the vineyard cooled, allowing ripening to be slow and even. The result was a wine to be proud of — dark purple, with an aroma and flavor of dark berries, licorice and smoke balanced with fine tannins.

Since then, the Estate Reserve Cab has continued in this tradition. The 2012 vintage is perhaps the best ever, in abundant quantity with hints of white pepper and orange peel in the flavor.

A vineyard and winery near St. Helena

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, has its own wine club. By agreeing to buy six bottles a year in groups of three, you can get Level I membership with discounts on their wines, tickets to parties and invitations to a complimentary tasting.

The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain, and has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. Join today.

The Best Wineries Napa

The best wineries Napa and their wine clubs

Best wineries Napa in St. Helena, CA

The best wineries Napa out of the 400 wineries in the area match the right variety of grape to the terroir (soil and climate) of their vineyard, tend the vines lovingly and harvest the grapes at the perfect moment. A lot of them have wine caves — in Napa, usually a result of engineering rather than nature, but just as effective at keeping the wine barrels in a cool and humid environment. Many of the best wineries Napa have wine clubs. If you join these clubs, you’ll be invited to wine tastings where you can discover how well these wineries have been pursuing their art.

One of the best wineries Napa near St. Helena

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, is one of the best vineyards in the Napa Valley area. Their Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends are widely considered to be among the best wines in Napa. The winery holds tastings in its caves, where visitors can sample current releases and library wines and can learn about the process of making and storing the wine. Cave tastings are $65, but one tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club or making a $100 purchase.

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards produces world-class wines at affordable prices. The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain, and has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. The Conn Valley Cabernet has been rated one of the top Cabernets in the world since the inaugural vintage of 1987. The fruit is more similar to mountain fruit than valley floor fruit, and the style is more Bordeaux in style than the average Napa Cabernet, exhibiting more dark fruit and a very refreshing finish that makes it perfect for food pairing. The Conn Valley Cabernet is what is called in the industry as a chef style wine. This means that chefs find it easy to pair this wine with just about anything because of the beautiful bright and refreshing acidity on the finish. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate praises the 2012 vintage for its “terrific purity, plenty of depth and ripeness, and a full-bodied mouthfeel” and describes the 2010 Cab as “an elegant, finesse-styled effort to enjoy over the next decade.” They also offer Estate and Signature Cabs, which are of particularly high quality.

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. Wine club members save $25 buying the 2013 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon online. If you’re looking for a good wine to serve at a special occasion, order a bottle today.

Cabernet Sauvignon – Perfect for Cookouts

Cabernet at a Cookout

Cabernet Sauvignon in St. Helena, CA

With summer coming to an end, there is still time for a last few barbecues before the weather starts getting colder — especially in California, where the outdoor weather should be pleasant, and if anything at less risk of being too hot. The perfect wine to serve at a cookout is a Cabernet Sauvignon. A world-famous red wine with notes of blackcurrant and tannins that stand out, the Cabernet Sauvignon goes well with wild fowl, red cabbage, honey-roasted carrots and such fine dishes as aged cheeses or truffles. Most of all, it’s perfect for serving with grilled red meat — especially venison, lamb or well-marbled beef. Try serving the wine at 14 to 16 degrees centigrade (57 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit) to experience the full flavor.

Wine club Cabernet

Some wine clubs offer the chance to collect a whole series of best Cabernet Sauvignons, either from Napa Valley or around the world. If you think you might have some wine left over (this shouldn’t be a problem if you have guests, but just in case) then be sure to recork the bottle after every pour. Like all wine, it should be stored somewhere with consistent temperature and humidity, preferably less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit and humid enough that the cork doesn’t dry out. If you’re serving it on a hot day, let it chill for a few minutes first, and always hold the glass by the stem.

Exquisite best Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard just outside St. Helena

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, holds tastings in its barrel caves, where visitors can sample current releases and library wines and learn about the process of making and storing the wine. Cave tastings are $65, but one tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club or making a $100 purchase.

 The 2010 Signature Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, a deep purple wine with a slight red edge that comes from the best two barrels of the vintage, has an aroma worth a full paragraph of description. It begins with a strong cassis, with streaks of blackberry, plum, blueberry and red berries and highlights of crushed roses, blue flowers and anise. The oak adds elements of smoke and tar to the bouquet. The palate of the ’10 Signature is similar to the aroma, with the taste of black, blue and red fruits, licorice, anise, tobacco, smoke, rosehips, and violets. This is a wine that deserves to be kept and allowed to age, and is a showpiece for the skill of the Anderson’s Conn Valley winemaking team.

Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. Join their wine club today and schedule a tasting.