ABS in the California Collection March 2022 - The Wine Merchant & California Wines
ABS Wine Agencies, Tue 29 Mar 2022
Congratulations to our prodcuers for being selected for The Wine Merchant's California Collection March 2022 with California Wines. Vist The Wine Mechnant Magazine here
Grgich Hills Estate Napa Valley Chardonnay 2018
Another star name of California wine, Miljenko “Mike” Grgich has, since 1977, built much of his reputation on the quality of his Chardonnays. Using fruit from the cool maritime-influenced southern tip of Napa Valley, the estate wine is an “exceptionally deep and resonant Chardonnay with ripe grapefruit, grilled peach and apricot and some patisserie/ barrel creaminess, but with excellent balance: it’s full flavoured and rich but with intense citrus fruit coming through on the long finish. Excellent.”
View our full tasting note here
Hope Family Wines Treana White 2018
Discussion of California’s Rhône Rangers, and other latter-day producers working with Rhône varieties, tends to focus on the reds. But here’s a wine that shows parts of California are just as suitable for making exquisite Rhône-inspired dry whites. A blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne, it’s “luscious, filled with marzipan and nougat. Creamy, rich, heady and with a wonderful floral (honeysuckle) finish plus a touch of oxidation for complexity.”
View our full tasting note here
Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
After growing up among the vines of his family’s California wine business, and then training as a winemaker in California and the Rhône, Austin Hope had long harboured a desire to make a great Cabernet Sauvignon in his native Paso Robles. Since 2017, it’s been a case of mission very much accomplished. “Rich raisiny aromas, seriously, concentrated flavours of blackcurrants, leather, cloves and white pepper. Dense viscous texture and a long finish. Overall, an impressive, showy wine.”
View our full tasting note here
Grgich Hills Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Complementing the Grgich Chardonnay, the estate Cabernet is primarily built on fruit from the family’s certified-organic Yountville vineyard, supplemented with parcels from Rutherford and Calistoga (also organic). With small proportions of Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc in the blend, it has a “Classic Cab nose: cedar, leather, blackcurrants. Plum and blackberries on the palate with really lovely acidity and a flavour that builds and explodes. Lifted fresh and delicious.”
View our full tasting note here
Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Valley Red Blend 2016
The stylish packaging sets the scene nicely for an intriguing blend: a 50/50 combination of Zinfandel and Syrah from Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County. The blend is given 18 months in French oak, 30% new, to smooth the tannins, leaving a wine that is “dark and moody, with the Syrah component dominating on the nose. It’s gorgeous on the palate, just so drinkable, with blackcurrant and bitter chocolate and great oak rounding it out.”