Recently we finished our first Taste & Talk segment with Jeff Miller of Artisan Family of Wines. The four episode conversation was an excellent start to this ongoing series of conversations with wine makers, winery owners, vineyard managers and others associated with bringing wine to your table.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of the interview can be found by clicking on each of the links and so far we have reviewed the 2008 Red Côte Rosé and the 2005 Sly Dog Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon.
Today on PTC TV we are tasting and reviewing the third of four wines from Artisan Family of Wines - the 2006 Seven Artisan Meritage. As is our standard operating procedure the written tasting notes can be found below the video. Enjoy!
2006 Seven Artisans Meritage - USA, California, North Coast, Suisun Valley
Decanted for 3.5 hours. 89.5% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, .25% Malbec and .25% Petit Verdot. 14.1% ABV. The wine was clear with a deep purple or garnet core and slight ruby out toward the edge. The nose revealed rose petals, ripe red cherries, leather, cocoa powder and black cherries. The nose was fairly intense, medium intensity I would say. In the mouth this was full bodied with a pretty good balance of acidity and tannin though a tiny bit on the tannic side. That said the tannins weren't bitter or rough but firm and well structured. The flavor profile was ripe red cherries, black cherries, chocolate, earthy mushroom, a subtle but very nice tobacco leaf and black currant. There was a bit of vanilla and cedar lingering behind the flavor profiles but it was very subtle. The finish was pretty long with more ripe red cherries, cocoa powder, mushroom, vanilla and cedar lingering. A fairly complex wine with the acidity and tannin structure to age well for 5-10 years. Nice layers of flavor in the mouth and the wine improved as it got more air in the glass and decanter. For $17.99 this is another good value from Artisan Family of Wines. This is very Bordeaux in style but at a fraction of the price of many better wines from Bordeaux. The price is incredibly low for a wine of this quality. Highly recommended! 50+5+13+16+7=91 pts (click here to learn more about what these number mean)
