81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec, 3% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc from California.
SRP of $20 and available for $12.99 at Costco. Sample received courtesy the winery for review purposes.
From the bottle:
"Francis Coppola Diamond Collection Claret, as its British-derived name implies, is made in the same style as Bordeaux's finest Medoc type wines. A Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine blended in a Bordeaux style, this wine exhibits an exceptional depth and truly unique flavors. In honoring the authenticity and heritage of wines made in this style by Captain Niebaum himself from California Vineyards dating back to 1910, we call our wine, Claret.Claret, as the label mentions, is the term originally used by the British to describe Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blends. Almost a year ago we sampled the 2008 version of this wine and came away unimpressed. But as with every wine, each year brings new possibilities. And after recently enjoying the Rosso and Chardonnay from the Francis Ford Coppola Rosso and Bianco line we were eager to give the new vintage of this wine a try.
13.5% Alcohol"
The 2009 Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection Black Label Claret begins with pleasant aromas of dark fruit, spice (anise) and vanilla. The wine tastes smooth with flavors of blackberry, blueberry and other dark fruit plus some other dried herbs and earthiness. A bit of toasty oak and spice emerges on the dry finish and resolves into lingering fruit and chocolate notes. This wine is quite good on its own and is much better than the 2008. It would probably be just about perfect with a nice juicy steak!
Taste Rating: 8 Cost Rating: 6
Overall Rating: 7.5
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I was unaware that Black Label made wine! I like the Black Label vodka. I can hardly wait to try their Claret. I just wounder if its actually the same company but I would still like to try it. Can it be found online?
ReplyDeleteNot the same -- this is from Francis Ford Coppola winery :)
ReplyDeleteShould be available just about everywhere.
Thanks for reading!
I love this wine--actually had it last week with some great Moroccan food, can't wait to get my hands on it again, nice post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura, Moroccan food sounds good right about now! :)
ReplyDeleteJust opened a bottle of this and had two half glasses. This wine is pretty much as good as I ever had in this price range. No bitterness, no overwhelming smokiness like some Cabs can have, no sour after taste, just smooth, flavorful red wine. I tasted some 40 dollar + Cabs that were less pleasing than this. I recommend this wine.
ReplyDeletePS I'm more of a Pinot Noir drinker, this bottle was a gift.
For a mostly Cab blend, to me it comes surprisingly close to a good Pinot Noir vibe I normally enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by. I was really happy with this vintage as well. You should check out some of the other wines on the Top 10 list, I've got many under $20 that rank even higher than this one!
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