Author: admin

This previous wine of the week comes from the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County.

Tasting Notes: 
 Aromas of blackberry, cherry, plum, dusty cedar and baking spice. Robust flavors of black plum, blackberry, cherry, pomegranate and currant jelly. Layered earthy crisp berry, cherry and spice. Dry tannins make for a clean finish.

The Grapes:  Carignane and Cinsaut are the varieties that make up this blend. They come from the same vineyard that produce varietal Carignane and Cinsaut. This wine is Carignane 60%, Cinsaut 40%.

The Vineyard:
Cinsaut & Carignane grows on dusty red soiled bench land above the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County.

The Wine:
 Here is a blend of two very complimentary Rhone grape varieties.Aged 23 months in small neutral oak barrels. Unfined/ unfiltered so expect some sediment as the wine ages. C² ages gracefully.

Crocus is an interesting wine from the Cahors region in southwest of France which has some of the country’s most rugged terrain and most rugged wines.  Most Americans think Argentina

when they look for Malbec, but in fact this grape is native to this French region. The French wines tend to be a little drier and more masculine, with the same hardy backbone Malbec is known for. As lifted from the Crocus website: “L’Atelier emphasizes authentic Cahors Malbec with a hint of modernity, showing a very accessible wine with bright fruit and rustic earthiness. “L’Atelier refers to the artisan’s ‘workshop’, where skill, creativity and passion make art. Inspired by the diverse palette of Cahors terroirs, Hobbs and Vigouroux craft this wine from the vineyard deftly revealing a Malbec of structure and elegance, singular to these ancient soils.” A nearly opaque wine with purple tints, offering a bright and harmonious nose redolent of Morello cherry, black plum and blackberries with a hint of ash and leather. The expansive palate is alive with fresh fig, raspberry and redcurrant finishing with earthy tannins with a touch of freshly cracked pepper. A rustic and well-structured wine, befitting to pair with a variety of cuisines.”

Just like Corky himself, this playfully packaged wine (bottled in a plant based PET  bottle) is as serious as those other Côtes de Provence Rosé wines. Pale color, tart red fruit & crisp refreshing taste make this THE beach/park Rosé of the summer.

The Cork ‘n Cap website hosting contract was about to expire and the 8 year old design was getting a little long in the tooth so we completely wiped out the old one and started fresh. It will become immediately apparent that the web designer has never used WordPress and doesn’t know what he is doing. The intent is to have a cleaner, more compact site with pertinent and timely information.  We hope you like it.