I am often asked by wineries to review a number of their new releases and do so with the aim of finding individual wines that stand out. When they do, you hear about them. When they don’t, they remain anonymous since I prefer to accentuate the positive. From time to time a producer leaves a strong overall impression, and that was the case with some of the reds from California’s Guenoc Estate, which I have been tasting this fall and which deserve mention.
Guenoc, if you’re not familiar with it, is located in the Guenoc Valley in Lake County just north of Napa, and is the only winery in that relatively arid neck of the woods, so to speak. Part of the lore of the place is that the actress Lillie Langtry owned the property from 1888 to 1906 and a Victorian-era portrait of her is the centerpiece of the labels.
The modern-day reds of note represent a range of Guenoc’s wines, from the high-end “reserve” series, to the mid-level “estate” wines to the inexpensive “California” offerings. The four wines I am going to highlight are unified by a distinctive style, achieved, it seems to me, by an emphasis on superb, concentrated fruit, skillful blending for complexity and a seamless integration of oak.
Beyond that, none of the wines, thankfully, left me with a sense that they had been released too young, a common problem largely dictated by economics. They are ready to drink, more or less, and are just plain good — very good, in fact.
Let’s start with Guenoc’s 2002 California Cabernet Sauvignon at $11. Finding distinctive Cab at this price is always challenging, but this appealing everyday wine rises above California generic. It is soft, accessible and pretty with notes of black cherry and blueberry, a more than decent wine for any number of uncomplicated meals and, at this price, worth considering as a house red. It worked nicely recently as a second bottle at a simple grilled steak dinner with friends. It is 93 percent Cab with a little of lots of other reds to round out the blend.
It provided nice continuity that evening following our first wine, which happened to be Guenoc’s 2000 Victorian Claret, a delicious, more complex Bordeaux-style blend of 61 percent Merlot, 25 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and smaller amounts of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Gros Verdot. It, too, is a good value at $19. It has fruit orchard aromas and is full of dark berry tastes, punctuated by cedar and little chocolate. It is relatively soft but has good structure and a long finish.
That brings me to what may well be the real stars of the Guenoc portfolio and its signature wines — the Petite Sirahs. There are two of them (three, actually, when you add in a Port that Guenoc makes from the grape). A couple of things are worth recalling about Petite Sirah. First, there is nothing “petite” about it — it makes big, dark, powerful reds and, second, the grape is, at most, only distantly related to the much more familiar Syrah.
I particularly liked Guenoc’s 2000 North Coast Petite Sirah, at $18, with its seductive aromas and tastes of blueberry, raspberry, coffee and chocolate. Earthy and intense, it nonetheless defies Petite Sirah’s reputation as brawny and somewhat unwieldy. It’s a wonderful cold-weather wine that I would have with stews and roasts, or, as I wrote in my notes, “with a big piece of chocolate cake.” An even bigger, more complex and tannic rendition can be found in Guenoc’s 2000 “Serpentine Meadow” Petite Sirah, a $35 reserve wine that will benefit from an hour or so of breathing time and is a good candidate for cellaring and enjoyment over the next several years.
Edward Deitch's wine column appears Thursdays. Write to him at @hotmail.com.