Lost Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
December 16, 2006 – 11:56 am
I had a bottle of the Lost Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 a couple of weeks ago. I actually got the bottle for free after a wine tasting I attended a few months ago. They had a handful of bottles left over, and those of us lolly gagging at the end were rewarded with a couple of bottles each of some of the different wines.
According to the back of the bottle, this wine was cellared and bottled by Snowden Vineyards in Oakville, California (i.e. Napa Valley). I wasn’t a huge fan of the wine at the tasting, but I enjoyed it more the second time over the course of a few days. The Lost Vineyard is not a fruit-forward wine. The primary aroma I found was that of charred wood, which reminded me of some of the better smoked porters I have had.
I found the taste to be dominated by both the charred wood and black licorice. I don’t like licorice candy much myself, but in the wine, complemented with the smoked taste, it was enjoyable. In general I prefer a stronger presence of berries in red wines, particularly blackberries or black cherries. I suppose it took me a little while to move past the fact that I couldn’t identify much fruit in the Lost Vineyard. But once I allowed myself to succumb to the licorice and smoked flavors, I was definitely able to enjoy this cabernet.