This blog is based on the Spirits of New Mexico radio show that aired on December 4, 2021. We do on-air tasting of one or two wines to illustrate what is available in a particular wine region, or as a contrast of what influence a wine region has on a grape or blend. We also contrast wine styles as in the current blog. We use suitable glasses for the type of wine and do a double-decant of red wines to insure they have opened sufficiently for accurate judging.
What is a hearty wine? There are probably as many definitions as there are wine drinkers, but there are a few commonalities we can list.
- Nearly always refers to a red wine
- Sometimes features high alcohol, but can denote wines from 13% to 16-plus%
- Often denotes a higher tannin profile; a chewy or course structure
- Sometimes labeled rustic which can be hearty, earthy or rough-edged
- The opposite of a hearty wine is one that’s refined, elegant or smooth.
Weather is often a determining factor when we search for a hearty wine. It often rubs us the wrong way in summer’s heat, but warms us in winter’s chill. The foods we serve also affect our wine choices and in winter these often include beef and lamb roasts, hearty soups and stews of red meat, or laden with root vegetables. I often serve prime rib or Beef Wellington for Christmas for example and after a leg of lamb invariably comes the lamb stew.
Here the idea of a hearty wine is to reflect the flavors in our food with our wine. A delicate red Burgundy might be overpowered by a hearty stew, while a Zinfandel will stand toe to toe with it. The point of selecting a hearty wine should include balance; alcohol and tannin integrated into the wine. Acidity or crispness should be present to enhance food-pairing, weight or mouthfeel should be medium to heavy. Chewy is good up to a point, but a rougher versus smoother feel can lead to palate fatigue. Again balance is the key.
Grape choices
Red wine grapes should have sufficient tannin, so leaving out red blends for the moment, not all red grapes possess medium to high tannin. Pinot Noir, Grenache, Barbera, Gamay, Malbec, Carignan, and Cabernet Franc are all lower in tannin.
- Medium tannin: Tempranillo, Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah, and Sangiovese
- High tannin: Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Nebbiolo, Monastrell (Mourvèdre) and Aglianico are all high in tannin.
Grape maceration
Another factor that contributes to a hearty mouthfeel is the maceration time.
- How long the skins are in contact with the juice.
- Use of saignée technique to increase skin to juice ratio
- Selecting smaller berries with higher skin to juice ration
Selecting a Hearty Wine
Since this is a very broad category, I’m narrowing this to three grapes and California wines since this where promoting hearty wines all started. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Syrah or Shiraz have all been used alone or in blends. I prefer single-varietal versus blends as so many of all three grapes are available. Zinfandel is usually my first choice for a hearty wine.
California Cabernet Sauvignon
California produces some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. That has been the case since the Judgment of Paris blind tasting in 1976 when Stags Leap’s Cab took the top prize at that event. As a result Napa has been synonymous with the Cabernet Sauvignon grape ever since. However as the most planted red grape in California there are many wine regions making excellent wines from this grape.
Cabernet Sauvignon grape analysis
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted grape in the world. It was supplanted by Merlot in the 1990s. However, by 2015, Cabernet Sauvignon had once again become the most widely planted wine grape, with a total of 341,000 hectares under vine worldwide. It is possible the influence of Sideways in 2004 might have affected this change.
The grape’s true origins were discovered in 1996 with the use of DNA typing at the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, by a team led by Dr. Carole Meredith. The DNA evidence determined that Cabernet Sauvignon was the offspring of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc and was most likely a chance crossing that occurred in the 17th century.
Cabernet Sauvignon typically makes full-bodied wines with high tannins and noticeable acidity that contributes to the wine’s aging potential. In cooler climates, it tends to produce wines with blackcurrant notes sometimes with green bell pepper notes, mint and cedar which are more pronounced with age. In more moderate climates the blackcurrant notes often add black cherry and black olive notes. In very hot climates the flavors can veer towards the over-ripe and “jammy” side.
The use of oak during fermentation, the size and type of oak barrels for aging all have an impact on the flavors generated. The grape does take well to oak with vanilla and spice contributing to it overall flavor profile. One important winemaker choice is rather to make it part of a blend or a single varietal. The so-called Bordeaux blend adds Merlot and Cabernet franc and possibly Petit Verdot and Malbec.
Cabernet Sauvignon California Wine Regions
Napa produces a rich variety of this grape. In fact Napa and Cab are synonymous. The valley region wines are very different from the mountainous versions, such as Howell Mountain and Spring Mountain. Coombsville on an elevated bench at the foot of the valley is yet another great area for tasty Cabs, which recently came into their own.
Mendocino has a number of inland and mountainous regions making quality Cabernet Sauvignon including Potter and Redwood Valleys.
Sonoma is another prime locale for Cabernet Sauvignon with some of the most intense in Alexander Valley. Another prime location is Knight’s Valley, which is just below Alexander Valley and registered as an AVA in 1983, primarily because of Beringer Vineyards.
The Santa Cruz Mountains offer coastal and elevated subregions that produce well-structured wine with good acidity and elegance. Since I used to live in the foothills I’ve sampled countless examples that are still some of my favorites.
Monterey and its bay are strongly influenced by the Blue Grand Canyon; a deep watery trench that extends the growing season near the bay as well as down the mountain funnel. The inland valleys provide many good locations for the Cabernet grape.
The Central Coast covers Monterey and Santa Cruz but extends down to Paso Robles, which produces big fruit-laden Cabs from its many subregions. Below this is San Luis Obispo (SLO), which has a long growing season and influences from Morro Bay that affect the Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley, with Cabs that are balanced and elegantly structured. Finally Santa Barbara produces richly textured Cabs from the Santa Maria Valley.
What we are tasting: 2018 Beringer Knights Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% ABV $70
This wine is out of stock at Beringer, but is still available locally or online.
Beringer is known for establishing many ‘firsts’ as leaders in the wine industry. They were one of the first gravity fed facilities and among the first to operate using hand-dug caves and cellars. They were the first to give public tours in 1934, starting a Napa Valley hospitality tradition. They are the first and only winery to have both a red and a white wine named #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine.
Passion has the wonderful power to turn mere objects into an obsession, to transform everyday tasks into art. At Beringer, we have been living our passion for 145 years.
From the Beringer website, which provides a wealth of information on their wines:
Knights Valley: Beringer Vineyards has owned and farmed its Knights Valley vineyards since the mid-1960s, when the Beringer family recognized that the cobbled, rocky alluvial soils were a great place to grow high quality wine grapes. The Knights Valley designation was first used on a Beringer label in 1974. Beringer was instrumental in garnering official recognition for the area in 1983 as a premier wine growing region with the award of its own American Viticulture Area (AVA) designation.
Tasting Notes: Deep garnet-ruby in color, the 2018 Knights Valley Reserve invites with deep aromas of black cherries and kirsch lifted with a touch of blue flowers and mint. Concentrated flavors of black currant, blackberries and cassis coat the palate with notes of warm spices, vanilla and mocha. This is a bold Cabernet richly textured with polished tannins, focused in crushed dark fruit, and underlain with a fine tension that extends the long, earthy finish.
2018 Vintage: An exceptional vintage, the 2018 season started with a cool spring that delayed flowering but fruit set was fine and even. With few exceptions, summer was moderate, sunny and dry without major heat spikes. The fine weather continued on through the fall, allowing Cabernet Sauvignon to hang longer on the vine to develop flavors and achieve phenolic ripeness without additional sugar accumulation, resulting in beautiful structure, intense color, concentration of fruit and excellent balance in the wines. The grapes for this Cabernet were harvested October 25 – November 1st.
The vineyard: Located in a remote and bucolic location in Sonoma County just 17 miles north of the Beringer Napa winery, Knights Valley lies in the shadow of Mount St. Helena with hilly terrain that descends to rocky, alluvial soils where ancient rivers once ran. Warm during the day, cool at night, this well-draining site produces bold and richly structured reds with intense dark fruit.
Winemaking: Knights Valley Reserve is a barrel selection, a blend of the best vineyard lots in a given vintage. To maintain the unique characteristics of the different lots from varying areas of the vineyard, they are kept separate through vinification and aging, and only the most expressive are chosen for this Reserve bottling. Extended maceration created more dominant tannins, enhancing the lush mouthfeel of the blend while extracting a maximum of color, aromas and flavors. The 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine was aged in small French Nevers oak barrels (51% percent new) for 20 months, enhancing the rich mouthfeel and structure.
Winemaker: Mark Beringer, great-great-grandson of Beringer Vineyards’ founding brother Jacob Beringer, was immersed in wine from the moment he was born in the heart of the Napa Valley. As the direct descendant to Beringer’s first winemaker and one of the most iconic family names in Napa Valley wine history, he knew from a young age that he would follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. As a young man he spent many hours working in his family’s wine store in Saint Helena, expanding his knowledge of wine as well as gaining an appreciation for wines outside of the famous region he has always called home.
Analysis
A last minute game plan change meant we would only sample the Knight’s Valley Cab, but we also had a big charcuterie plate courtesy of Erin Williams. This is a big Cab as one would expect from this subregion, well balanced, fruit-laden and structured with a dense but velvet mouthfeel. Kevin, Eddy and I all weighed in on this one. You want a hearty wine; this is the one.
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