This month I was impressed by an interesting range of wines, including a gewürztraminer from Italy and a California classic. Fans of Cakebread wines will be delighted to know that Dennis Cakebread has been busy up in the Northwest making yet another dense flavorful red wine. In Napa, Francis Ford Coppola continues to improve upon the legacy of winemaker Gustave Niebaum with impressive efforts (and results) to make Inglenook a world-class wine. A Cru Barbaresco and an Amarone also made the cut, but the month’s biggest surprise was a decadent mouth-watering Gewurztraminer from northern Italy.
Mullan Road Cellars, Red Wine Blend, Columbia Valley, 2014:
Dennis Cakebread of Napa’s renowned Cakebread Cellars, and native Washington state winemaker Aryn Morell, teamed up for this bottling. Cakebread alighted in Washington State after a long search for the just-right wine growing region. Mullan Road, like so many of the distinctive wines from Washington State, delivers a rich, densely fruity palate along with a soulful earthiness. The wine is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc sourced from premium vineyard sites in the Columbia Valley. Drink it now or cellar for a decade.
By Katie Kelly Bell
Forbes
