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If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes greater than great, as is the case with today’s wine from Hans Fahden Winery.

Wine Spies Once-in-a-lifetime Alert!: Today we are pleased to the first wine seller to bring you another exclusive from Hans Fahden. This wine is not only very special, it is also precious. Once this wine is gone, the winery will not release another

Superior Wine Alert!: This is another exceptional Hans Fahden wine and we are astounded that it sells for so little

SAVINGS ALERT!: Operatives who buy six or more bottles today will be rewarded with Free Ground Shipping, but only if they enter the secret savings code: MERLOTSPY

Mission Codename: Quothe the Raven

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Respond immediately to reports that Wine Spies Operative favorite, Hans Fahden, has released a one-time Merlot. If the wine is great, secure as much as possible – before they run out – forever!

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Hans Fahden Winery

Wine Subject: 2004 Mountain Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: Israel Montanez

Backgrounder: The 2003 Hans Fahden Cabernet Sauvignon was one of the most popular Cabs we featured in 2007. In 2008, we offered their incredible 2004. Again, a smash success and a fast sell-out. When we learned that they were producing a limited release Merlot, we sped to the winery to taste the wine. When we fell in love, we secured an exclusive on the wine and are offering you what could be you only chance to try the wine. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes below, followed by his original Mission Report, in which Red first becomes acquainted with this wonderful winery.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Deep ruby red in color with a heart of dark plum. Swirl the glass and thick legs appear slowly before they march slowly down the glass

Smell – A wonderful blast of concentrated aromas of earthen cherry, ripe blackberry, soft pine tar and mild fresh mixed salad herbs

Feel – Initially velvet soft and then the wine shows lush medium tannins as it coats and then drys the tongue and the roof of the mouth

Taste – Big and rich flavors of dark stonefruit, dark cherry, dark smoky blueberry, blackberry and plum, with a slight herbaceous or vegital quality that gives the wine a hearty flavor that follows its initial fruity brightness

Finish – Super long-lasting, with smokey fruit then more vegital all over mouth flavors that taper off slowly as the wine coats and the drys your mouth

Conclusion – Once again, Hans Fahden winery has us scratching our heads at the high-quality/low-price of their wines. We declared their Cabernet Sauvignon to be an underpriced mastepiece and we say the same of this fantastic, youthful Merlot. The only ‘bad’ thing we could say about this wine is that once it is gone, it’s gone. Okay, to be fair, all wines are like this, but when we asked the winery if there would be a future vintage, they (sniff) said ‘nope’! So, dear Operative, stock up, buy us out, grab an ample allocation for this is likey your only chance to try this great wine – from a great winery!

Mission Report:

What follows is our original mission report, in which Agent Red first discovers Hans Fahden’s exquisite wine:

: : San Francisco, California : : Fort Mason : : Family Winemakers of California Tasting event : :

With more than 400 wineries and only two days to taste, I needed to employ my best strategic planning skills. There was simply no way I would be able to taste everything available to me.

Central Command had compiled a list of High Priority Target wineries, and I was tasting wines of all varietals and in all price ranges. Most of them good to great, and only a few real stinkers.

During the latter half of my second day, I initiated the final phase of my tasting which had me tasting only the highest end wines available. This was a phase I was looking forward to and after giving my palate a much needed rest, I reentered the pavilion like a man on a mission. Oh, yeah, I really was on a mission!

After tasting 2 or 3 really superb wines (you’ll enjoy learning of these in a future report), I spotted on of my newest assets, Codename ”Shank”, chatting at one of the winery tasting tables.

Shank, so named for his passion for golf, is a wine industry insider. He works for a leading wine industry technology provider and hails from a winemaking family.

I walked over to the table and Shank introduced me to Karen Fahden of Hans Fahden Vineyards. Karen immediately poured me a glass and I took it for a swirl. I was instantly wowed and I explained that I had been seeking out $50+ wines. I thought that this one would fit right in and I asked Karen if the was $50 – or more. I was shocked by her answer. Karen explained that she gets that reaction a lot.

Right there at the table, I negotiated a nice quantity of bottles for our Agents. Any wine that drinks like a $50 bottle but costs less than half that deserves our best attention.

Winery Backgrounder:

The Fahden vineyards and winery consists of 100 acres. It is located at 1200 feet, in a range of the Mayacamus Mountains, on a ridge above Calistoga, California. The property features panoramic views of Mt. St. Helena.

Hans and Marie Fahden, natives of Hamburg, Germany, purchased the property in 1912. They farmed the land growing grapes until the Prohibition was enacted in 1920. After destroying the vines that they had worked so hard to plant and tender, the family planted prunes.

Sixty years and two generations later, Antone and Lyall Fahden decided they liked Cabernet Sauvignon better than prunes and a new journey began to restore the land and make it productive. From 1982 to 1984, the family went to work, planting three vineyard areas. Separated by volcanic outcroppings and forests of Douglas Fir, these vineyards are now interspersed by picturesque ponds and a beautiful wine cave, which was tunneled into a formation of four million year old volcanic ash.

The Hans Fahden Winery became bonded in 1986. The first bottle of wine, which was produced from the 1987 vintage, was sold in 1992. The Hans Fahden Winery became licensed to conduct public tastings in 1996. Today, the Winery produces incredible award-winning wines that please the pallet and the pocketbook.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Dry Creek Valley can be seen in this satellite photo

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If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes greater than great, as is the case with today’s wine from Iron Horse Winery.

HOLD-OVER ALERT

Yesterday we experienced a small technical problem at the beginning of the day and some folks may have missed out. Because this wine is so great, the decision to repeat it today was an easy one. If you missed out, here is a rare second chance!

SUPERIOR WINE ALERT: Bordeaux-style Blends are a favorite of our Operatives. Today we present a category killer that is certain to please you deeply

SAVINGS ALERT: Clever Operatives will earn a Free Ground Shipping award when they order 6 or more bottles – and enter this code at checkout: IRONSPY

Mission Codename: Secret Formula, ”Bdx-3”

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Investigate reports that Iron Horse Winery’s Top Secret Blend, codenamed Bdx-3, is causing our Operatives to stop drinking any other wines. If true, analyze the wine to see what makes the wine so special. If possible, develop an antidote so that our Operatives can enjoy the wine – without becoming one-wine Wine Spies.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Iron Horse Winery

Wine Subject: 2005 T-T Vineyard Bdx-3

Winemaker: David Munksgard

Backgrounder: Intelligence reports have been pouring in from our Operatives around the country, about Iron Horse Winery’s Bdx-3. Once they taste the wine, they seemingly stop drinking anything else. A strange calm seems to befall them and they become happy and satisfied. Wine Spies Operatives love Bordeaux style blends, to be sure, and historically such blends have been the most popular wines that we have brought to you. Today we send Agent Red, deep undercover, to infiltrate the Iron Horse Winery. His mission: Unlock the secret formula behind the mysteriously named T-T Vineyards Bdx-3 – and prevent our Operatives from becoming brainwashed!

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Beautiful dark garnet, with deeply concentrated color through and through. The wine has a deep garnet to purply-black core, a springy surface that moves and moves after swirling and thick, slow legs that move slowly sown the glass

Smell – Full intensity of deep aromatic dark fruits, dark berry, over ripe raspberry, soft spices, cigar box, mild pipe tobacco and cassis

Feel – Full-bodied, round and initially wet at the front of the palate – then mouth-coating and almost chewy and slightly dry with solid tannins that fade revealing more great flavors

Taste – Juicy, ripe and delicious, with deep blackberries and cherries balanced against soft earthen flavors of subtle wild mushroom and mild oak, followed by a resurgence of bright fruit and softest whisps of mocha and spice

Finish – A great long and clean finish that ramp down smoothly and continues to reveal new flavors as it tapers off

Conclusion – This is THE killer Bordeaux style blend! Long on deep flavor, terrific feel and lush aromatics, this wine is one of the best blends in recent memory. This is saying a LOT, since we have featured some pretty terrific blends here in the last few months. Today’s wine is one of those special one that delivers that unidentifiable something extra. Whether to attribute this special quality to the winery’s precision farming techniques, or the wisdom and experience of their winemaker, we cannot say. What we do know is that this wine is well worthy of your immediate attention!

Mission Report:

“This is a serious matter, darn it! If our Operatives get hooked on Iron Horse’s Bdx-3, if they don’t drink any other wines, we’ll lose our funding. We’ll be shut down!”

Agent White was on another one of his diatribes. I waited patiently, knowing that I’d get a word in. Eventually.

I had tasted the 2004 Bdx-3 [ed. note: 92 Points, Wine Enthusiast], and while I would certainly classify it as on of my favorite Bordeaux-style blends, I couldn’t imagine that anyone could get so addicted to a single wine that the would forsake all others.

“Look, the data confirms it. Check these reports. Look at the sheer volume of requests flooding in from our Operatives for Iron Horse’s 2005 Bdx-3! They don’t want anything else! You have to infiltrate Iron Horse and see what they are putting in that wine.”

“Okay,” I said. “First I’ll take a look at the reports,” I replied. “If anything looks hinky, I’ll infiltrate the winery.”

This seemed to calm White down.

I looked. And was shocked.

Some of our finest Operatives were sending in field alerts, filled with praise and kudos and even demands that we supply them with 2005 Bdx-3. Especially now that supplies of the 2004 vintage of the wine are dwindling. Besides, many reports confirm, the 2005 is better.

I agreed to take mission to penetrate the winery. I packed my fake I.D., my field wine test kit, a specially crafted resume resume, my disguise – and was off immediately.

Fortunately, there was an opening for “Tasting Room Assistant” at the Iron Horse Winery and, with my industry connections, I managed to get an immediate interview.

Winery owner, Joy Sterling, was warm and welcoming. The interview went very well and I was introduced around to others on staff. Everyone was jovial and just plain nice. No cause for alarm. Or was there?

Joy took me back to her office and asked me to wait there for a few minutes. While I waited, I busied myself with fixing my faux mustache, which had come loose at one corner. I hope that she had not noticed!.

Joy returned and said, “Well, Jack Rouge, you have the job! Everyone really liked you. Can you start today?”

I was after the 3:30 closing time, but I agreed, presuming that I would undergo some sort of training. I was lead down to the tasting room where, oddly, the entire staff seemed to be bellied up to the tasting bar.

There, on the top of the bar, sat a lone bottle. I recognized it instantly as the 2005 Bdx-3. Next to the bottle, a single glass, half-filled with the red liquid.

“All of us start here with a celebratory sip of our Bdx-3,” a smiling young man said to me. “Go on, try. Cheers!”

A shout of ”Cheers!” rose up from the rest.

Knowing that there was no faking it, I had confidence in my experience and ability as a Wine Spy. I knew that I would be fine. How could any harm come from a simple taste of wine?

I grabbed the glass, raised it and toasted them. Then I sipped. Great wine… SUPERB wine, sure, but no rapturous feelings or euphoria. I will say this, though: I’ll never drink another wine as long as I live!

Agent White Reporting: Agent Red has since been undergoing radical treatment to free him from his addiction to Iron Horse’s Bdx-3 and, we are happy to report, he is making fine progress. I did try to warn him, but he was sloppy. He should have analyzed the wine before drinking it.

Meanwhile, a detailed analysis is underway as you read this. Use great caution and, unless you want to become totally enamored by a wine, avoid this one at all costs!

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Iron Horse Winery can be seen in this satellite photo.

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If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Raymond Burr Vineyards .

SUPERIOR WINE ALERT!

Today’s wine is the best Raymond Burr wine we have ever featured – and an excellent and delicious Cabernet Sauvignon

SAVINGS ALERT!

Ground Shipping Included when you buy 6 bottles. Enter this coupon code at checkout (discount will be shown before you complete your order): SPYSONOMA

EXTRA SAVINGS ALERT!

Ground Shipping Included plus an additional 5% off, when you buy 12 bottles or more, with coupon code: IRONSPY

Mission Codename: A Wine in the Sun

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Send Agent Red back to Raymond Burr winery, to retrieve their stellar Cabernet Sauvignon – before it goes on lock-down!

Mission Status: Accomplished

Current Winery: Raymond Burr Vineyards

Wine Subject: 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: John Quinones

Backgrounder: Our Operatives know that we are huge fans of Raymond Burr wines. We have featured two of their wines previously, but today’s is the best of the bunch! This 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, a multi-medal winner (it just took GOLD at the 2008 San Diego International Wine Competition), is fragrant, balanced, big and richly delicious. When our friends at Raymond Burr offered our Operatives a chance to pick up this gem of a wine, we were thrilled. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and click the big blue button to grab some of this special wine – before we run out

Wine Spies Tasting Profile, by Agent Red:

Look – Deep ruby to burgundy in color with great clarity and concentrated color to the edge of the glass, the wine has a fast-moving surface and thinny-thin closely-space legs that move slowly down the glass

Smell – Bright and juicy aromatics with big cherry, black cherry, currant, dried edible flowers, toasty oak, blackberry and a hints of dark chocolate and espresso

Feel – Smooth, cool and wet up-front, then the wine gets bright on the palate with an explosion of tender flavors and delicate tannins

Taste – Incredibly delicious and bright with flavors of sweet cherry, currant, blackberry, oak and gourmet fruit jam

Finish – Long and lingering with flavors that change and move after you swallow, leaving behind a very slight dryness and mouth-watering flavors and soft tannins

Conclusion – Like all of the Raymond Burr I have tried so far, this wine shows the care and expertise and stellar fruit that make Burr wines so wonderful. Their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is taking awards and getting a great deal of attention and its no wonder; This wine is perfectly balanced with layered flavors, deep aromas, a bright mouth-feel and a finish that makes to keep sipping! Drink now or hold for a couple of years. Heck, do both!

Mission Report:

Now that we are great friends with the folks at Raymond Burr Vineyards, additional surveillance or infiltration is not necessary. Now that they have been recruited into The Wine Spies Network, they contact us through back-channels when they have a special allocation of our Operatives..

No new mission report today, so please read below for a recap of our initial mission to Raymond Burr Vineyards.

Please note that we enjoyed today’s featured Cabernet Sauvignon even more than the Cabernet Franc that we featured previously

Prior Mission Recap:

Ask anyone to describe Raymond Burr in a single word and, resoundingly, you will likely hear, Classy.

The veteran actor, for whom today’s winery was honorarily named, was also a cultivator of orchids, a war hero, a philanthropist and more. Most of all, he was cherished and loved by his close friends, who say that his warmth, humor and compassion made him a remarkable man.

When I was given the mission – finally – to seek out a new Cabernet Franc, I riffled through my mental Rolodex and recalled hearing great things about a Cab Franc from Raymond Burr Winery. In fact, it was in the most unusual way that I had come to hear of the wine in the first place.

On returning from a mission to Latin America, our flight got in to Miami too late to make our connecting flight back to California. the airline put us up in a swanky hotel and the next morning we found ourselves in a shuttle back to the Airport. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were also on our inbound flight and, as always, I steered the conversation toward wine. We compared tastes in varietals and found that Cab Franc wines were among our very favorites. We traded recommendations and they assured me that Raymond Burr had a wine that I would be sure to love.

Now that I was finally assigned a Cab Franc mission I knew just where to go, so I called proprietor and long time companion to Mr. Burr, Robert Benevides. I used the direct approach and told him that I was very interested in sampling his wine and, if they passed the test, feature his Cabernet Franc here for our Operatives to enjoy.

I enjoyed this exceptional wine more with each sip. With enough time to stretch out in the air, the wine really opens up and loses the rough edges present on opening. For best results, decant the wine for a few hours – and enjoy at cellar temperature.

Aromas, flavors, acid and mouth-feel are all in harmony here and the finish is really very unique. If you love incredible Cabernet Franc, look no further Operative, its right here.

Finally, I remember hearing a story about Mr. Burr that sums up his life and his wines: While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told Mr. Burr that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn’t done a good job. This inspired Mr. Burr to always share his wealth with all. His legacy lives on in today’s wine from Mr. Burr’s namesake winery.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Raymond Burr Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.

Read Full Post »

If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Raymond Burr Vineyards .

SUPERIOR WINE ALERT!

Today’s wine is the best Raymond Burr wine we have ever featured – and an excellent and delicious Cabernet Sauvignon

SAVINGS ALERT!

Ground Shipping Included when you buy 6 bottles. Enter this coupon code at checkout (discount will be shown before you complete your order): SPYSONOMA

EXTRA SAVINGS ALERT!

Ground Shipping Included plus an additional 5% off, when you buy 12 bottles or more, with coupon code: IRONSPY

Mission Codename: A Wine in the Sun

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Send Agent Red back to Raymond Burr winery, to retrieve their stellar Cabernet Sauvignon – before it goes on lock-down!

Mission Status: Accomplished

Current Winery: Raymond Burr Vineyards

Wine Subject: 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: John Quinones

Backgrounder: Our Operatives know that we are huge fans of Raymond Burr wines. We have featured two of their wines previously, but today’s is the best of the bunch! This 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, a multi-medal winner (it just took GOLD at the 2008 San Diego International Wine Competition), is fragrant, balanced, big and richly delicious. When our friends at Raymond Burr offered our Operatives a chance to pick up this gem of a wine, we were thrilled. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and click the big blue button to grab some of this special wine – before we run out

Wine Spies Tasting Profile, by Agent Red:

Look – Deep ruby to burgundy in color with great clarity and concentrated color to the edge of the glass, the wine has a fast-moving surface and thinny-thin closely-space legs that move slowly down the glass

Smell – Bright and juicy aromatics with big cherry, black cherry, currant, dried edible flowers, toasty oak, blackberry and a hints of dark chocolate and espresso

Feel – Smooth, cool and wet up-front, then the wine gets bright on the palate with an explosion of tender flavors and delicate tannins

Taste – Incredibly delicious and bright with flavors of sweet cherry, currant, blackberry, oak and gourmet fruit jam

Finish – Long and lingering with flavors that change and move after you swallow, leaving behind a very slight dryness and mouth-watering flavors and soft tannins

Conclusion – Like all of the Raymond Burr I have tried so far, this wine shows the care and expertise and stellar fruit that make Burr wines so wonderful. Their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is taking awards and getting a great deal of attention and its no wonder; This wine is perfectly balanced with layered flavors, deep aromas, a bright mouth-feel and a finish that makes to keep sipping! Drink now or hold for a couple of years. Heck, do both!

Mission Report:

Now that we are great friends with the folks at Raymond Burr Vineyards, additional surveillance or infiltration is not necessary. Now that they have been recruited into The Wine Spies Network, they contact us through back-channels when they have a special allocation of our Operatives..

No new mission report today, so please read below for a recap of our initial mission to Raymond Burr Vineyards.

Please note that we enjoyed today’s featured Cabernet Sauvignon even more than the Cabernet Franc that we featured previously

Prior Mission Recap:

Ask anyone to describe Raymond Burr in a single word and, resoundingly, you will likely hear, Classy.

The veteran actor, for whom today’s winery was honorarily named, was also a cultivator of orchids, a war hero, a philanthropist and more. Most of all, he was cherished and loved by his close friends, who say that his warmth, humor and compassion made him a remarkable man.

When I was given the mission – finally – to seek out a new Cabernet Franc, I riffled through my mental Rolodex and recalled hearing great things about a Cab Franc from Raymond Burr Winery. In fact, it was in the most unusual way that I had come to hear of the wine in the first place.

On returning from a mission to Latin America, our flight got in to Miami too late to make our connecting flight back to California. the airline put us up in a swanky hotel and the next morning we found ourselves in a shuttle back to the Airport. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were also on our inbound flight and, as always, I steered the conversation toward wine. We compared tastes in varietals and found that Cab Franc wines were among our very favorites. We traded recommendations and they assured me that Raymond Burr had a wine that I would be sure to love.

Now that I was finally assigned a Cab Franc mission I knew just where to go, so I called proprietor and long time companion to Mr. Burr, Robert Benevides. I used the direct approach and told him that I was very interested in sampling his wine and, if they passed the test, feature his Cabernet Franc here for our Operatives to enjoy.

I enjoyed this exceptional wine more with each sip. With enough time to stretch out in the air, the wine really opens up and loses the rough edges present on opening. For best results, decant the wine for a few hours – and enjoy at cellar temperature.

Aromas, flavors, acid and mouth-feel are all in harmony here and the finish is really very unique. If you love incredible Cabernet Franc, look no further Operative, its right here.

Finally, I remember hearing a story about Mr. Burr that sums up his life and his wines: While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told Mr. Burr that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn’t done a good job. This inspired Mr. Burr to always share his wealth with all. His legacy lives on in today’s wine from Mr. Burr’s namesake winery.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Raymond Burr Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.

Read Full Post »

If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Raymond Burr Vineyards .

SUPERIOR WINE ALERT!

Today’s wine is the best Raymond Burr wine we have ever featured – and an excellent and delicious Cabernet Sauvignon

SAVINGS ALERT!

Ground Shipping Included when you buy 6 bottles. Enter this coupon code at checkout (discount will be shown before you complete your order): SPYSONOMA

EXTRA SAVINGS ALERT!

Ground Shipping Included plus an additional 5% off, when you buy 12 bottles or more, with coupon code: IRONSPY

Mission Codename: A Wine in the Sun

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Send Agent Red back to Raymond Burr winery, to retrieve their stellar Cabernet Sauvignon – before it goes on lock-down!

Mission Status: Accomplished

Current Winery: Raymond Burr Vineyards

Wine Subject: 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: John Quinones

Backgrounder: Our Operatives know that we are huge fans of Raymond Burr wines. We have featured two of their wines previously, but today’s is the best of the bunch! This 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, a multi-medal winner (it just took GOLD at the 2008 San Diego International Wine Competition), is fragrant, balanced, big and richly delicious. When our friends at Raymond Burr offered our Operatives a chance to pick up this gem of a wine, we were thrilled. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and click the big blue button to grab some of this special wine – before we run out

Wine Spies Tasting Profile, by Agent Red:

Look – Deep ruby to burgundy in color with great clarity and concentrated color to the edge of the glass, the wine has a fast-moving surface and thinny-thin closely-space legs that move slowly down the glass

Smell – Bright and juicy aromatics with big cherry, black cherry, currant, dried edible flowers, toasty oak, blackberry and a hints of dark chocolate and espresso

Feel – Smooth, cool and wet up-front, then the wine gets bright on the palate with an explosion of tender flavors and delicate tannins

Taste – Incredibly delicious and bright with flavors of sweet cherry, currant, blackberry, oak and gourmet fruit jam

Finish – Long and lingering with flavors that change and move after you swallow, leaving behind a very slight dryness and mouth-watering flavors and soft tannins

Conclusion – Like all of the Raymond Burr I have tried so far, this wine shows the care and expertise and stellar fruit that make Burr wines so wonderful. Their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is taking awards and getting a great deal of attention and its no wonder; This wine is perfectly balanced with layered flavors, deep aromas, a bright mouth-feel and a finish that makes to keep sipping! Drink now or hold for a couple of years. Heck, do both!

Mission Report:

Now that we are great friends with the folks at Raymond Burr Vineyards, additional surveillance or infiltration is not necessary. Now that they have been recruited into The Wine Spies Network, they contact us through back-channels when they have a special allocation of our Operatives..

No new mission report today, so please read below for a recap of our initial mission to Raymond Burr Vineyards.

Please note that we enjoyed today’s featured Cabernet Sauvignon even more than the Cabernet Franc that we featured previously

Prior Mission Recap:

Ask anyone to describe Raymond Burr in a single word and, resoundingly, you will likely hear, Classy.

The veteran actor, for whom today’s winery was honorarily named, was also a cultivator of orchids, a war hero, a philanthropist and more. Most of all, he was cherished and loved by his close friends, who say that his warmth, humor and compassion made him a remarkable man.

When I was given the mission – finally – to seek out a new Cabernet Franc, I riffled through my mental Rolodex and recalled hearing great things about a Cab Franc from Raymond Burr Winery. In fact, it was in the most unusual way that I had come to hear of the wine in the first place.

On returning from a mission to Latin America, our flight got in to Miami too late to make our connecting flight back to California. the airline put us up in a swanky hotel and the next morning we found ourselves in a shuttle back to the Airport. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were also on our inbound flight and, as always, I steered the conversation toward wine. We compared tastes in varietals and found that Cab Franc wines were among our very favorites. We traded recommendations and they assured me that Raymond Burr had a wine that I would be sure to love.

Now that I was finally assigned a Cab Franc mission I knew just where to go, so I called proprietor and long time companion to Mr. Burr, Robert Benevides. I used the direct approach and told him that I was very interested in sampling his wine and, if they passed the test, feature his Cabernet Franc here for our Operatives to enjoy.

I enjoyed this exceptional wine more with each sip. With enough time to stretch out in the air, the wine really opens up and loses the rough edges present on opening. For best results, decant the wine for a few hours – and enjoy at cellar temperature.

Aromas, flavors, acid and mouth-feel are all in harmony here and the finish is really very unique. If you love incredible Cabernet Franc, look no further Operative, its right here.

Finally, I remember hearing a story about Mr. Burr that sums up his life and his wines: While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told Mr. Burr that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn’t done a good job. This inspired Mr. Burr to always share his wealth with all. His legacy lives on in today’s wine from Mr. Burr’s namesake winery.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Raymond Burr Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.

Read Full Post »