Mission Codename Leap Of Faith
LAST CALL and back for a final round by popular demand!
Few wines compete in the value and popularity department. And today we’re back with a new vintage! Our friends at Saddleback delivered a fresh palate from the world of Black Rock…
Here’s your ticket into the wonderful winemaking world of Nils Venge - aka America’s first 100-point winemaker and the man behind HUNDREDS of amazing wines over the decades.
And the price? Still the same ludicrously low $19?! You bet.
Nils has been a dominant FORCE in the wine industry for four decades now. He helped propel Charles Krug, Sterling, Saddleback, and Groth into the forefront of California’s wine scene. Oh, and he crafted Groth’s 1985 100-point Cabernet – the first-ever perfect scoring CA wine. Not too shabby. He continued to pursue his passion on his Cougar’s Leap project, making unbelievably affordable high-quality wines from the Lake County outpost. The rugged, volcanic obsidian soil and warm temps make a perfect breeding ground for the head-trained red varietals he focuses on.
Not for the faint of heart! This blend packs a haymaker punch of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The resulting wine is massive, meaty, and rugged to the core. You get the round, ripe, and jammy personality from the Petite and Zin and the inky, meaty side of Tempranillo and Cab. Tons of brambly blackberry, red currant, dried figs, freshly laid tar, smoked meat, tobacco, and spices rise to the surface, all framed on the palate by dusty, fine-grained tannins.
If you’re grilling this summer (or smoking some meats on the Traeger) and don’t have a bottle (more like a case) of this around… well, what are you waiting for?
What the Winery Says
2016 'Cougar's Cuvée' Red Hills
- Winemaker
- Nils Venge
- Varietals
- 42% Petite Sirah, 32% Zinfandel, 20% Tempranillo, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Vintage
- 2016
- Alcohol
- 14.8%
- Appellation
- Red Hills, Lake County, CA
- Elevation
- 2,300 feet
- Harvest dates
- September-October, 2016
- Fermentation
- In 4X4 bins for 10 days
- Acidity
- 6.1 g/L
- pH
- 3.93
- Bottling date
- June 6, 2018
- Aging
- 18 months
- Barrels
- 50% new American and French oak