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By Morton Hochstein
At a time when most Cabernets from Napa’s prized Stags Leap region are selling north of $100 a bottle, it is nice to encounter Elevage from Chimney Rock. It is an upper echelon wine from a producer devoted to Bordeaux style blends.
First things first: Elevage, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, carries a suggested retail price of $75.99. Though its origins go back to an early owner’s infatuation with Bordeaux, it is much less austere, much more welcoming and ready for early drinking than its Gallic counterpart. The Elevage 2005 nose is rich in blackberry and blueberry notes, with vanilla, coffee and chocolate tones. On the palate, it is round and lush with no hard edges and the flavor lingers on and on.
While there is a Chimney Rock Cabernet Reserve at the $100 level and a basic Cab at $55, Elevage is the Chimney Rock flagship, one which embodies the velvety feel of classic Stags Leap wines. There’s also an Elevage Blanc, created, says winemaker Elizabeth Vianna, as a counterpart to Bordeaux ‘s Haut Brion Blanc. Unlike the French version, which is based on Semillon, Chimney Rock has married Sauvignon Blanc with the seldom-used Sauvignon Gris. It comes across as a somewhat tangy, fruity white, rich and complex with good aging potential.
The Elevage Line is completely estate grown on land that was once a golf course. We applaud the decision of the original owners who decided to turn the land to a more useful purpose, and we applaud the foresight of Tony Terlato of the Terlato Wine Group, who put $6 million into improving the winery, adding a new barrel storage and fermentation facility as well as redeveloping the vineyard which had been hit with phylloxera in the nineties.
Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Vianna, is a biologist-turned-resident-winemaker at Chimney Rock Winery. Elizabeth caught “the wine bug”, and became obsessed with the intricacies of fine wine when she attended a lecture by Christian Mouiex about the art of winemaking.
© September 2008 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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