Sanctuary An Old System Revisited

Let’s take a great step backwards; no, make that a giant step, all the way back to the 1950’s when French wines and the French wine rating system was king.

French wines were known by the vineyard that produced them and not by the grape variety. There were all sorts of complicated systems inaugurated by the French government to rate them including the famous 1855 Bordeaux rating system which listed 61 vineyards in order of quality. It was de rigueur for anyone who was interested in wine to collect and taste as many of these classified wines as possible. In many cases the bottles were even numbered to indicate what bottle was in what position during the bottling, because collectors wanted, for some reason or other, to get the lowest number.
Let us now teleport ourselves to today; one vineyard has resurrected the French system of labeling their wines. Sanctuary Estates does it all, vineyard name, numbered bottle and number of bottles made while still adhering to the labeling laws of our country. The question now arises, is this all hype or is it solid information and are the wines worthy of this type of attention? In our opinion, they most certainly are worthy and may be the start of the revival of a time honored system.

Sanctuary 2006 Usibelli Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($30). The grapes come from the Usibelli Vineyard which is located in the Rutherford Bench region of the Napa Valley and is known to be one of the world’s finest producers of cabernet sauvignon grapes. This wine is dark, powerful and full bodied with an almost perfect balance of fruit, acid and oak. There are those who insist that they can taste the dust of the Rutherford Bench in this wine as a noticeable under flavor that could best be described as earthy. Combined with this earthy element are the subdued but concentrated flavors of blackberries and black cherry. The finish is very soft and amazingly long. If Theodore Roosevelt was to describe Sanctuary 2006 Usibelli Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon he would probably have called it a “Bully wine.” It is, in our opinion, one of the best affordable cabernet sauvignons to come out of California in recent years.

Sanctuary Mariah Vineyards 2007 Zinfandel ($24). Zinfandel wines can often be memorable; this one surely is and it is a product of the exceptional 2007 vintage year. The Mariah Vineyard is located high on a mountain top where the vines benefit from the cooler temperatures there. This zinfandel is a big, bold, wine that proudly announces its attributes, of which are many. The color is a medium ruby and heralds the aromas of raspberry and boysenberry with hints of vanilla and oak. The flavor, which mirrors the aroma totally fills the mouth and lingers for an extraordinarily long time. This is a grand wine and it would be a pity if you miss it; we recommend it without any question.

Sanctuary Bien Nacido Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir ($30). At last a California pinot noir that exceeds our wildest expectation. The grapes were grown at the Bien Nacido Vineyards in California’s Santa Maria Valley which is universally acknowledged as one of the 25 finest vineyards in the world. When the wine is poured the intense aromas of black cherry, herbs and pepper balanced with notes of violet, toasty oak, spice and vanilla rise from the glass. The first sip exposes the flavors of cherry, red currant, plum and raisins being the most prominent. There are also other flavors lying in the background with oak and an earthy mushroom flavor being the most obvious. These flavors trail off to a soft, almost jammy, fruit filled finish that is longer than long. The wine is drinkable now or can be laid down for as long as five years. Needless to say, this wine impressed us and we can assure you that we will have several bottles in our library; that is if we can keep our hands off of them.