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Tasting Notes
Full-bodied with ample structure, featuring notes of black currant, mocha, and black cherry, followed by hints of lavender, crushed rocks, and licorice that linger in the layered finish.
Body is the impression of a wines weight, density, or its ‘mouth-feel’. Some wines feel weighty, or full bodied, while others feel light bodied. Wine runs the gamut from light to full, with most falling somewhere in between.
TANNIN
Low
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Tannin can range greatly in wine, but it is necessary to some degree, and a necessary constituent for red wines to age well. In high amounts, it can cause a drying affect, which is sensed mostly on the gums and tongue. Tannin is a natural preservative extracted from grape skins, otherwise known as polyphenols that are micronutrients and antioxidants with potential health benefits.
ACIDITY
Soft
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Acidity is a foundational component in wine. In fact, low acidity, or ‘flabby’ wine (as the term suggests) is a negative. You can sense acidity mainly on the sides of your tongue. Acidity generally ranges from balanced to high. Crisp acidity adds freshness, making your mouth water. Acidity is a necessary element and helps to balance other components.
SWEETNESS
Dry
Off Dry
Medium Dry
Medium Sweet
Very Sweet
Most wines are characterized as dry to off-dry, but there are some grape varietals, like Riesling, that run the gamut from dry to sweet. The tip of the tongue mainly detects sweetness, which is why it is often the primary characteristic detected. Sweetness is derived from residual sugar that did not ferment into alcohol.
ALCOHOL
14.5%
Alcohol is the by-product of fermentation. Differing grape varieties have differing potential alcohol levels, but regardless warmer areas result in riper grapes resulting in higher alcohol. Alcohol level is an objective number, but its affect on its palate impression is largely determined with how well integrated and balanced it is with other components.
Cabernet Sauvignon origins are from the Gironde in southwest France, but is now planted across the world in climates that accommodate this late ripening grape. It is the dominant grape in wines made in Bordeaux’s Médoc and Graves regions. This small, thick-skinned grape, produces darkly colored wine, high in tannin and relatively high in acidity with hallmark aromas of blackcurrant and can stylistically change from austere in its youth to lush depending on the region, and winemaking style.
Cabernet Franc
9%Ca-ber-NAY FRANK
Cabernet Franc is grown all over the world, but the best expressions are generally found in France, specifically in the Loire, South West, and Bordeaux as a key part of many blends. Medium bodied and more aromatic than Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc’s aromas can have an herbaceous tinge depending on the ripeness level.
Malbec
8%Mal-BECK
Malbec is native to southwest France, and still makes up 70% of Cahors, and makes high quality varietal wines in Argentina. The wines are Powerful & Extracted with intense flavors and aromas with black fruits, earth, mineral, often with notes of violets.
Bedrock makes wines of distinctive personality—some might even say flamboyant—sourced from heritage vineyard sites and often from century-old vines.
Winemaker Morgain-Twain Peterson, a Master of Wine, describes his wines as matching his eclectic tastes. The wines are made by hand in a converted chicken coop. He started by partnering with a network of small family-run and dry-farmed vineyards, relationships begun by his father, the founder of Ravenswood winery.
Bedrock Wine Co. makes limited-production, soulful, distinctly Californian wines that speak to his passion for California’s winemaking heritage, and its future.
Black Cherry
Licorice
Crushed Rocks
Organic
