Napa Valley veteran (and author) Peter Chiarello at Crane Family is best known for his fabulous Mount Veeder wines – long considered some of that appellation’s finest. But they are fairly expensive.
This is the one wine they venture into Sonoma to make at a much better price, and it’s a winner.
“Highly Recommended” by Tastings.com at $35, which says:
A rich and concentrated red blend with good acid structure.
The winery says:
Dark ruby in color, the nose on this wine opens nicely in the glass with raspberry and light toasted almonds combined with heavier notes of plum fruit and chocolate. The palate has nice concentration of plum and cherry fruit, with blueberry on the finish. Nice acidity, and some ripe tannin in the mid-palate, keeps the wine interesting.
This is a very high-quality, rich yet balanced Bordeaux blend in a terrific vintage and at about half the price you’d expect for this level of quality (or a third what it would be if from Napa).