There is reason to be a bit miffed at the Rosenthals.
For years they kept a certain red blend largely to themselves, serving it at their dinner table, handing out bottles as gifts to friends and occasionally taunting the public with a sample at events such as Wine and Chocolate.
But the R Vineyards Reba Red is a gorgeous wine. Part pleasing fruit bomb, part contemplative and brooding connoisseur wine, bright and full bodied at the same time — hiding it from the public is akin to tucking the Mona Lisa into the corner of a corporate break room — or at the very least reserving The Clash’s classic “London Calling” for friends and family listening only.
“It’s been one of our favorite drinking and giving away wines,” David Rosenthal said with a chuckle.
Of course, the winemaker had valid reasons. The small plot of syrah and petite sirah sidled alongside their cabernet sauvignon vineyard produces just 50 cases in a good year.
Fortunately, Rosenthal decided recently to release the R Vineyards 2014 Reba Red to the market.
It is almost chivalrous on the nose, greeting you with genteel aromas of ripe cherry and blackberry, still hanging on the vine. In the background a rolling pin crackles pepper into a fine white form. Hints of loam drift from the formal gardens and milk chocolate — along with baked lemon tart — carry from a distant kitchen.
Tip the glass and you experience a rush of exuberant fruit. Cherry and blackberry — friendly and fresh — cavort for a moment before allowing background notes of milk chocolate, spiced tea and blueberry jam to find footing.
The ripe berry and soothing chocolate are familiar in both syrah and petite sirah. Yet the blend — 58 percent syrah, 42 percent petite sirah — yields a distinct bright cherry flavor.
Rosenthal credits this twist to the terroir and timing. They harvest the syrah ripe, around 28 brix. But they pull the petite sirah a little early in order to retain some of its fruity punch.
Slipping in behind the fruit, hints of black pepper, allspice, earth and chocolate provide a counter. All of this is wrapped in a lush, almost creamy body that also tempers the brisk, ripe aspect.
The finish is serene, almost aristocratic, full of candied plum and dry clove.
Rosenthal matured the wine in well used barrels — just two for the entire vintage — to reduce the oak influence. He then planted inserts, just to introduce a little of the wood back into the wine.
The result is, again, something gorgeous and exquisitely balanced. And this in a wine for everyday sipping.
“We were really happy with how it came out,” Rosenthal observed.
And now, finally, we can respond with a happy “thanks for sharing” — and forgive the Rosenthals for those years of hoarding.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
