Wine Last Sold on: November 24, 2012
Dead Man's Wines
Featured Wine:
2009 Dead Man's Hand Cab Sauvignon
| Varietal: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Region: | California: Napa Valley |
| Avg. Price: | $39.00 |
| Wine Spies: | $24.99 |
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SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:
We only showcase wines that we love. While our emphasis is on quality first, every now and again we come across a real standout wine that rises above. When we do, we issue alerts like this one.
Mission Codename: Aces and Eights
- Operative
- Agent Red
- Objective
- For our special Elite Operative Saturday, infiltrate Dead Man’s Wines, in the Napa Valley. Extract their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – a true Napa Valley gem – and make it available at a Top Secret price
- Mission Status
- Accomplished!
- Winemaker
- Kari Auringer
Final Assessment
Today’s 2009 Dead Man’s Hand is a boldly delicious wine - at a price that’s hard to resist.
Named for the poker hand held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his death, with black aces and eights, today’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was widely enjoyed by our tasting panel. A little shy, at first, this wine really opens up with some hearty swirling in the glass. You can also decant the one for at least 30 minutes. Either way, once he breathes a little bit, it really does spring to life.
This wine is approachable, complex and delicious - on the nose and on the palate. The wine is drinking wonderfully now, and would recommend that you also lay a few bottles down for the next couple of years as it shows great promise. Deal a winning pairing by serving this wine with a hearty beef dish or a grilled steak.
Tasting Profile
Darkest crimson with a slightly opaque core. At the edge, a ring of garnet encircles the wine. After spinning the wine, round after round of skinny, wine-stand legs run slowly down the glass.
Black cherry candy, blackberry, stewed plum and sweet cedar take the lead. These are closely followed by sweet pitch, toasty oak, brown spice and the intriguing aroma of daisies after a spring rain.
Soft and light on entry, then softly grippy at the mid-palate, where fine-grained tannins.
With different flavors that appear at the far corners of the palate, this wine presents savory stewed plum, black cherry and blackberry at the center of the palate. At the edges of the palate, bright cherry and dried cranberry round out the fruits. After a moment, a flinty minerality spreads all across the palate, accompanied by hard leather and dark dried tobacco.
Dark fruits slowly fade to dried leather and tobacco. After the wine passes the palate, flinty minerals and a hint of graphite usher in a slowly spreading dryness that eventually leads to a softly chewy feel.
What the Winery Says
2009 Vintage
For most of the 2009 harvest in Napa Valley, things went smoothly,capping a summer of mild, steady weather. Cabernet Sauvignon enjoyed ideal growing conditions until October, when a pair of strong storms dumped enough rain to worry growers. Those who picked before the storms were excited about the young wine’s color, flavor, acids and tannins. Those allowed to hang and continue to ripen following the rain were rewarded with balanced wines showing dynamite colors, extraction and flavor.
Tasting Notes:
2009 Dead Man’s Hand Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Bold and powerful aromas of ripe blackberry, plum and Bing cherry with just a touch of cassis jump out of the glass. As the wine opens up, the luscious fruit wraps itself around the sweet toasted oak. Layers of juicy ripe fruit flavors linger seductively on a foundation of smooth integrated tannins and bright acidity.
Wine Specs
Appellation: 100% Napa Valley
Varietal: 100% Cab Sauv
Cooperage: 50% New French Oak, 50% Used French Oak
Alcohol: 14.9%
Production: 450 Cases
About the Winery
Aim True
Dead Man’s Wines is dedicated to producing superior hand-crafted wines from the Napa Valley. We are proud to present this stunning Cabernet Sauvignon selected from the finest Napa Valley Vineyards.
