ON TEXAS WINE: Do They Age? Part 28, Llano Estacado 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Cellar Reserve’,Texas (∞)

by Andrew Chalk

The preamble to part one read…

“More people are coming round to the idea that Texas can make good wine as they sample more of it. But the ultimate test of gravitas in, at least red wines, is how they age. How does Texas do in that regard?

To find out, I am doing a series of tastings of Texas wines, all 10+ years old, and assessing how they are doing. I am choosing them based on how their peers in other parts of the world do at the end of their first decade.” 

And later added

“Since this vintage is no longer available in the retail market I have helpfully indicated the price as ‘infinity’ in the title, above. ”

TASTING NOTES

With Llano Estacado being acquired in what I am increasingly seeing as one of the private equity plays in the wine world, this pre-acquisition, Greg Bruni era, wine may soon acquire a rarity cachet all of its own. Cellar Reserve is their finest line. It is 11 years old and reflects a wine that has aged pretty well over that time. Is at its peak, or just past its peak, right now but is still capable of delivering a lot of enjoyment. The nose has a hint of raspberry but is mainly tertiary notes like forest floor, leather, and cooked plum. On the palate the raspberry fruit flavors and rifled through with the cooked fruit, te tannins are soft but still present and very seductive and the finish is medium long.  

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Drink now. Barbecue would be a strong bet (brisket, beef ribs, etc.). We are constantly told by bloggers living in New Jersey bedsits that we can’t grow America’s most popular grape here, Llano Estacado and a dozen other wineries are continuing to prove them wrong. Bravo.

Sample.