Happy September! We love this time of year. As we say adieu to a very hot summer, we welcome the start of college football, the rounding out of baseball season, and a welcome change of seasons, bringing the opportunity to dine al fresco without melting outside. With that, our palates are getting ready for wines that may be a bit richer, bolder, weightier, and more complex than the refreshing, thirst-quenching options we have been gravitating toward the past few months, including full-bodied white wines and well-balanced reds. Each of these tasty options is ideal for toasting the start of the new month and new season.
On the first chilly night of the month, you will want to curl up outside in an overstuffed chair with your sweetie and a bottle of Brion Ecotone Vineyard Proprietary Blend. The 2019 vintage is the inaugural release of the wine from a Napa vineyard planted in 1990 by highly regarded viticulturist David Abreu in an area that sits between the mountain and the valley on Howell Mountain. The location’s fruit brings the structure of mountain fruit and the plush, lusciousness of the sun-drenched valley floor. With these attributes, the blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot shows layers of violets, black tea, black cherry, ripe plum, and espresso. Though bold and concentrated, with crunchy tannin, there is a note of freshness that keeps the palate lifted and is complemented by a linear mineral note throughout. This is a beautiful wine from Brion and an exciting new addition to the winery’s already impressive portfolio.
Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva shows that there is more to the Sangiovese fruit than being a simple wine to pair with pizza (though it does go great with a slice). It is rich and plush, with texture, weight, and concentration, revealing the character of the Tuscan region in every sip. After a slow, temperature fermentation the wine rests for two years prior to release, of which 12 months is in French oak. The aging helps round out the flavors while adding a hint of warm spice and vanilla to the wine’s natural blackberry, black plum, and black licorice flavors.
Duckhorn crafts its signature Merlot wine from the historic Three Palms Vineyard. The wine has been a staple of the portfolio since 1978, showing the elegance, refinement, and incredible depth of flavor that well-crafted Merlot has. The vineyard’s location is in one of the warmer parts of Napa Valley, yielding a full-bodied wine with juicy fruit-forward flavors of plum, black cherry, and ripe fig, silky, balanced tannins, and a hint of crushed stone on the finish.
Jordan Vineyard and Winery consistently deliver authentic flavors with its signature red wine, Jordan Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Several years ago, the winery transitioned its use of American oak in the aging of the wine to French oak, bringing more finesse to the approachable palate and elevating its toasted spice, ripe cherry, currant, and espresso notes.
From the esteemed Keefer Ranch Vineyard in Russian River Valley, Sonoma, Kosta Browne crafts its Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir to display understated elegance and refined character. The vineyard boasts the region’s famed Goldridge soils with cool, foggy evenings and mornings, and warm sunshine-filled days. The combination comes together to create the ideal terroir for Pinot Noir. After fermentation the wine ages for 15 months in a combination of new and neutral French oak, and wood casks/foudre, allowing the flavors to meld while taking on some of the toasty, spicy notes the wood imparts. The resulting wine shows layers of ripe red fruits, like raspberry, pomegranate, and cherries with notes of vanilla and toasted spice.
From the historic Castello Nipozzano not far from Florence within the Chianti region of Tuscany, Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva shows earthy notes of forest floor and oak that melds with cherry, blackberry, and hints of wildflowers. The Sangiovese-based wine shows structure and concentration, highlighting the grape’s fruit-forward characteristics while bringing in an earthy forest floor element and a note of minerality. The winery’s philosophy is to allow the terroir to shine through each of its wines, bringing in authenticity while showing the best characteristics of fruit from the Old World region.
Pacific Ocean breezes bring a wild rusticity to the fruit grown in Benovia Winery’s Tilton Hill estate vineyard. The proximity to the ocean ensures fruit is kept cool throughout the season, allowing for a long, steady growth cycle that creates juicy fruit-forward flavors while maintaining lively freshness. The Tilton Hill Estate Pinot Noir shows luscious red fruits like crunchy cranberry and wild strawberry, with floral and forest floor notes. This is the type of wine you can easily enjoy throughout the fall season, pairing beautifully with anything from roasted salmon to grilled vegetables to your entire Thanksgiving dinner.
Red Wine With Breakfast 