![]() Stave and Steel Bourbon Aged Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles ($14.99)– This 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon is aged four months in American oak barrels “toasted, charred and drenched in Kentucky bourbon.” It excels impressively for its refined spicy fruit notes, silky texture and appealingly long finish. At 15.9 percent alcohol it’s buzzworthy, but the fruit never surfaces from a deep caramel-flavored abyss. A good buy.Īpothic Inferno Small Batch Limited Release Red Blend, Lodi, ($9.99) – Aged in charred, white oak whiskey barrels for 60 days, Apothic leaves no doubt about its intent: pure, overpowering vanilla and coconut extract in a jammy wine sauce. The result is a carefully constructed wine – jammy, plummy, and smooth with soft rum influences of coconut and molasses that excite the senses. A portion of Merlot is aged in rum barrels and blended with regular oak-aged Merlot. Robert Mondavi Private Selection Aged in Rum Barrels Merlot 2016, Monterrey, ($11.99) – I couldn’t find the best-selling Cabernet within 50 miles, so I landed here. It’s big, dense, velvety, and heavy on caramel and vanilla creaminess. Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel, Petit Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and “3 percent others” make up the inky, purple-colored blend. The taste of Zinfandel – black fruit and spices – rang true, enhanced by a thin, toasty caramel flavor and a very silky texture.Ĭooper & Thief Cellarmaster Select Red Blend, Lodi ($23.99) – From its Kentucky bourbon-shaped bottle to classic labeling, (“Aged 3 Months in Bourbon Whiskey Barrels”), this had all the makings of a “cigar-and-sipping” port wine. Here are my impressions.įour Virtues Bourbon Barrel Aged Zinfandel 2016, Lodi, ($19.99) – The winemaker says “heavily charred” barrels are used to “impart nuanced layers of caramel, vanilla and toasty oak to intense, dark berry character.” Expecting a heavy-handed approach, I was pleasantly surprised by Four Virtues’s restraint. ![]() Intrigued, I recently conducted a blind tasting of five wines aged variously in bourbon, rum and whiskey barrels. If overdone, wine aged in flame-charred oak barrels of any spirit can overwhelm the grape’s natural fruit profile, transforming it into a candied-concoction of caramel, maple, vanilla, brown sugar, and sweet spices. ![]() Still, balance remains the key to making a good wine. Robert Mondavi’s top-selling Bourbon-Barrel Aged Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon ($12.99 a bottle) went from zero cases sold in 2016 to a phenomenal 1.4 million in 2018. Others say it’s what the younger generation wants – rich, big, sweeter, flavorful and higher alcoholic wines. Some say aging wine in bourbon, rum and Irish whiskey barrels is a marketing gimmick. It’s all the rage among trend-setting millennials, people aged 23 to 38 who have an affinity for new products and tastes. ®Aeroplan is a registered trademark of Aeroplan Inc., used under license.Grilled steaks, braised ribs, burghers and bourbon barrel-aged Cabernet Sauvignon. Should you have any questions regarding the collection of this information, please contact the Freedom of Information and Privacy Office, 100 Queens Quay East, 9th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5E 0C7, Toronto, ON, Telephone 41, Fax 41, E-mail You may also visit the LCBO Privacy Policy for further details. If you provide your Aeroplan member number we also will use LCBO purchases made using this number to customize the communications and offers you receive. The personal information related to a LCBO Email subscription, including information collected through the use of cookies and similar tracking technologies that can sometimes be considered personal information, is collected under the authority of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario Act, 2019, SO 2019, c 15, Sch 21, Section 3 and will be used for the purpose of providing you with communications and offers from the LCBO.
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