Caymus Red Schooner Voyage 11

Cellar for up to 10 years. Decant for 1 hour prior to drinking The Red Schooner is a fascinating wine made from 100% Malbec grapes grown in the Mendoza region of the Andes Mountains in Argentina; however, after being harvested, these grapes are immediately chilled and sent to Napa Valley. Upon arriving in Napa, the Wagner family produces a wine made in the same style as the Caymus Cabernet, one of their flagship wines. This results in a dark, inky purple and ruby wine with black cherry, pepper, and toasted vanilla aromas. On the palate, this wine is classic Argentinian Malbec, with powerful yet supple tannins, and ripe plum, dark chocolate, and toasted hazelnut notes. A smooth, balanced finish rounds out the wine. A crowd-pleasing wine, this Malbec would do well with rich braised beef stews, a grilled steak, or with a dark chocolate cake topped with a blueberry compote. The Wagner family began the experiment that would lead to Red Schooner with a novel, but genius realization: in Napa, all their presses are used during Napa’s harvest, late August through early October. However, the rest of the year they lie dormant. But what if they could ship grapes from abroad? The answer, of course, lay in the Southern Hemisphere, where harvest is the exact opposite time as Napa’s: Argentina’s harvest occurs between late February and early April. This led to the creation of Red Schooner, a non-varietally, vintage, or origin-of-grape labelled wine that nonetheless has made a big splash in the industry.

Price: £59.51 from 8wines UK