Wine Pick: Two thumbs up
2008 Apothic Red, California
$14
Two Thumbs Up
Interesting aromas of dark berries with a touch of mint. A pretty big wine, but still smooth with lots of dark berry, plum fruits and a touch of mocha. It has pretty distinct vanilla characteristics, which eased after being open a couple of hours.
Once upon a time, if a wine didn’t have the varietal on the label in the United States, it was a hard sell. Americans are now more comfortable the concept of a blended wine. (You gotta have 75 percent of a varietal in the bottle to be able to use that grape’s name on the label).
Blends are not new. There are well-established blends in places like Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley and the Douro in Portugal. Americans being Americans, we don’t care how they used to do it, we do it the way we want. That’s how we roll.
An interesting blend recently flowed across my desk, Apothic Red. It’s a blend of syrah, zinfandel and merlot, which takes it pretty far and wide around the wine world.
Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.
Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging up from Thumbs Down, One Thumb Mostly Up, One Thumb Up, Two Thumbs Up, Two Thumbs Way Up and Golden Thumb Award. Prices are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents, a local distributor or retailer.
