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. Grilled steaks, braised ribs, burghers and bourbon barrel-aged Cabernet Sauvignon.
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