Old Poodle Dog Cabernet Sauvignon: Man’s Best Friend

Jasper and the Old Poodle

It’s only fitting that Boozehoundz should write about Old Poodle Dog 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Odd name? Well, as the story goes that a French restaurant in San Francisco during the gold rush days was called Le Poulet d’Or. Then, as now, many locals had a hard time pronouncing the name. Some began to call it simply Old Poodle Dog. So, there you have it. What is unleashed by OPD is a wine of primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with small amounts of Merlot, Malbec and Petite Sirah, which translates to robust black cherry, blueberry, blackberry and sweet cedar, without being too hot, and what sets this apart are the back notes of tobacco and smoke, a great acidity, bright fruit, culminating in a deep and resonating Napa Cabernet – ultimately very pleasurable to drink. It’s ideally balanced - a spot on example of a terrific wine that actually will best other well known Napa Cabs but at a lesser price. Seriously, take this Poodle for a walk.

COHOWINES.com

ORIGIN: Napa, California

PRICE: $36/ 750ML

ALCOHOL: 14.4%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  89 POINTS

Play Fair, Zinfandel

You’ve probably never heard of the Fairplay AVA, nor El Dorado County. Maybe not even the Sierra Foothills region in California. But this area is actually older than Napa and Sonoma and blossomed during the California Gold Rush of the late 1840s and early 1850s. Long a bastion of overripe one-trick pony Zinfandel, this region does Rhone and Italian well and on occasion you find an authentic, expressive Zin like the Gwinllan 2010 Estate Zinfandel. At 15.4 this is a hefty boy, but the fruit is fully restrained and paired judiciously with oak resulting in sultry earthy and dusty notes. There’s black cherry, black berry, cinnamon and sweet oak, all balanced against each other deviating from the usual jammy Foothills Zinfandel. This wine shows one of the valid reasons for visiting the Fairplay region – namely that with all the volcanic and granite soils, the region genuinely reflects the earth. Farmed at 2,300 feet, these grapes give a smoothness and richness with a bit of tannic structure, but not enough that it dries out your palette. Yes, it’s a tad hot, though it is excessively easy (and quite fun) to drink. I popped this with a pork sausage pizza with fresh oregano, chives and edemame. You couldn’t ask for better combo. Fairplay is game on and Gwinllan plays well with others. GWINLLAN ESTATE

ORIGIN: Fair Play, El Dorado County, California

PRICE: $36 / 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 15.4%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  88 POINTS