2009 Keplinger Holdout

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 91.3 points

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  7/1/2012 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 89 Points

  Bouchard, Chidaine, Urbans-Hof, Veglio, Seven Stones, Alban, Keplinger (My home): A dessert wine that is 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre. Ruby in color. The nose has some alcohol to it, also some raspberry jam and a bit of charred wood/smoke. Full bodied and viscous. On the palate, the fruit is not as prominent as I might have thought. Very easy to drink. Raspberry flavors mostly. Worked nicely with the chocolate in the dessert. A fine wine but $60 for 500ml is probably more than I would pay again.

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  11/13/2011 - russdan60 wrote: 93 Points

  From the winemaker, Helen Keplinger: The Holdout came about due to a perfectly timed heat wave at our Caldera vineyard in El Dorado. The first week of October, the grapes were nearly ripe and we experienced a full week of above average temperatures. Following the heat, I visited the vineyard with Ron Mansfield, the owner, and what we found would be divine ingredients for a dessert wine – any of the clusters fully exposed to sun were dehydrated – not raisined, but reduced in size by about 50%. These grapes were harvested selectively and fermented in a small bin with regular, gentle pigeage. We stopped the fermentation with fortification grappa made from the pomace of the 2009 Caldera, ensuring that The Holdout would also be a single vineyard wine. The fortified wine remained on skins for another 30 days, for a total of 66 days. It was then drained to a neutral French barrel, where it remained until it was bottled 18 months later, without fining or filtration. The nose is exotic with incense, jasmine, crushed white rocks, dried strawberries, raspberry, and cocoa. At 17% alcohol, it is not as strong as a Port wine, neither too sweet nor hot, but lovely and plush, showing coriander, jasmine tea, caramel, pure red fruit, and ground chocolate. 80% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre.
  
  33 cases of 500ml bottles produced.
  
  Paired this wine tonight with a Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Mousse with Port Reduction and Creme Fraiche and it was absolutely perfect. Wonderful flavor with out the slight hint of raisin that you get with a port. Highly recommend especially given it is a rare wine and is not made every year, but only when conditions warrant.
  

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