2009 Fairview Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Wrath

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 91.1 points

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  4/5/2021 - S_Gillett Likes this wine:

  The infamous “Wrath” in which a hailstorm damaged some Cabernet Sauvignon grapes before harvest. Bill, the winemaker, feeling dejected and frustrated left them and concentrated on the rest of his harvest. When he came back out to this specific vineyard, he found that due to an unusually warm & dry fall the grapes hadn’t rotted and had dried on the vine beautifully. Creating an Okanagan-Amarone "Esque", once-in-a-lifetime wine.
  
  The resulting wine 12 years later has a beautiful nose of dried dark fruits, slight caramel sweetness and just a touch of well integrated oak.
  
  On the palate, the front and finish are wonderful. The same tertiary notes on the nose come through to the tip of the tongue. The finish is long and has a wonderful depth and complexity not often seen in my opinion in Okanagan reds.
  
  The only sad part is the mid palate. This particular bottle was well on its way down, probably missed by 6-12 months. The acid and tannin were almost non-existent leaving it flat without enough power to hold it up to where it should be.
  
  If you have any in your cellar, drink tonight!

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  11/23/2020 - Merrit Likes this wine: 92 Points

  On day one, it was all blackberry, dried cranberry and leather. Powerful nose and a really long finish. Wild and exuberant, ready to wear out your palate. On day three, it became smoother and silkier. It still had a nose of blackberry and leather, but with some anise, lavender and black olive in the mix. The palate was more subdued, with notes of blueberry and really dark chocolate under the dominant blackberry.

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  6/30/2019 - darrenv Likes this wine: 92 Points

  I say 92 only because in the big picture, I need to reign in my ratings and 92 is a good rating. Unfortunately, Francois maybe had an affected bottle, but this was fantastic. Canoehead brought a 2010 Sassacaia and we double decanted each of these and brought them to a local restaurant and drank them with medium rare prime rib. The Wrath had a beautifully fragrant nose of blackberry and cassis, it showed some age on the colour, but was very vibrant and still had some velvety tannins to attack the beef and some nice acidity. I can't say enough about this wine and Bill's masterful winemaking. I think Canoehead will concur that this actually outshone the Sassacaia, which verges on blasphemy. I would enjoy this now as it's at its peak. Don't wait. Decant though or let it have plenty of air.

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  6/13/2019 - Francois Le Mouel Likes this wine: 91 Points

  A very high quality wine, but unfortunately not as exciting as the few bottles I had about 5 years ago (glad I drank my first bottles then). The quality is obvious, with silky tannins and a great balance, but it lacks the exotic factor and the intense black fruits I used to get out of this wine.
  
  Even though it will live for several more years, I don't see this improving in the future. Decant for 3-4 hours and enjoy now.

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  12/27/2018 - Francois Le Mouel Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Very similar in style to an appassimento cabernet. The wine is deep quite complex and has very polished tannins. I liked it more about 5 years ago because it had an explosion of aromas on the nose and palate. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent wine, but not as impressive compared to what it was when released. Still have 1 bottle in the cellar and I'll probably drink it within the next 2-3 years.

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