2009 Troubadour Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Mission Codename: Oh, Occitania!

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: For our special Elite Operative Saturday, infiltrate Maroon wines, in the Napa Valley. Extract their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – a true Napa Valley gem – and make it available at a Top Secret price.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Troubadour Cellars

Wine Subject: 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon – Napa Valley

Winemaker: Jason Moore

Backgrounder: Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon continues to dominate as the leader in California red wine. For good reason, too, as Napa produces some of the richest and most delicious examples on the planet. Approachable, richly flavorful and deeply delicious, today’s wine shows off the winemaking skills of our long-time friend, Jason Moore. At a price that is hard to resist. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and mission report to learn more about this fantastic Napa Cab.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Darkest burgundy, with a deeper, inky core. Rich magenta hues show at the edges of the wine, when sitting in the glass and when swirled. When the wine settles, tall, skinny, widely-spaced tears crawl downward from high up on the glass wall.

Smell – A rich rush of ripe blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry preserves leap from the glass. These full aromas are followed by candied black cherry, fresh red flower petals, dried red rose petals, cigar box, leather and a subtle hint of fresh fennel.

Feel – Soft, round and very silky at the tip of the tongue. The wine then coats the palate, gaining weight and dimension at the mid and back palate. A soft dryness spreads all around the palate, leaving behind a mineral-laden cracked pepper flavor.

Taste – Ripe, dark and bursting with flavor, this wine leads off with rich, overripe blackberry and blueberry jam. These are quickly joined by black cherry, tobacco leaf, cigar box, roasted Mission fig, black currant, flinty minerals, cracked pepper and softest brown spice.

Finish – Dark fruit sustains for a very long time. As fruit flavors fade, cedar and tobacco remain for even longer. At the tail end, when all of the fruit flavors have finally faded, the palate becomes dry and mineral and cracked pepper flavors persist until you take the next delicious sip.

Conclusion – The 2009 Troubadour Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic, bold and big Napa Valley Cabernet. With layers of flavor and an amazingly long finish, this wine is a delicious delight. A little tight, at first, this wine really opens up as you swirl it in your glass. If you perfer, just decant the wine for 30 minutes or more. Enjoy this complex and elegant wine with a hearty grilled steak or your favorite red meat dish. We enjoyed our sample bottles all on their own. Highly recommended, please don’t miss out on this special wine.

Mission Report:

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Napa Valley can be seen in this satellite photo.