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Wine Review: It’s time to release the latest vintages

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As it comes to pass every year at this time, the latest wine vintages are being released to the public. This does not mean wines from 2013 or 2014 are on dealer’s shelves right now. There are many varieties, especially among the reds, that need some time to age and mellow.

The first red wine from France is the 2015 Beaujolais Nouveau, which is released to the public at 12:01 a.m. on the third Thursday in November. Why on that date and time? We don’t haven the foggiest idea, but that is the way it has been done for years. So why change it? And it’s French law, establishing Beaujolais Nouveau Day as the centerpiece of a weeklong festival at the end of grape harvest.

American winery Dry Creek Vineyards just released its 2014 white wines and also released some slightly aged reds. Here’s a sampling from the Sonoma County, Calif., winery.

Dry Creek Vineyards Dry Chenin Blanc ($12)
Chenin blanc, for some reason, is not often seen in stores and restaurants. It should be more popular. This wine displays a whole series of fruit aromas centering on peach, cantaloupe and lavender. On the palate, the taste resonates with tropical fruits and a noticeable mineral under flavor. This wine is a suitable aperitif and also can accompany all of the foods associated with other white wines. This dry white wine is an impressive alternative to the others on the market.

Dry Creek Vineyard 2014 Sonoma County Fume Blanc ($14)
This wine can best be described as a museum piece sauvignon blanc. It has been carefully crafted from specially selected grapes and subject to intense supervision during every step. The wine was carefully fermented and then set aside to age in new French oak barrels. New barrels impart the most oak flavor to a wine, so bring on the oak here. This wine presents a big floral and citrus aroma and the rather obvious flavor of peaches. This is a big, bold and very enjoyable wine. For those looking for a replacement for chardonnay, this is the wine for you.

Dry Creek Vineyard 2014 Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc ($18)
Sauvignon Blanc grapes can produce wines in the California style, with a melon and citrus flavor, as well as wines in the classical European style, featuring a prominent herbaceous, or grassy, flavor. This wine lives in both worlds. It has the classical grassy component, but it is held in check so that the fruity California style can predominate. This effect allows the wine to be served with a wider spectrum of foods and nicely accompanies poultry, lighter meats and seafood.

Dry Creek Vineyard 2014 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon ($25)
This is the type of cabernet sauvignon that has made the Dry Creek Vineyard famous: big, chewy, deep in color and full of flavor. This 2014 cabernet has been crafted in the classical Bordeaux tradition. Small amounts of merlot, syrah, petite verdot and malbec have been blended in to accentuate the fruit flavors and add depth. What resulted is a wine with a flavor shift toward the classical style of a cabernet sauvignon, while maintaining the big fruit attributes derived from its California birthplace. The flavor and aroma emphasizes licorice, cherries, violets and tobacco, which are accompanied by notes of black currant, dried herbs, toasted oak and cocoa. This is a wine for current drinking or one that is also perfect for setting aside for several years to allow it to gain a softer and smoother countenance – providing you can keep your hands off of it for that long.

Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and manages ArticlesOnWine.com. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.

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