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What We Say 2009 Carneros Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay
LIMITED AVAILABILITY ALERT:
Today’s B. R. Cohen Carneros Chardonnay is a limited-production wine – that will sell out today. If you love delicious, complex yet fully approachable Chardonnay, act quickly.
SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:
Today’s Chardonnay is one of the best single vineyard Chardonnays that we’ve tasted in a long time. We always bring you wines that we love, but when one really stands out, keep an eye out for this special alert.
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Mission Codename: The Dust of Carneros
Operative: Agent Red
Objective: In time for Spring and Summer imbibing, infiltrate B. R. Cohen and abscond with every last case of their remarkable Carneros Chardonnay, a limited-release wine that is very nearly sold out, all around the world.
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: B. R. Cohen
Wine Subject: 2009 Carneros Chardonnay – Sangiacomo Vineyard
Winemaker: Tom Montgomery
Backgrounder: The cool Carneros region provides ideal growing conditions for Chardonnay and Chardonnay literally thrives there. B. R. Cohen’s limited release Carneros Chardonnay is a remarkable wine that showcases the best that the region has to offer.
Sangiacomo Backgrounder: Three generations of the Sangiacomo family have farmed their family vineyards in the Carneros AVA. World renown for growing distinctive, award-winning cool climate grapes, the family is best known for their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Today’s fruit comes exclusively from select vineyard rows, resulting in a wine that is distinctive and delicious.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Deep golden yellow, with even coloration, from the edge of the wine through to its clear core. After a hearty swirl, tall, slow-moving legs form high up on the glass wall.
Smell – After the aforementioned swirl, and before even lifting the glass to the nose, aromas of dark citrus and sweetwood waft from the glass. On closer inspection, the wine exudes lush aromas of lemon-grass, warm mixed citrus, white pear, orange blossom, fresh cut almond wood and white minerals.
Feel – Soft and velvety at the tip of the tongue. The wine glides across the mid-palate, where it gains in dimension and complexity. A plushness gathers at the mid, spreading outward to the entire palate, introducing a crushed velvet feel. Eventually, the lips and cheeks are left with a slight, pleasant dryness.
Taste – Layered, complex and delicious, with bold flavors of citrus, yellow apple, pear, green apple, white spice and creamed honey.
Finish – Very long and packed with dense flavors that linger on and on after you sip. As the fruit tails off, slowly, a soft spice appears, accompanied by a subtle flinty dryness and a hint of oak.
Conclusion – The 2009 B. R. Cohen Carneros Chardonnay is a wonderful, delicious, flavor-filled wine that has a silky mouth feel. Aromatics are through the roof, with the fruit that wafts out of the glass before you even lift the wine to your nose. On the palate, the wine is smooth and while there is oak, this wine is no butter bomb like some oaky California Chardonnay. Instead, this wine is balanced and easy on the senses. Allow the wine to warm once you take it from the fridge and you’ll be rewarded with far greater dimensionality on the nose and in the mouth. Pair this fresh-flavored wine your favorite fresh foods, or enjoy it all on its own.
Mission Report:
WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER
SUBJECT: Tom Montgomery
WINE EDUCATION: Fresno State university; BS in Enology and Viticulture, Minor in Chemistry and Microbiology
CALIFORNIA WINE JOB BRIEF: I worked 20 years in the Napa Valley, with 8 years spent at Conn Creek Winery, and 8 years at BR Cohn Winery in the Sonoma Valley.
WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY: I am a minimalist with traditional techniques, scientific/technical insight, and a love of grape growing, quality fruit, and the best French oak.
WINEMAKER QUOTE: “If it’s a good vineyard and it is out there, we’ll find it. It is a sincere fascination with producing wine from great wine grapes that drives us.”
FIRST COMMERCIAL WINE RELEASE: 1997 Conn Creek Anthology
WINEMAKER INTERVIEW
AGENT RED: Greetings, Tom! We are thrilled to be showing your 2009 Carneros Chardonnay Saigiacomo Vineyard today. Thanks so much for taking some time to answer questions for our Operatives today.
WINEMAKER: Thank you for picking our wonderful Sangiacomo Chardonnay to show your customers.
RED: Was there a specific experience in your life that inspired your love of wine?
WINEMAKER: When I was in high school, I used to steal old Bordeaux wines from my father’s collection.
RED: What wine or winemaker has most influenced your winemaking style?
WINEMAKER: Andre Tchelistcheff
RED: We hear that, a great deal. Tell me, who do you make wine for?
WINEMAKER: I make wine for our customers, but also myself.
RED: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today.
WINEMAKER: Having worked with the Sangiacomo vineyard for over 20 years, we are able to choose only the blocks that let us produce our very rich, dense, and fruit forward style of Chardonnay. The 2009 Sangiacomo Chardonnay was 100% fermented in barrels and aged 10 months on its lees. We chose 70% new Francois Freres, Louis Latour, and Rousseau Video barrels and 30% one year old burgundy barrels. We allowed the wine to reach 70% completion with malolactic fermentation.
RED: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?
WINEMAKER: This wine pairs well with grilled salmon with a light teriyaki glaze accompanied by braised yellow pepper and sweet onion.
RED: In your opinion, what makes the Carneros Region so special?
WINEMAKER: The Carneros region has a nice breeze coming off the bay and perfect southern sun exposure to help ripen the grapes. The tough climate and winds create tenacious chardonnay vines that self-regulate, producing a smaller crop and more concentrated fruit.
RED: What is occupying your time at the winery these days?
WINEMAKER: I have been busy procuring vineyards and grapes that will let us produce higher quality wines in the upcoming year. And bottling, of course.
RED: How would you recommend people approach your wines and wine in general?
WINEMAKER: I recommend people approach wine with an appreciation for what they like and the abundance of varieties and styles available.
RED: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
WINEMAKER: We make wine because we love winemaking and it is harmonious with the goals of Bruce Cohn and our lifestyle here at BR Cohn Winery.
RED: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you – and your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the B. R. Cohen winery can be seen in this satellite photo.
What the Winery Says
B.R. Cohn Winery
About This Wine:
This wine is rich and concentrated with B R aromas of tropical fruit, pear, apricot, and lemon meringue surrounded by a bouquet of toasty oak, vanilla, caramel, and hazelnut. Luscious mouthfeel and bright flavors of honey, pear, apple, and citrus make this a perfect wine with food, especially seafood or poultry.
This 2009 Chardonnay is made exclusively from grapes grown at the Sangiacomo Vineyard in the Carneros Region of the southern Sonoma Valley. It is 100% barrel fermented and aged in all new Burgundian French oak barrels. I hope you enjoy this wine as much as my family and I do. – Bruce R. Cohn, Proprietor Tom Montgomery, Winemaker
About The Winery:
Bruce Cohn, founder and proprietor of B.R. Cohn Winery, has embraced a lifelong passion for Northern California’s wine country and its bounty. An equally strong passion for music led to a parallel career in the music industry as the manager for one of rock ‘n’ roll’s perennially favorite American bands, The Doobie Brothers. His down-to-earth attitude, focus and dedication have made both careers flourishing successes to this day.
Bruce’s roots in Sonoma County agriculture run deep. He became familiar with ranch and vineyard operations at an early age, when his family left Chicago for Sonoma’s Russian River Valley to open Northern California’s first grade-A goat dairy farm.
When Bruce was 10 years old, he spent his free time milking goats, picking grapes and playing in old wine vats. Another move to San Francisco during high school exposed Bruce to the vibrant Bay Area music scene of the 1960s. After graduating from high school, Bruce went on to the College of San Mateo, majoring in broadcasting & communications. He later finished his studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Bruce returned to San Francisco in 1968 for a job working nights as a television engineer for two years while running a music rehearsal studio by day. In 1969, Bruce began managing the then local band, The Doobie Brothers, and the rest, as they say, is history. Bruce continues to manage the now-legendary band to this day.
Entertainment world success notwithstanding, Bruce was eventually drawn back to the beauty of wine country. To keep some sanity and preserve quality of life, he purchased an old dairy in Glen Ellen in 1974 that evolved into Olive Hill Estate Vineyard, so-named for the property’s grove of 140-year-old French Picholine olive trees. Bruce purchased books on viticulture and read them during long periods of traveling with the band. He soon became intensely involved with all aspects of growing grapes, from planting and pruning to grafting and trellising techniques. A decade after taking ownership of the land and having great success selling grapes to other wineries, Bruce started B.R. Cohn Winery at Olive Hill in 1984.
Always looking for ways to give back to his community, Bruce brought his two life passions together in 1987 by inaugurating the B.R. Cohn Charity Fall Music Festival. Each year, wine lovers and music fans alike flock to the Sonoma County estate to revel in the beautiful wine country setting while enjoying top music acts, with all proceeds benefiting the Valley of the Moon Children’s Foundation and other youth charity organizations.
Bruce and his family live in the Sonoma Valley where he runs both the winery and his music business from the property. He has made the Olive Hill Estate Vineyard a true family wine estate.
Located in the heart of Sonoma Valley, just one hour north of San Francisco, B.R. Cohn Winery invites you to discover, experience and taste the many pleasures of our products.
Technical Analysis:
Appellation: Carneros
Vineyard: Sangiacomo
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
Alcohol: 14.4%
Aged: 8 months in French oak barrels
Cases Produced: 1,350
