If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Raymond Burr Vineyards .

TOP SECRET SPECIAL: Free Shipping on orders of six or more bottles. Use the promotion code SONOMASPY during checkout.

SUPERIOR WINE ALERT: Today’s wine is a beauty! If you love mature, balanced and refined Cabernet Sauvignon, we invite you to fall in love with this wine

Mission Codename: Everybody love Raymond… Burr

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Send Agent Red back to Raymond Burr winery, to retrieve their stellar Cabernet Sauvignon – before it goes on lock-down!

Mission Status: Accomplished

Current Winery: Raymond Burr Vineyards

Wine Subject: 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: John Quinones

Backgrounder:

Today we introduce guest reviewer, Agent Provocateur. We won’t directly blow his cover, but you can read his excellent wine industry commentary daily, on his blog, Fermentation.

The first time we got a hot tip about Raymond Burr Vineyards (yes, that Raymond Burr) Agent Red returned with an incredible Cabernet Franc. It proved to be one of our most popular wines and our Operatives quickly snatched up a big quantity of the wine, leaving nothing for our in-house Agents. Today, Agent Red and Agent Provocateur infiltrate Raymond Burr – to procure their equally incredible 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon – before the winery pulls their 2000 Cab out of circulation forever

Wine Spies Tasting Profile, by Agent Provocateur:

Backgrounder – Given the assignment to assess the reliability of earlier reports of fine quality wines from this Sonoma County producer, I had high hopes that a discovery would ensue. We are happy to report that upon intense investigation, this 2000 Raymond Burr Dry Creek Valley Cabernet is indeed the real deal

Look – A deep ruby hue sparkles from the center of the glass. This wine’s color is not opaque, but it not far from it either. It looks exactly as it should. No browning whatsoever

Smell – Sweet Cherry top notes are followed in quick order with distinct cola, cassis and black currant aromas. There is violet/floral component that whiffs up off the wine that must surely be a nod to the 9% Cabernet Franc that inhabits this wine. A halo of campfire smoke mingles about too

Feel -There is grip, tannic grip here but it by no means overwhelms the experience. Rather, the moderate body of this wine and moderate structure serves to open the palate and taste buds up and gives the wine a juicy quality while reminding you that you are consuming a Cabernet. Those who don’t want to pucker, but want to be taken a hold of will appreciate the feel of this Cabernet.

Taste – Ahh. Very satisfying and distinct red and black currant flavors carry a complex array of secondary flavors down the palate. There are flavor notes of sweet summer herbs and licorice that provide something of a “happily brooding” characteristic. Two Yums Up!

Finish – There is nothing short about this wine. The red currant and licorice notes linger long after the swallow. One sometimes worries that Cabernet will leave alcohol hanging around on the palate but there is no sign of that.

Conclusion – Happy Day is that which provides you will a wine such at this that is both mellowed by a few years in the bottle but nonetheless relentlessly vibrant and delightful.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile, by Agent Red:

Look – Deep ruby color with a deeply concentrated heart of garnet, color that stays concentrated right out to the edges – with a bouncy surface and tight-packed legs that move slowly down the glass

Smell – Deep aromatics with big cherry, followed by cassis, black currant, and floral violet and soft toasty oak. Very present here is the Cabernet Franc in the wine, which delivers juicy high notes

Feel – Grippy and beautifully tight, this wine has real presence all over the mouth. Medium of body and structure, this wine does not boss your palate around. Rather, its juiciness and its big cab qualities are more refined and balanced than some of the more massive Cabernets we have been tasting of late

Taste – A delicious balance of fruit and soft vegital with layers of smoky cherry, currant, and mild blackberry with a hints of fresh salad herbs and tomato vine

Finish – Like the Raymond Burr Cab Franc I had the pleasure to bring you last month, once swallowed, the flavors in this wine deepen in your mouth and they continue to do so for what seems like an endless interval! Eventually, the flavors do tail off, albeit very slowly. Flavors of licorice and smoked raisin make an appearance and then your mouth waters, begging you to take another sip

Conclusion – What a great pleasure it is to taste a superior wine that has aged so beautifully as this one has. This wine is rich, sophisticated and very smooth – but not at all dull. Rather, this wine has a vitality and a vividness that is surprising for an 8 year-old wine. Once again, our spy hats come off for John Quinones, the masterful winemaker that crafted this delicious wine. Drink now or hold onto to a few bottles for a couple of years. IF you can resist drinking up your reserves!

Mission Report:

Now that we are great friends with the folks at Raymond Burr Vineyards, additional surveillance or infiltration is not necessary. Now that they have been recruited into The Wine Spies Network, we can just return to them to ask for wine.

No new mission report today, so please read below for a recap of our initial mission to Raymond Burr Vineyards.

Please note that we enjoyed today’s featured Cabernet Sauvignon even more than the Cabernet Franc that we featured previously.

Prior Mission Recap:

Ask anyone to describe Raymond Burr in a single word and, resoundingly, you will likely hear, Classy.

The veteran actor, for whom today’s winery was honorarily named, was also a cultivator of orchids, a war hero, a philanthropist and more. Most of all, he was cherished and loved by his close friends, who say that his warmth, humor and compassion made him a remarkable man.

When I was given the mission – finally – to seek out a new Cabernet Franc, I riffled through my mental Rolodex and recalled hearing great things about a Cab Franc from Raymond Burr Winery. In fact, it was in the most unusual way that I had come to hear of the wine in the first place.

On returning from a mission to Latin America, our flight got in to Miami too late to make our connecting flight back to California. the airline put us up in a swanky hotel and the next morning we found ourselves in a shuttle back to the Airport. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were also on our inbound flight and, as always, I steered the conversation toward wine. We compared tastes in varietals and found that Cab Franc wines were among our very favorites. We traded recommendations and they assured me that Raymond Burr had a wine that I would be sure to love.

Now that I was finally assigned a Cab Franc mission I knew just where to go, so I called proprietor and long time companion to Mr. Burr, Robert Benevides. I used the direct approach and told him that I was very interested in sampling his wine and, if they passed the test, feature his Cabernet Franc here for our Operatives to enjoy.

I enjoyed this exceptional wine more with each sip. With enough time to stretch out in the air, the wine really opens up and loses the rough edges present on opening. For best results, decant the wine for a few hours – and enjoy at cellar temperature.

Aromas, flavors, acid and mouth-feel are all in harmony here and the finish is really very unique. If you love great Cabernet Franc, look no further Operative, its right here.

Finally, I remember hearing a story about Mr. Burr that sums up his life and his wines: While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told Mr. Burr that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn’t done a good job. This inspired Mr. Burr to always share his wealth with all. His legacy lives on in today’s wine from Mr. Burr’s namesake winery.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Raymond Burr Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.