Rua Wines
2010 Napa Valley Red Wine
Red Blend
California: Napa Valley
Mission Briefing
Blended in heaven
Today’s 2010 Napa Valley Red Wine is quite the debut for Rua Wines. We strive to find under-the-radar gems for our Operatives, and we struck gold with today’s wonderfully delicious blend.
This delicious blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc comes from one amazing vineyard in Carneros. Grown side-by-side, with Cab Franc on the western slope and Merlot on the east, this small valley vineyard receives cool evening breezes off San Pablo Bay, which help temper the midday heat and create a near perfect growing environment.
If you love red blend as much as we do, please snap up a few bottles (or cases!) of today’s stunning wine.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Deep, dark crimson, nearly opaque in the center, with a touch of lighter ruby around the fringe. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Bright and aromatic, with cherry, blackberry, and sweet plum mingling with toasted oak, sandalwood, freshly tilled earth, dark baking spices, slight vanilla bean, and soft dried flower petals. |
| Taste: | Ripe and juicy fruit flavors of blackberry, red currant, and boysenberry lead the way, quickly trailed by Earl Grey tea, European red licorice, dark baking spices, a hint of dried blueberry, sweet tobacco leaf, and dusty, mushroomy earth. |
| Finish: | A beautiful wine, with a very well rounded flavor profile highlighted by delicate flavors working in near perfect unison. |
| Pairing: | Grilled flank steak, prepared with a sweet teriyaki glaze. |
What the Winery Says
Rua is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from the Carneros Region of Napa Valley. It is rich, ripe, and full of flavor, yet accessible enough to drink now. Aromas of bright bing cherry, spicy oak, olive, creamy vanilla and earth. On the palate, it is youthful, vibrant and expansive. Ripe red and black fruits, Asian spice, and licorice fill the mouth ending with a long finish full of mouthwatering fruit.
92 Point Review - Wine Spectator Sleek and well-focused, with black cherry and espresso aromas and elegant, complex blueberry, graphite and mocha notes that lead to firm but ripe tannins. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2018.
- Winemaker
- Walt Averill
- Accolades
- 92 Points - Wine Spectator
- Appellation
- Napa Valley, California
- Fruit Variety
- 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc
- Cooperage
- 20 months in French oak
- ABV
- 14.5%
About the Winery
We’re Walt and Máire, a married couple that have been making wine from Sonoma and Napa Valley for over 10 years together. We met through the business and have held various positions for well over twenty years each. The wine business has been really good to us. In 2008 we were offered an opportunity we just couldn’t pass up -to make wine from a great vineyard in Napa Valley with a great grower.