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Wines That I Miss: Tres Sabores

Written By: Dylan York on Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Absence makes the heart grow fonder for Tres Sabores.

Today I was thinking about some of the wines that I wish were available on the island and one in particular popped into my head. Before I got to the island I took a quick trip to Napa Valley to visit a few of my favorite wineries. One of my stops included my friend Julie Johnson's winery, Tres Sabores. It is a fantastic boutique winery on the western hills of Rutherford with a breathtaking view. Julie, former winemaker at Frog's Leap, and her family grow organically certified grapes and produce beautifully handcrafted wines with complex layers of flavor. The winery produces a Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, a Zinfandel Blend called Porque No?, and a wonderful crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

My friend Vijay and I arrived at the winery to find Julie arm deep in a vat of fresh picked grapes. You could here the crackling of the fermentation starting to take place and the juice was taking on the hues of the skins. We tasted fresh Zinfandel juice from several vats, each from different vineyard sites and I was amazed at the difference in flavors. Next we took a walk out to the vineyards to taste the phenolics of the grapes still on the vine. Walking the rows and tasting from different parcels really put things into perspective. I have to hand it to winemakers who produce boutique wines because so much detail and hard work goes into making wine. When you see how long it takes to pull in all the fruit, vineyard by vineyard, each at different times, sorting it and waiting for it to start fermenting, you really appreciate what's in your glass.

Tres Sabores produces some of the best Zinfandel that I have ever tasted. The grape is often over-extracted and can produce over-fruity one dimensional wines; this is not the case with Tres Sabores Zinfandel. All the grapes are organically grown and hand harvested so the quality of the fruit is top notch. Julie uses new French oak from several different sources and ages the wines separately, later blending them to create layers and layers of diverse characteristics. The Zinfandel is rich with black fruit and spice notes and has a freshness that most Zinfandels lack. This wine usually retails around the thirty dollar mark and delivers much more than others in its range. Julie also makes another favorite of mine called Porque No?, a blend of 70 % Zinfandel finished with Cabernet and Petit Verdot. This is a blockbuster wine for the price as you will be pressed to find a wine with the finesse and concentration of this one for under $30.

Another great red wine from the winery is the Perspective Cabernet Sauvignon, which is made from one hundred percent Rutherford fruit. Julie's "perspective" on what Rutherford Cabernet should be is right on. The wine is dark ruby in color, rich and silky on the palate with black currant, blackberry, chocolate, plum, creamy vanilla and clove spices on the finish. Tannins on this wine are very integrated so you feel the support and not the overwhelming dryness. There is very little of this one produced so if you find it grab a few extra bottles - it should retail somewhere between $50 and $65.

These are definitely wines that I miss drinking and wish they were available here. Julie if you are reading this, come visit and bring wine.

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  Be the first to comment on this article


apples7
Santa Barbra, CA
Posted on 3/13/08

agree with you 100% atruong, the Perspective is my type of wine.


atruong1011
san jose, california
Posted on 3/06/08

oops, left out the comment! I've had the pleasure of trying the wines of Tres Sabores and I'm especially fond of the Perspective and the Porque No?. Julie is an incredible winemaker.


atruong1011
san jose, california
Posted on 3/06/08


dyork
St. George's, Grenada, West Indies
Posted on 3/06/08

For information on where to find the wines, visit the website tressabores.com or call 707-967-8027. The email is down for the moment but it should be up soon I just spoke with her about it. On the east coast, Winebow carried the wines in DC and NY. Hope this helps, thanks for reading and commenting.Dylan


csoma
Raleigh, NC
Posted on 3/05/08

Jealousy is rofl.


Roflworthy
Foxwoods, CT
Posted on 3/05/08

You may miss Tres...but hey, at least you have a whole tropical island to cheer you up.


twermund
Scranton, PA
Posted on 3/05/08

Where can Tres Sabores wines be found?


pandaa58
Boston, MA
Posted on 3/05/08

I've never had Tres Sabores, but you make it sound quite appealing!


bgmcws
Chester, PA
Posted on 3/05/08

It's tough finding a great vineyard and then being torn away from it!

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