I first tried a Knights Valley bottling 6 or 7 years ago at a tasting event in NH, it was quite nice, and I was intrigued by the potential I thought it had for cellaring between 5 to 10 years. I didn't buy much of it each year as the cost in the NH Liquor system was and is $35.00 per bottle, but there are now other retail options available to all of us that are much less. We'll get to that later....
The vineyard is located in Knights Valley, northwest of Napa, in Sonoma County and composes about 600 acres. It's planted with Cab Sauvignon, Malbec, Petite Verdot, Merlot, and Cab Franc, all of which enjoy the warm growing conditions there. It's a fairly rustic area with rocky, well draining alluvial soils which pushes the vines to produce great fruit.
When first opened, notes of black cherry first, followed by subtle hints of black raspberry, plum, blackberry, and an intriguing spicy note in the nose. The palate has the black cherry with the other fruits in the background, the spice on the finish with balanced tannins and a pleasant lingering fruit note.
Day 2 brings the black cherry with more of the black raspberry, and a deep note of mixed berry pie, very interesting nose.... all the fruit flavors are more blended together on the finish with fine tannins and a beautiful lingering berry note. Delicious...
This would be very nice with a juicy Delmonico steak grilled medium, I could see this with bacon wrapped tenderloin filets from the grill, or equally at home with a Sunday roast chicken dinner and fixings...I'm going to try it later today with a home made bacon cheeseburger and grilled veggies.
I bought 3 bottles of this vintage with the idea of leaving them in the cellar for a while, I opened a bottle last year about this time to see how it was developing. It was good, but wasn't quite ready yet.
Now it's in the sweet spot for me, which matches what some of the reviews out there are saying. I think after 5 years past the vintage year is when this wine really starts to shine.
Available at most NH Liquor outlets for $34.99, Total wine in Natick has it for $23.00, and if you're in the Boston area try a Wegmans grocery store... I bought my 3 bottles there for $20.00 each! That's quite a savings over the NH price.... this wine seems to be fairly consistant each vintage but look for the 2015, I'm reading some good things about that year....
Cheers!
Ed
