Wine Last Sold on: September 12, 2007
Punk Dog Wines
Today's Featured Wine:
2002 Sophie's Romp
| Varietal: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Region: | California: Napa and Sonoma |
| Cases Available: | Only 20 |
| Avg. Price: | $30.00 |
| Wine Spies: | $22.00 |
The Winery Says:
NOTE: This mission was headed up by Spy Dog, a fully vetted Wine Spies field operative. Like all operatives, her identity is closely guarded. She can be seen here in a rare photograph on a covert mission to Napa, where she spied today’s wine:
Our Spy Dog on a recent mission
Winemaker’s Notes:
My goal was to make a wine that you can enjoy by itself and throughout dinner – think of a long, leisurely evening with friends. The wine had to be big and fruit forward, but also with enough complexity to carry it throughout an entire meal. To achieve this I harvested with two different goals.
On the Napa fruit, I picked the grapes in a “classical” Cabernet style, allowing the green flavors to fall out of the fruit while mindful of the Brix levels. This brought out elegant raspberry/ brambleberry fruit as well as balanced acidity. On the Sonoma side I let the fruit develop to maximize its fullest potential. The grapes were allowed to hang for big ripe flavor; bringing dark cherry/plum fruit with a great rustic character.
The lots were then aged separately for 33 months in 30% new oak. The wine was bottle aged for 6 months prior to release. I definitely recommend the Romp for decanting. A little aeration opens up its complexity. What I love about this wine is the complexity of the flavors shifting from opening to the end of the bottle. It leads with the rustic feel of the Sonoma fruit, and then the Napa fruit takes center stage in an elegant phase featuring barrel spices. Finally the flavors merge to create very nice raspberry chocolate aromas and soft texture.
Take your time with this wine, I encourage pouring a large glass and keep going back to the wine throughout the tasting to pick up the complexity and subtle changes throughout the hour. Please decant and enjoy … and take your fun seriously!
NOTE: No humans were harmed in the tasting of this wine for this review.
The Wine Spies Say:
Mission Codename: Dogs don’t have lips
Operative: Agent Spy Dog
Objective: Romp with Sophie and discover what makes her wine so unique
Mission Status: Accomplished
Current Winery: Punk Dog Wines
Wine Subject: 2002 Sophie’s Romp
Winemaker: Eric Gordon
Backgrounder:
Yes, I am a dog. But no ordinary dog; I am Spy Dog and I hang mostly with human Wine Spy agent, Agent White, down here in our Beverly Hills enclave.
When Agent White became a Wine Spy, I was quick to follow. Agent White had me smelling wines and when I turned my nose up at certain wines that he also thought stunk, he realized that I would make an excellent Wine Spy myself. And so a perfect partnership began.
Soon after, White began taking me on missions to wineries. I let my skills shine through by showing him how much I knew about viticulture, winemaking and vineyard rodents. I mostly helped White select new wines.
Mission Report:
Recently, our travels took us to Napa, where after a long day of spying new wineries, I caught a unique scent; Another canine. And this one obviously spent time around vines and wines. I gave a sharp tug on my leash and practically dragged Agent White through the downtown, to the corner of First Street and Coombs. There, I spied the object of my search, a happy little brown and white Corgi. I quickly sidled up to her and introduced myself, exchanging obligatory sniffs. Her name was Sophie and sure enough, she was a wine dog. She explained to me that her humans, Eric and Lisa were winemakers, and that I should really meet them – and try the wine that they made. A wine that they named after her! I followed her inside what turned out to be a very lovely wine lounge called Stave. I pulled Agent White along to meet the humans as well.
Agent White caught on pretty quick and struck up a conversation with Eric Gordon, the winemaker of Punk Dog Wines and the proprietor of Stave. While White and Eric chatted, I kept talking to Sophie. She was a gregarious pooch and I took a shining to her immediately. Her happy personality was infectious and while I tried to keep the conversation centered on wine, she kept trying to tug my bandana off. Once she actually succeeded and she ran away giggling, trying to get me to chase her. I usually restrict my chasing to squirrels, but I indulged her.
After a while, I got tired and flopped down at White’s feet. Sophie kept trying to get me to play, but I was more interested in the wine talk.
I overheard Eric telling White that his winemaking style was inspired by Sophie. I saw his point; Winemaking should be fun. Having a dog like Sophie around to remind him that life is fun seems to have translated to his winemaking philosophy. To put this philosophy to the test, Agent White took a few samples away with us and we rendezvoused with Agent Red, our expert on red wines, at our Sonoma County H.Q. for a tasting. What follows are our impression of Punk Dog Wines 2002 Sophie’s Romp:
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
As you know, all dogs have highly attuned senses and I pride myself as having better sensitivity than your average woofer. Since this review is for my human friends, I’ll keep my descriptions simple. As you know, I conferred with human agent, Agent Red, on this wine and he concurs with my overall assessment.
Look – Rich and super-dark plum with great legs – even if it did have more than four of them!
Smell – This wine has a rich nose, with human-detectable aromas (sorry to keep rubbing that in) of super ripe cherry, plum, green peppercorn, oak and the slightest hint of olive.
Feel – This wine has an unusual and pleasant ‘cool’ feel in the mouth, with tannins that give a gentle bite all over the mouth.
Taste – I think that humans will find this wine especially delicious, especially after decanting for an hour or two. Flavors and character really open up with time and blackberry, dark cherry, plum and earthy tones play on the tongue.
Finish – Long-lasting, all over mouth with flavors that hang around for a while before tapering off nicely, reminding you to have another lap, I mean sip.
Conclusion – This is a rich and tasty wine that I would recommend to any human drinker. I certainly encourage you to decant this wine. After a few hours of airing it out, it came alive with character and mellowed out considerably.
Also, while this wine is ready to drink now, I would suggest that you keep a few bottles in your library for a few years as I think that aging will only make this wine better.
Special note to dogs: Since us dogs don’t have lips, we can’t sip and spit like our human friends. This is a high alcohol wine, and while some humans really enjoy that, dogs need to be a little careful not to enjoy too much of this great wine.
Wine Spies Satellite Surveillance:
The location of Stave Wine Lounge where Sophie and her humans can sometimes be found can be seen in this satellite photo
If you are ever in Napa, stop by. You might just meet Sophie. Oh, yeah, and her humans.
Also, a nice view of the Sonoma and Napa Valley’s can be seen in this satellite photo
Wine Spies Technical Wine Analysis
Alcohol: 15.1
Months in Barrel: 33
Varietal: 100% Cabernet, from Sonoma and Napa counties
Year: 2002
Average Wine Spy Points: |
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Great value for the price. Perfect amount of fruit balanced with spice to give the wine sweet palatability and complexity. This wine lacks elegance, but in an intentional manner which makes it even more appealing.
Agent Red Says: We encourage you to share your reviews and comments about this wine. If you need help scoring or using tasting tags, click on the help links on the form. You’ll also earn more Spy Points for each review you submit.
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