Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of January 26th, 2009...
COLGIN 2001 HERB LAMB VINEYARD
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Description: Forgive me; I spend most of my vacations drinking some of the top-end wine I have collected over the years and this most recent two week PAID holiday vacation was no different. I spent a week with a fellow wine lover and reached into the cellar for a few high end bottles so for the next few weeks, you’re going to get what we call “cellar reviews,” meaning that the wines are no longer available as current releases but can be found online and/or at auctions, etc. Suck it.
Colgin is a top of the line small producing wife/husband (Ann Colgin is the brains behind the operation) Napa winery that has hit home run after home run recently with their enormous red wines. They produce fewer than 3,000 cases in total annually and constantly receive review scores of 95+
How and when I drank it: Monday December 29th while on vacation at a rented coastal home in Cambria, CA.
How to get it:For the purpose of this column I did a “Google” search for the term “Buy 2001 Colgin” and found multiple websites that with bottles available ranging from $349 to $649.
How Much: The bottle is $275 new from the winery at release now, but only available if you are already on their mailing list. They currently have a waiting list, and even brand new unopened 2005 wines are selling now above $300.
My Thoughts: While on PAID vacation, this was the bottle I was looking most forward to as I had actually never tasted a Colgin wine. It’s enormous price tag and limited availability make it a hard wine to obtain ( and a harder wine to justify when dining out considering the mark up in price making it a $500 bottle in a restaurant). Additionally, this particular bottle was deemed a “collectible” the minute it was released and has long been called the best bottle of Colgin since the storied 1997 vintage.
Overall Score: To begin with the wine is dark purple. Most red wines are lucky to achieve a deep burgundy color but this wine looks as though Grimace bled to death. The nose is unbelievable as you smell everything from flower to chocolate to vanilla to deep dark fruits. After decanting for more than an hour the tastes begin on the front of the tongue with blackberry, blueberry and a hint of chocolate. As the wine moves back to your throat, the flavors shift to an herbal team meats vanilla and cinnamon, with a dynamic smooth finish. This is simply an experience. An amazing bottle of wine. Thank goodness I have 2 more.
5 Vines.
COLGIN 2001 HERB LAMB VINEYARD CABERNET SAUVIGNON = 
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