Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of November 28th, 2005...
PAGE 2002
Description: Wine Spectator Magazine recently released their annual Cab report, rating the 2002 vintage as exceptional (up there with the 1999's). Page is one of my special, little known gems in Napa. It's a family owned business, run by Brian Page, the actual winemaker. The 2002 proprietary blend is 45% merlot, 35% cabernet franc and 20% cabernet sauvignon.
How to Get it: Page makes only a couple of red wine blends and they produce and sell a small amount, almost exclusively from their website, www.pagewinecellars.com. Because there are more than 350 wineries in Napa now, some of the smaller gems like Page are often overlooked. The good news is though, that they often don't sell out of their wine.
How Much: It's about $50 per bottle. They also sell ½ bottles for about $25.
My Thoughts: Upon first review this wine is a little "tight" as the tannins burst through and overpower the fruit. After allowing the wine to sit for a while and open up, more flavors and complexity emerge. The dominance of the merlot and cab franc is an interesting battle, providing fruity berry flavors along with strong chocolate and pepper. This is a rare fruity big wine with a big finish, not for the squeamish.
Overall Score: One of the things I love about Page is that you never know what he's going to do. He seems to like to take chances and be bold with his blends and it always winds up producing a very unique wine, and usually a very good one as well. I love the originality of the 2002. It has a great uniqueness to it that can't be matched. This wine will be better in 1 or 3 years, but it's a fascinating drink now, and I give it 4 out of 5 vines.
Page 2002 Cab =
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