Friday, November 20, 2009

Fife Max Cuvee, 2007 vintage

Fife Max Cuvee, 2007 vintage, $6.99 (suggested price $22.99)

We were lucky enough to get a batch of older Fife wines back in the Spring and any of you who were fortunate enough to have tried them or saw the “feeding frenzy” on the sales floor when we wheeled them out know what an opportunity it is to get more of this delicious juice. This offering was still in the barrels back then but now that is in the bottle and ready for drinking you get another chance to taste some of the last superb wines from a winery that has gone out of business.

My personal favorite, the 2007 Max Cuvee, is a Rhone-like blend of Petite Verdot, Syrah, Petite Syrah, Grenache and Carignane. The resulting wine is a very well developed complex combination of flavors that reminded us of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape but without the earthy overtones. The wine shows huge, youthful fruit with layers of black cherry, tobacco and woodiness. It finishes with a crisp finality but there is still enough of a hint of tannin to promise decent aging for a couple of years.

Previous vintages of this wine were selling for $22.99 on release at the winery so that $6.99 price tag makes this an excellent buy. Try it with a nice roasted or deep fried turkey and you’ll be a happy camper on November 26!

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