Bella Vino event

Bonneau Winery - Meet the Wine Maker John Bambury

Bonneau Winery @ Bella Vino
Meet the Winemaker John Bambury
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Tasting Fee $20.00/$10.00 Wine Club Members
Tasting Fee Applied per Bottle Purchase of Featured Wine?s

Okay, so it?s no hidden secret anymore just how much I love Bonneau wines. As Bella Vino Customers, many of you rely on me, just as I rely on you to tell me about hidden gems in the world of wine. Well, Bonneau Winery is one of those hidden gems.

The 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has now officially taken the spot of my #1 selling cabernet. His 2005 Hyde Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon has managed to hit my list of favorite cabernets in the store. The Hyde 05 is now one of two on my favorite cabernet list. Also, the 05 Hyde just received 90 Points from Wine Enthusiast too!

The Epos 05 Meritage..Another winner with Bella Vino Customers. I have this really bad habit of opening wines when they come in and sharing them with customers, so many of you already know how kick a** this wine is.

Truly a fantastic treat is the ?05 Napa Valley Malbec! Yes Malbec!! For years some of the larger wineries have been using Napa Valley Malbec to blend into their Flagship and award winning wines, but very few of them have actually tried a gander at actually producing a Malbec on its own. In my experience there are two to three types of Malbec styles we as consumers are introduced to. Simply put, they are the easy drinking sloshing plumy wines we import, the huge spicy, well structured, I?m going to lay this puppy down for a while and drink it with my steak (typically the higher end producers in Argentina and then there is the California produced Malbecs, which typically in the past have shown promise, but unfortunately have fell short in style because they were made to accommodate the easy drinking approachable styles coming in from Argentina. The Bonneau 2005 Napa Valley Malbec falls into the really BIG Category, ?I need to have some nice Spanish Cheeses or a Hearty Grilled Rib eye Steak) I was so impressed with this Malbec, that I put it next to my favorite Argentine Malbec in the store!

Also, just another little history lesson, Malbec is one of the 5 Bordeaux Varietals from France.

The Tasting Menu:

2004 Los Carneros Chardonnay, Catherine?s Vineyard - Double Gold, 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Competition (The largest competition of American Wines in the world!) - This wine shows a full, lemon yellow color. Aromas display ripe pineapples; lemon zest intermixed with white peach and accents of toast and hazelnuts. On the palate the wine presents succulent citrus and tropical flavors tastefully framed by the delicate oak, with a creamy round texture. The finish is lush and manifests a delightful suggestion of vanilla bean.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ? Ironically this wine was one of the wines in my judging panel in mid- October. We gave it a medal! Like dark chocolate covered cherries? Then this is the wine for you.

2005 Hyde Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ? 90 Points Wine Enthusiast (My second favorite cab in the store) Although, I should preface the style of this cab first. It is low oak and less than 14% in alcohol. This wine is beautiful. Better second day, as it requires some decanting. But, once you give this wine several swirls in a Bordeaux glass, it starts to reveal beautiful raspberry and Marion berry notes with dark northwestern Bing cherries. Ahh..I?m getting excited just writing about it. This wine would do well with a dry aged filet mignon as it is so elegant, it will not over power the meat as so many cabernets do.

2005 Epos Meritage, Napa Valley ? The Cabernet grapes for this wine are sourced from 2 outstanding vineyards, Stagecoach and Kane Vineyards. This wine is masterfully blended with Malbec and Petite Verdot from Dominus too. This wine is deep purple in the glass revealing layers of blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, cassis and vanilla. The texture is rich and silky!

2005 Malbec, Napa Valley ? Clove, Blackberry, Cassis, Allspice..WOW!! This wine will coat your palate with layers of bakers? chocolate, spice and currants. While, this wine can be enjoyed now, it will fair better with cellaring.