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...Childress Vineyards in Lexington recently introduced a reserve line of varietals that to my mind is comparable to the best the West Coast offers in a comparable price range. At a special barrel room tasting for distributors and industry insiders, owner Richard Childress and winemaker Mark Frizolowski poured and discussed the 2004 reserve vintage, which retails from $18 to $25 a bottle.
The reserve label wine, Childress said, will never exceed 5 percent of total production and will come only during the best years from the best grapes. The 2004 harvest followed a dreadfully rainy 2003. Favorable conditions in 2004 gave Childress the opportunity to strut its stuff.
The 2004 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was not overly tannic in its youth and gushed with plum, blackberry, coffee, spice and cedar. I’ve tasted only two top-flight cabernets from North Carolina producers in recent years, and this is one of them (the other is the 2004 Shelton Cabernet Sauvignon).
The Reserve Merlot offered blueberry, black cherry and vanilla but seemed a hot finish. I noted that this vintage topped out at nearly 15 percent alcohol. (Most reds hit the 13 to 14 percent range.)
My favorite: the 2004 Reserve Cabernet Franc, with its black cherry, raspberry, spice, smoke and bacon flavors and aromas. It’s stunning what this lesser-known varietal can produce in the South.
--Ed Williams
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