$2 French Wine: 1998 Rivefort de France Cabernet Sauvignon
Sep 17 '01
The Bottom Line Pros: Extremely inexpensive, complex, soft tannins -- ready to drink. Cons: Cedar wood and tobacco-like flavors overwhelm the fruit delicacy of this wine.
I was shopping for wine last week and came across a fairly new label: Rivefort de France. In recent weeks, I had tried a Rivefort de France Merlot that I found to be quite impressive, not only for its taste, but also for its price. This time, I came across a 1998 Rivefort de France Cabernet Sauvignon in the aisles of my local Beverages and More shop, and I could not resist the price: $1.99 per 750 bottle.
Rivefort de France Cabernet Sauvignon
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Until this summer, I had never heard of Rivefort de France wines before. Truth be told, I don't often buy red French wines. Takes too much research to find out what is good, and I find it easier to buy California wines that I am more familiar with.
Anyway, this Cabernet Sauvignon is vinted and bottled by Rivefort, Saint Jean D' Ardeèrs, and is from the Languedoc-Roussillon -- one of the oldest wine regions in France. That detail alone is not as impressive to me as the extremely low sales price of the wine and the fact that it is imported to the U.S.A. by Beringer Wine Estates of Napa Valley, California. Beringer is a name I trust, a winery founded over 100 years ago by a German immigrant and one of the oldest wineries in the Napa Valley (in the town of St. Helena).
The winermakers for Rivefort de France are Jean Louis Mondrau (formerly associated with Chateau Latour) and David Schlottman (formerly with Napa Ridge, a California winery). That's pretty impressive. There are some serious personalities and business interests behind this label.
This 13% alcohol-by-volume Cabernet Sauvignon pours with a very dark, purple color that is virtually opaque to light. It is dark, almost red-black in color, and presents some interesting, although challenging, aromas and flavors.
In the nose: deep, concentrated black fruit, black berries, some anisette and wood. Not very delicate; one could almost say rustic.
In flavor, this wine had interesting complexity but I was challenged to find something that I really liked about it. This Cabernet did not exhibit great fruit flavor -- aside from some blackberry and plum tones -- and what I noticed more was an unusual presence of some tobacco, leather, and cedar wood flavors. An unusual wine, and not the best example of something that could stand as a solid every-day Cabernet Sauvignon.
Price and Availability
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I purchased this wine for $1.99 (plus tax) at Beverages and More (www.bevmo.com) in Brea, California. This wine was on special sale. I have seen the 1997 vintage on sale elsewhere for $9+ per bottle, or $92+ per case of 12 bottles (internetwines.com).
I don't expect to see this low sales price continued past this month. If priced above $7.00, I would NOT recommend this Cabernet Sauvignon.
Recommendations
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I was not very favorably impressed by this wine. That fact that it is imported into the U.S.A. by Beringer impressed me enough to try it, and, too, I had a very pleasant experience with the 1998 Rivefort de France Merlot.
For $1.99, this wine was worth a try. I have read excellent reports about other varietals from Rivefort (e.g., its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines), and I will look for this label in the future... and I will buy, especially at prices under $5 per bottle.
Verdict: 2-stars. Interesting flavors, an interesting wine to pair with medium-to-full bodied cigars. May be a decent cooking wine, but not something you want to serve if your intentions are to impress your guests. Really, a 1-star selection elevated by its extremely affordable price.
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Member: Tom Carr
Location: Southern California
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