If you’ve read my reviews of late, you know that I visited the California wine country, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The first leg of my trip was spent in Carmel Valley, CA – just east of Monterey – at the Bernardus Lodge. Bernardus Lodge is associated with Bernardus winery, mostly located about 20 minutes drive east of the Lodge further into Carmel. I won’t bore you with the details, but the unusual names are related to the Dutch owner.

Bernardus Winery
Bernardus vineyards and winery products wines of several varieties, including: chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and “Marinus” – a red wine blend. Marinus 2002, a blend of typical Bordeaux grape varietals, was grown in designated separate blocks onsite. The final blend of the 2002 vintage consisted of the following types of grapes: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec. I'm not a huge fan of Petit Verdot or Malbec, so yay that there's only a tad of those in Marinus 2002!

2002 Growing, Harvesting, & Winemaking
Great, sunny weather in the 2002 growing season allowed for the fruit to be picked at ideal levels of ripeness. So, the grapes are ripe with round tannins, full of bring fruit flavors, and of moderate alcohol levels. After fermentation, the wine – still separated by block and grape varietal -was fermented in small French oak barrels for 16 months. Note that only approximately half the barrels were new, and the remainder were reused from previous aging. This is a cost saving measure, but the fact that they were French oak – arguably the best type of oak – does add to the quality of the wine. After 16 months, the winemakers tested, tasted, and came up with the abovementioned blend. Then the blend was aged in large oak tanks in order to allow the flavors of the different grape varietals to mingle.

Color, Smell, & Taste
Marinus 2002 is an almost opaque deep red color. With that type of appearance, you know the wine will be deep and intense. IT smells like ripened black cherry and black currants, has a touch of cedar scent, and has notes of dirt (er, earth) and tobacco. So basically, it smells primarily of ripe, dark fruits with a pleasantly faint and sweet tobacco box smell. The tannin content is moderate to my taste, and gives the mouth a plush feel, and lingers after the finish. I enjoyed this wine many times during my stay at Bernardus Lodge, and liked it so much I took a bottle home.

Purchase Details
If you can’t make it to Bernardus, that is truly a shame. Otherwise, you can order this wine online from Bernardus itself or many retail websites. It runs about $30 to $50 a bottle, most commonly in the mid $40’s range.

Final Thoughts
Marinus 2002 is a lovely red wine blend that tastes pretty mellow now, due to its age (hey, we are in 2008 already and this is from the 2002 production). This is a nice middle tier premium red wine.

~~~~~~~~

Related Review
The Beautiful Bernardus Lodge

Recommended: Yes

Year: 2002
Winery Name: Bernardus
Varietal: Red Blend
Country: USA
State or Region: CA
County or Appellation: Carmel
Price: 45
Wine Rating Scale: Better than most