Coppola 2008 Claret - Jennifer's review

Well, after the Chicago Bears crushing loss to the Green Bay Packers I though I would drown my sorrows in this week's pick, the 2008 Francis Coppola (which I picked in honor of my sister, Lindsay, who is an aspiring actress in LA and the person who came up with the idea for this fun blog).   A bottle of the 2008 Claret runs about $12 at your local Costco retailer.  A claret is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine blended in a Bordeaux style.  The Bordeaux style blend, as I understand it, means that they have blended Cabernet sauvignon with Merlot along with varying percentages of Cabernet Frac, Petit Verdot and/or Malbec in an attempt to create a more complex, sophisticated and elegant wine.

I chose to decant it for about 30 minutes before drinking .  When we all were talking about how we would rate the wines my father, Jim, found http://www.wineloverspage.com/tastfrm1.htm that we could all use to have a common ground on which we would rate the wines.  I did use this form and found it to be helpful. 

So, for the taste test.  I thought that the wine looked great.  It was a nice deep red and didn't have any impurities.  I thought that the aroma was very woodsy/oaky that smell was the overwhelming smell that blocked out any fruit scent for me.  The flavor was full bodied and rich, as it should be, and the flavor definitely matched the aroma.  For my personal taste, it was a much heavier wine than I am accustomed to drinking.  The aftertaste was also very strong, which I didn't care for.  My overall impression was that it was average.  It wasn't terrible, by any means, but it lacked complexity and was some what single note to me.  On the Parker Scale my ratings came out to an 80.  I would recommend this wine to anyone that loves rich, earthy reds.  Would I buy it again, maybe.  I would have to be in the mood for it.  It isn't a wine I would drink all the time.

Until next week, cheers!