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SPEED TASTING REPORT WINE NUMBER THREE Balance of Stability THE SPUR by Murrieta���s Well 2010, Livermore Valley ($24.99) 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Petit Verdot, 23% Malbec and 5% Petite Sirah I n the 1880s, Louis Mel fell for the Livermore Valley and because of its gravelly soils akin to those in France���s vineyards, he bought a 92-acre estate that the locals called Murrieta���s Well. He built a gravity-low winery into the hillside. The building still stands today. In the 1930s, Ernest Wente bought the property from Mel, who was his neighbor. In 1990, Ernest���s grandson, Phil Wente, partnered with winemaker Sergio Traverso to resurrect the old winery. In 2010, the two launched a white and a red blend, The Whip and The Spur, from Murrieta���s Well. Fifth-generation Wente winemaker Karl Wente sources the grapes and oversees the inal blending for this small-production (approximately 3,000-case) red. Our Panel���s Notes: ���Gritty-textured, jammy-fruited and, above all, balanced. Raspberries, rose hips, dark chocolate and cherries with a lushness that melds with good acid structure. A wine that does not try to be too much, yet delivers to the inish.��� ���Steven Jay Sherman ���Aromas of saddle, earth and dark red fruit that bursts mid-palate. Mature tannins with medium intensity lead to a inish of cigar, toasted oak, grip and grit.��� ���Deborah Parker Wong Amy Hoopes is Chief Marketing O���cer and Executive VP/Global Sales for Wente Family Vineyards. WINE NUMBER FOUR Balance of Hollywood and Vine FRANCIS COPPOLA 2010 Diamond Collection Claret, California ($18.99) 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc S ourced from vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and El Dorado Hills, Coppola Diamond Collection Claret���a term originally coined by the British to describe Cabernet-based wines���features a label that honors the irst Cabernet Sauvignon blended in a Bordeaux style by Gustave Niebaum in 1910. Winemaker Corey Beck maintains lushness and smooth tannins in his signature wine, aged 11 months in French oak and carrying 13.5% alcohol. Our Panel���s Notes: ���While the wine is still young and needs some time to open up, it is driven by red fruits: strawberry, raspberry and rhubarb. The right level of oak, violets and baking spices, adds concentration and richness.��� ���Ted Glennon ���Earthy devil���s food cake texture and dry, dusty tannins extend generously across the palate. Mint and black tea lend a hand toward the inish to strengthen its backbone.��� ���Meridith May & Steven Jay Sherman december 2012 / the tasting panel / 103