Placeholder Image

Calluna Estate, Chalk Hill Red

Sonoma County, United States 2014 (750mL)
$75.00
/
Your cart is empty.
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Calluna Estate, Chalk Hill Red

Not everything needs to be a comparison. But on the rare occasion a wine offers a fanatical degree of profundity and terroir expression, it demands to be pitted against the all-time greats. That’s why I found myself excitedly mentioning Bordeaux heavyweights in Margaux, Pauillac, and Saint-Estèphe when the cork on today’s 2014 Calluna Estate was pulled. Over the course of several glasses and hours, I couldn’t pry my nose away from its ultra-pure, savory, flawlessly knit layers of dark forest fruit, cigar box, pencil shavings, fresh violets, and baking spice—an exquisite fusion of aromas that are typically reserved for the crème de la crème of Left Bank Bordeaux.
And yet, today’s extraordinary Cabernet-driven blend hails from the famed Napa/Sonoma Mayacamas range, an area so coveted that Bordeaux titans (e.g. the owners of Pontet-Canet and Cheval Blanc), have snatched up property here with alacrity. Having said all that, allow me to be crystal clear: Calluna isn’t some one-hit wonder. I’ve had my eyes fixated on every release for the majority of my career and have no qualms or hesitations putting them in the highest percentile of elite producers. John Gilman calls them Sonoma County’s “finest Bordeaux Blend specialist” and Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator rate them on par—and in many cases, well past—the luxurious and far-pricier Left Bank labels. Given a healthy decant, Calluna’s 2014 is singing right now, yet it will also keep standing up to Bordeaux’ finest over the next two decades. Put simply, this is a legendary cellar collectible!
Chalk Hill AVA. You may have heard it in passing, but most probably aren’t familiar with this hidden gem of an appellation. Calluna’s picturesque vineyards, perched on the western side of the Mayacamas, have the highest elevation in the AVA, which delivers excellent sun exposure, minimal frost, cooler overall temperatures, and retained acidity in the grapes for a balance that is closer to Bordeaux than Sonoma or Napa Valley. 

Before David Jeffrey founded Calluna Estate in this unique appellation, he obtained a degree in enology and viticulture from Fresno State then set out to learn at the hands of one of Bordeaux’s masters. He studied under Dr. Alain Raynaud at Chateau Quinault l’Enclos and returned to the States with a vision to craft true Bordelaise style wines in a cooler locale than his neighbors. As an interesting side note, the owners of Château Cheval Blanc and Château d’Yquem bought land next door—clearly, Jeffrey is on to something. Today, Calluna’s wines are expertly crafted with balance and sense of place as a top priority, and the result is an undeniably pleasurable bottle of wine; Old World elegance with a Californian accent. This has not gone unnoticed by the critics: Calluna’s praise reaches far and wide, and the demand for their exquisitely built reds keep rising with each year. 

Although many producers in Napa and Sonoma craft wines from Bordeaux varieties, the majority shoot for longer hang time and jammy fruit, aging their wines in an abundance of new oak, which inevitably masks the varietal purity and voice of terroir. Jeffrey chooses to do things the old-school way—as in Bordeaux—and the critics have come calling with enthusiasm just the same. Today’s long-aged, perfectly preserved 2014 Estate Red is predominantly composed of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc with some Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec rounding out the final quarter of the blend. The hand-harvested fruit is manually sorted then fermented in open-top tanks, as is traditional in Bordeaux, with twice-daily pump-overs for three weeks. The wine is aged for 21 months in 40% new French oak and is bottled unfiltered. 
 
Within 30 minutes of pouring today’s 2014 Chalk Hill Red in a decanter, its reticene blew off and a pure, intensely savory, and resoundingly complex Cabernet blend emerged. After tasting tens of thousands of wines, it’s moments, and wines, exactly like this that keep you energized. In a large Bordeaux stem around 60 degrees, this red erupts with ripe yet intensely structured aromas of boysenberry, blackcurrant, black cherry liqueur, and Damson plum before melding into more fragrant notes of cedar, cigar wrapper, vintage leather, tobacco leaf, purple flowers, crushed earth, volcanic rock, and beautifully integrated exotic spices. The full-bodied palate impresses with layers of that luscious dark forest fruit and a profoundly savory core that radiates with sweet spice and herbs. This is a real stunner, a wine built to impress for many years to come (10-20) or one that can be thoroughly enjoyed now with those that appreciate the finest reds coming out of Left Bank Bordeaux and the elevated hills of Napa. Cheers!
Placeholder Image
Country
United States
Region
Sonoma County
Sub-Region
United StatesChalk Hill AVA
Soil
Loam Over Sandstone & Shale
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon 58%, Cabernet Franc 18%, Merlot 17%, Petit Verdot 5%, Malbec 2%
Alcohol
14.3
OAK
40% New French Barrels
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Large Bordeaux Stem
Drinking
Now-2034
Decanting
30-60 Minutes
Pairing
Herb-Braised Beef Short Ribs

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Others We Love