Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Foxen Winery and Vineyard 2004 Cuvee Jeanne Marie  (Santa Ynez Valley)

Foxen Winery and Vineyard

2004 Cuvee Jeanne Marie
(Santa Ynez Valley)




Named after winemaker Bill Wathen’s mother, Cuvee Jeanne Marie has had its quality ups and downs over the years, many of the them vintage related. And while 2004 was not an exceptional red wine vintage in Santa Maria Valley (2005 was!), Bill and partner Dick Dore got the cuvee just right this time.

A blended red wine, sourced from their relatively new Williamson-Dore Vineyard, this cuvee is 80 percent Grenache and 20 percent Mourvedre and it’s a beauty. You get a two for one here: plenty of bright red fruit flavors that are easily accessible right now but also some of that deeper, darker (Mourvedre) fruit bringing up the rear that adds considerably to the complexity and suggests some cellar time might be in order. It’s big boned and explosive in the mouth right now though, with plenty of residual secondary flavors that hang in there, long after the finish, so you might have trouble keeping from opening this one immediately.

Reviewed August 19, 2007 by Dennis Schaefer.




Other reviewed wines from Foxen Winery and Vineyard

 

The Wine

Winery: Foxen Winery and Vineyard
Vintage: 2004
Wine: Cuvee Jeanne Marie
Appellation: Santa Ynez Valley
Grapes: Grenache (80%), Mourvedre / Mataro (20%)
Price: 750ml $30.00

Review Date: 8/19/2007

The Reviewer

Dennis Schaefer

Dennis Schaefer has been tasting and writing about wine for over 30 years, propelled by a continuing curiosity and burgeoning enthusiasm for discovering what’s in the bottle. Blessed with catholic tastes, he enjoys everything from the obvious to the sublime. A major requirement is that the vineyard, winery and winemaker consistently perform well and fulfill their potential. Balance, concentration and complexity are key to the tasting experience but, in the end, the purpose of wine is simply to give pleasure.