For all of the wine fans out there, 2004 is shaping up to be the vintage of the past 10 years…at least. The 2004 vintage in Italy is supposed to be one of the best they have ever seen. From what Danielle and I tasted when we were there, I would say they had some very, very good wines coming on line. Napa and Sonoma are also supposed to have some amazing wines from the 2004 vintage coming on line and after tasting a bottle of 2004 Sangiovese from Rutherford Grove in Napa, I am really looking forward to sampling some more wines.

We tasted some 2004 Zinfandel, in barrels, from Bella Vineyards a while back and we were all very impressed. Unfortunately, we had just missed the futures sale the week before. Anyway, Rutherford Grove is a small winery located in the heart of the Rutherford A.V.A. in Napa Valley. They are a small producer by Napa standards putting out somewhere around 6,500 cases a year. Most of their wines are very fruit forward but so wrapped up that you need to open the bottle you want to drink tomorrow night, tonight. I have not experienced that with any other wine, but Rutherford Grove’s wines are like that for some reason. They make Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Petite Sirah each year along with some Sauvignon Blanc. I first fell in love with their 1999 Petite Sirah, which is a tremendous wine if you can get your hands on some…and like fruit forward wines and Petite Sirah.

As for the 2004 Sangiovese it is very fruit forward with tons of ripe fruit on the pallete and a bit of acidity on the finish…but, it is what you would expect from a Sangiovese right? Very well balanced…surprisingly for something that I opened 10 minutes before and dumped into a decanter. It is a great wiine and it is on the expensive side usually, but this wine is well worth the price of admission.