COHO Wines – The 10th Anniversary C2
What to do to mark a ten year anniversary…?
If you are a wine geek, you know of COHO and their well-made and very reasonably priced Napa wines. For you non-grape geeks, here is a bit of a backgrounder. After years in the industry working for other wineries, founders Gary Lipp and Brooks Painter decided to strike out on their own in 2002. The goal was to produce well-crafted and balanced wines, and to sell them at a sane price point. COHO was born…
As for the name… Legend has it that the COHO tag was
inspired by an ancient Celtic legend: the Salmon of
Knowledge, as well as their commitment to habitat preservation and
restoration. Nicely done…
Concentrating on single vineyard wines and a top-flight Bordeaux
blend, COHO has gained a well-earned reputation for consistency in the wine
press. After 10 years of hard work and making these exceptional wines, one has
to celebrate, yes..?
Yes…
Which brings us to the 10th Anniversary 2012 COHO
C2.
What better way to represent the winery than with a
combination of their top two (C2) single vineyard wines, the SummitVine Ranch
Cabernet Sauvignon and the Michael Black Vineyard Merlot. There is a splash of Chinn Vineyard Petit
Verdot as well, to make things happy. To appease
the afore-mentioned wine geeks, the production notes are as follows:
Varietal Composition: 54%
Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot
Appellation: Napa
Valley (from Coombsville and Diamond Mountain)
Clone: Merlot-Black,
Cabernet Sauvignon-337, Petit Verdot-181
Crush: 100%
whole berries
Pre-fermentation: 5
days cold soak at 55 degrees F.
Fermentation: 8
days followed by malo-lactic fermentation in barrels
Aging: 21
months in 100% French oak barrels, 50% new
Bottled: July
21, 2014
Production: 277
cases (9 liter equivalent)
Release Date: October
1, 2015
Noted wine
reviewer James Suckling says: “Fresh and beautiful with
blueberry, boysenberry and spice character. Hints of cedar and wood too. Full
body, firm tannins and a bright finish. Gorgeous. Drink or hold. 93
Points”
That, my
friends, is how to mark a ten year anniversary..! As you can see, this is not a big production
wine. I recommend you put in the effort
to track a bottle down and add to your cellar.
Cheers..!