2006 Kinkead Ridge Red Revelation

Review from Sandra Silfven, Wine Writer Detroit Daily News, October 2008

Kinkead Ridge Revelation Ohio River Valley 2006, $14.95: 2006 Kinkead Ridge Revelation Red Wine, Ohio Valley: This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot has body, depth of flavors, good weight, good balance. Wave the glass under your nose and experience the perfume of cassis, bell pepper, dark chocolate, tart cranberry and stone fruit, and smoke off the barrels. On the palate, it’s still tightly wound but jam-packed with all the stuff that matures into a great wine – dusty tannins, layers of flavor, acidity – all of which stream across the palate to the finish. Imagine the weight of dark chocolate in the mouth – that’s what this wine is like."

Note from Nancy: This review is from October 2008, in February 2009, this wine has opened up in the bottle, and is no longer tightly wound.
 

Also featured in "Wine Finds" in the January/February WineBuzz magazine.

Hand-harvested on October 11 through October 25, this Bordeaux-style blend has hints of black cherry, plum and currant which precede a rich, complex finish. The grapes were cold-soaked, fermented in small bins with hand punch-downs, and aged in premium oak barrels. 68% Cabernet Sauvignon with 18% Cabernet Franc and 14% Petit Verdot. Medal winner, American Wine Society International Competition

Production: 404 cases. $14.95

This wine was just rated the top red wine in the Ohio/Michigan Wine Clash... 60 wines were vetted in Ann Arbor and Columbus by a prestigious tasting panel. It's a steal at $14.95. More than half of the inventory that was released on Sept. 4 is sold. Get it now.

Rarely, we get an extraordinary phone call. Jeremy gets it... how hard we work; how passionate we are about fine wine.

From Jeremy, wine store employee, MacClarens, Columbus Ohio.

"Hello there Nancy and Ron. This is Jeremy who works at MacClarens in Grandview in Columbus, and I just want you to know that I just tried this wine; I tried the Revelation and I thought to myself immediately, Ron Barrett must be really, really happy that he can make wine like this. This wine is an epiphany. It's absolutely fabulous, as is the Cab Franc, the second label, and I just want to thank both of you for pursuing and making this stuff; and I am at a crossroads deciding whether to tell anybody about this wine and sell it, or drink it all with my friends. So I'm just telling you that maybe you should hear once in a while just how delightful that wine that you make, makes people like me so happy. Thanks very much. I'm sure you're out busting your tails doing more, but please take my sincere congratulations on a really nice pair of wines."

2006 River Village Cellars Cabernet Franc

Silver Medal, Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. A great showing, considering this was a difficult vintage, cold and wet, resulting in a lighter-bodied wine.

Production: 375 cases. $12.95

"The baron hit upon the idea of creating a second-tier brand after a disappointing harvest left him with a large quantity of wine that was not up to the quality of previous Mouton vintages. At first, he called this wine Cadet de Mouton, indicating that it was a junior member of the Mouton Rothschild family of wines, but soon changed that to the shorter and more elegant Mouton Cadet. His move had its doubters but the strategy worked and in later years, when he didn't have any of his own wine to spare for it, he produced Mouton Cadet from wines bought and blended from other growers across Bordeaux. It became one of the world's most popular French wine brands, selling about a million cases a year."

Here at Kinkead Ridge, we know that 2006 was a cold, wet harvest. In the Mouton model, we second-labeled the wines and reduced the prices. They are fantastic value everyday wines. The last time we second labeled a wine was the 2005 Viognier/Roussanne, which went through malolactic fermentation and was very different from the 2004. Second labelling this wine at a price point of $9.95 gained us a huge amount of respect in the marketplace. People know they can trust the Kinkead Ridge first label to be an ultra-premium wine; and the River Village Cellars second label to be a value-priced everyday wine.

2006 River Village Cellars Syrah

Hand-harvested on October 18, this spicy, intense and luxurious wine has excellent balance and notes of earth, plum, cloves, black pepper and dark berry. The grapes were cold-soaked, fermented in small bins, and punched down by hand. Oak-aged. Excellent with beef, lamb, braised chicken and spicy cuisine. Medal winner, American Wine Society International Competition.

Production: 179 cases. $10.95

2009 Wine Releases

Releasing Labor Day Weekend 2009

Releasing Labor Day Weekend 2009

Gaiter/Brecher, Wall Street Journal on Petit Verdot

Why do producers select the particular varieties they blend to create a specific bottling?
There are many reasons, from adding complexity to simply including the varieties that are growing in the vineyard. Here's an example. In our recent tasting of "Costco Cabernets" -- widely distributed American Cabernet Sauvignons that we found at Costco and Sam's Club -- we found it interesting that three of our five favorites included some Petit Verdot. In fact, our favorite wine, a 2005 from Charles Krug, was fully 9% Petit Verdot (along with 6% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, 1% Merlot and 1% Carignan). Petit Verdot is one of the classic grapes of Bordeaux -- it adds color, tannins and maybe some spiciness to a blend -- but it was never much of a factor in the U.S. That is changing as more wineries seek to add depth to their wines. The number of acres planted to Petit Verdot in California has tripled since 2000, though it's still small (1,743 as of 2007). And it's not just California: We noticed that the most recent Assemblage blend from Paumanok Vineyards on New York's Long Island, the 2005, is 22% Petit Verdot.

Charles Krug didn't add Petit Verdot to its wines until 2001. Why now? We spoke to Peter Mondavi Jr., a co-proprietor of the winery. (His father, Peter Sr., is the brother of the late Robert Mondavi.) Mr. Mondavi told us that the use of Petit Verdot represented "a certain sea change in philosophy on our end," a move away from the feeling that wines needed to be 100% of a varietal. "We were in that purist camp and some other people around us began blending more, making proprietary blends. When we started our [Mondavi Family Reserve] Generations wines in 1991, we got some experience with blending and it opened our eyes up, what blending could do with these varietals. It makes more complex, more interesting wines. We blended with Cabernet Franc first and then added Petit Verdot in 2001 and a small amount of Malbec." The Petit Verdot, he said, is "a beautiful complement to Cabernet Sauvignon. It has added subtle complexities and nuances. It's not just taking Cab and making it darker, not just increasing those classic Cab tannins. It's taking on other complexities and supplementing them. It's adding more dimensions," he said, explaining that its tannins "tend to boost up the middle body of the Cabernet."

As more wineries grow a little Petit Verdot for blending, more are also making a small amount as a stand-alone varietal, often available only at the winery. A long time ago, we were so eager to find out what Petit Verdot tasted like as a varietal that John talked to wineries all over California before he finally found one that made a small amount of it: Guenoc. He ordered two bottles as a Christmas present for Dottie (well, yes, this is romantic in its own way), but the winery wouldn't ship it to us, so we had to have it trans-shipped by another company. We still remember the dark, spicy wine.

A few years ago, we bought a 1998 Petit Verdot when we visited Murphy-Goode Estate Winery in Geyserville and now seemed like a good time to open it up. Murphy-Goode first made Petit Verdot as a varietal in 1997 when there was enough left over from blending. "We have used the Petit Verdot in numerous wines over the years," winemaker David Ready told us. "The adds have ranged from 0.5% to 12%. The Petit Verdot adds a variety of qualities including color, depth and richness." Murphy-Goode now releases a varietal Petit Verdot in most vintages. It didn't make one in 2006 or 2008, but made 200 cases of 2007, which will be released in the next year or so.

 

2008 Kinkead Ridge Viognier/Roussanne
57% Viognier/43% Roussanne

Releasing Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Releasing Memorial Day Weekend 2009

GOLD: Best of Appellation, www.appellationamerica.com

Review from Andrew Hall, wine blogger Columbus

2008 Revelation White. Predominantly Sauvignon Blanc, this was the clear winner in the 2008 white line-up. Crisp mineral and herbal nose with nice persistence. Good lines and cut. Nice intensity of the acidity and mineral. Nice integration which carries its 14%abv well. A revisit showed an elegant side to this wine. Very good, best white Revelation I’ve had. Wide open for business as well.

2008 Kinkead Ridge Riesling

Releasing Memorial Day Weekend 2009

DOUBLE GOLD: Best of Appellation, www.appellationamerica.com

2008 Riesling Good nose with some verve and apple blossom notes. Nice citrus fruit notes here, but lacks the mineral verve and spine I want from Riesling. Like the V/R, ripeness of the ‘08 vintage doesn’t work for me in whites, but the alcohol is balanced here and I think is a little residual sugar which gives it body, not sweetness. (A lot of wines have this, but most don’t tell you.) I think a little time to relax from bottling will bring this to life.

Riesling Renaissance: America
From "Riesling Rules", www. RieslingRules.com

Click here

"Once again Riesling in on the rise among wine lovers. According to ACNielsen, Riesling is the #1 fastest growing varietal for the 52-week period ending December 15th, 2007... The variety's recent success has much to do with our evolving tastes in food and wine and our interest in food an wine pairing. Top American chefs and sommeliers have known for some time that Riesling is an extraordinary food companion, especially for "challenging" dishes... Riesling is a versatile food wine because its crisp acidity cuts through the richness of meats and sauces, while its fruit sweetness pairs well with spicy cuisine and lighter, more flavorful food styles... And relative to other great wines of the world, Riesling still represents an amazing value in terms of price for quality. This is a great time to be, or become, a lover of Riesling."
 

Releasing Memorial Day Weekend 2009

2008 Harvest Report
As I write this in late February, the wines from 2008 have been cleaned up and are showing very well. After a cool spring which delayed bloom, the weather turned generally warm and dry until late October. Harvest dates were later than usual due to the late bloom, but full maturity was obtained on all varieties save for Petit Verdot. Brix levels were mid-20s on some varietals.
Despite extensive shoot and crop thinning, yields were high, and in some cases higher than desired. Sugar and flavor intensity levels were also high with more complexity shown in the wines than in 2007. Overall, in this winegrower's opinion, 2008 might be the best vintage yet for Kinkead Ridge. Stars for 2008 include the White Revelation (to be released Memorial Day weekend 2009) and the Cabernet Sauvignon (releasing Labor Day weekend 2010). See above for a description of the past vintages.
Ron Barrett, Winegrower
 

Click here to request a copy of our retail outlets. There are two wine stores in Cincinnati that can ship within Ohio or out-of-state.

If you can't find our wines, please have your  local wine store call us at 937-392-6077, and we can arrange a delivery to them for your convenience. We do use natural cork, the best quality we can buy. But cork is a natural product, subject to failure. If you purchase a bottle of our wine that you believe is corked, please return the bottle, cork and contents to us or the wine store. We will arrange for a replacement or refund.

For information about older vintages, please check the "Earlier Vintages" link above. Some of these wines may still be available in wine stores and restaurants throughout Ohio.

A quote from Loren Sonkin on Mark Squire's bulletin board, regarding the
2008 Ohio/Michigan Wine Challenge:
"The final group was miscellaneous reds. The group’s favorites mirrored mine for this flight. They were the 2006 Kinkead Ridge Revelation Red, the 2006 River Village Syrah, the 2005 South River Karma, and the 2006 Fenn Valley Cabernet Franc. All of these are $15 or less. Mine, and the groups’ favorite came from Kinkead Ridge.
They are an Ohio Valley winery just east of Cincinnati and
in my opinion making the best red wines in Ohio.
I would easily spend the $15 on the Revelation
 or around $20 for the Cabernet Sauvignon (which was not in the tasting)."

Click here for a one page summary of our 2009 releases
 
Click here for a one page summary of our 2008 releases

Click here for a one page summary of our 2007 releases
 

Released in May 2008, the 2007 white wine impacted by the frost sold out in two weeks. Released in May 2007, the 2006 white wine sold out in 3 months; released in September 2007, the 2005 Petit Verdot sold out in two weeks; the 2005 Syrah, Cabernet Franc sold out in April.  We enter several wine competitions a year, and we are approaching the point where the wines are sold out before medals are awarded! So it's great to acquire our wines before that happens.