Enjoyed a beautiful day exploring Temecula wineries at the 2019 Annual Temecula Winery Barrel tasting event. Our first stop – Chapin Winery. We were welcomed by the owner/winemaker Steve Chapin who talked about the wineries history. They started making wine in 2004 and opened the winery in 2012. They do no hand harvest their grapes. The vineyards philosophy is “Respect the wine culture, and making the wine.”
We barrel tasted their 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon which is aged in 100% new French oak intense charred with extra staves. We found this Cabernet Sauvignon to have flavors of vanilla, light fruit, not jammy and very toasty. We were pleasantly surprised how drinkable this was now and know it will continue to get better after it is bottled and aged.
They also had a 2016 Aglianico wine we liked very much. This is a black grape, one of Italy’s three oldest grape varieties, that is known for its strikingly savory flavors and rustic, earth driven wines. This is such a great wine and is available right here locally in Temecula! We give this wine 4 glasses!