Two weeks ago I enjoyed a bottle of the new B.R. Cohn wine that is kosher, from the 2013 vintage. This is the winery’s third incarnation, and while it does not hit the 2008 monster of a wine, the 2013 is really nice and far better than the 2011 vintage (which to be fair was a very tough year to make wine). The wine is still from the same region and vineyard as the last 2 vintages, which were from the 2008 and 2011 vintages.

I spoke before about the BR Cohn brand and how they made the wine. The first vintage was from 2008 and that was a killer wine. The wine was truly elegant and rich at the same time. On top of that, the price was truly reasonable, at 28 or so dollars. However, for this vintage, and the past one in 2011, they have essentially doubled the price and are now charging some 50+ dollars for the wine, unless you are part of their wine club, which is not kosher. In the end, this vintage in my opinion may be worth the 50 dollars – if you are willing to give it the time, but it is still not at par with the 2008 vintage. An interesting fact about this wine, is that it has never been mevushal, even though it is made in the Herzog Winery where mevushal wines are a way of life. My guess is that they think this wine is more of an oenophile wine and that the mevushal moniker carries with it a nasty stereotype.

The wine note follows below:

2013 B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon, Trestle Glen Estate Vineyard – Score: A-
This is a classic licorice laced Cabernet, that tastes very akin to the Herzog Alexander Valley Cabernet, which makes sense as they are both sourcing their grapes from Sonoma County. This wine shows deep black and red fruit, balanced well with nice tannins and good acid. This is the third incarnation of the BR Cohn Kosher Cabernet Sauvignon and as in the previous bottlings, this wine is NOT mevushal. This one reminds me much more of the 2008 vintage than the 2011 vintage, which make sense given the hard year that 2011 was for Northern California Cabernet.

The nose on this dark purple colored wine is rich with notes of blackberry, cassis, dark plum, rich licorice, roasted herb, sweet oak, and dark cherry. The wine is truly muted and bottle shocked at this point and it needs a few hours of decanting to start to show its true colors. I would not drink this wine now, I would let it lie for at least 6 months and then start to taste one a year until you run out.

The mouth on this medium bodied wine is layered and rich with soft yet unrelenting mouth coating tannins, followed by rich black fruit, blackcurrant, nice earth, loamy dirt, along with mounds of mint, herb, and good balancing acid. The finish is long and green with nice leather, leafy tobacco, dark chocolate, and more mint on a long and earthy finish. Nice!