2009 Carl Roy Cabernet Sauvignon East Side Cuvee

Carl Roy is a production of Chad Alexander (I usually link to the winery, but this guy is under the radar, and he changes wineries/names faster than I can keep up with him.). As a reminder, Chad searches wineries for excess wine inventory, purchases the wine, and resells them under his label at a discount to the wineries’ prices. As part of his purchase, he agrees not to disclose the name of the winery that sold him the wine, but he can discuss location.

The 2009 Carl Roy Cabernet Sauvignon East Side Cuvee was a blend of wine from two sources, both in Napa Valley. The first source was Soda Canyon and the second was Howell Mountain. The wine’s ABV was 14.3%. I had a lot of difficult sourcing information on this wine.

This was another wine I found by way of Restaurant Nicholas. Given my hit or miss experience with their wines, I was unsure what to expect from Carl Roy. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

2007 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Reserva Unica

Sierra Cantabria is one of several wineries owned by the Eguren family in the Rioja district of Spain.

This specific winery produces only red wines. All of their wines, with the exception of Reserva Unica, are 100% Tempranillo.

I have had many of the Sierra Cantabria line over the years, the Crianza, the Reserva, the Gran Reserva, but I had never seen the Reserva Unica.

I came across it at Wine Sellers, a local beverage store. Intrigued by the fact I had never seen, nor sampled, this product from the brand, I decided to give it a try.

I was glad I did.