Chocolate and Cabernet Sauvignon

For all of you Cabernet Sauvignon fans who keep asking us if we have a Cabernet...the answer is a resounding YES!

This Valentine's Day Weekend marks the first release of our 2007 3 Horse Ranch Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
Silky tannins and lush blackberry flavors express the finest characteristics of this famous variety. Showcasing perfectly ripe fruit in the mid-palate, deep ruby color and a long lingering finish, this wine is an excellent example of Idaho fruit. Great balance and structure create a multi-layered wine with rich spicy highlights and a remarkable soft finish.

So, bring your Valentine, or your best wine buddy, and come out to to 3 Horse Ranch Vineyards this weekend and sample some really luscious Cabernet, paired with a beautiful milk chocolate or dark chocolate truffle from Lee's Candies of Boise.

The 3 Horse Ranch Vineyards Tasting Room is open Thursday through Sunday 11:00am to 6:00pm. To Life!

2008 Estate Syrah

We went to taste our 2008 red wines and 2009 white wines with our winemaker, Greg Koenigon Tuesday Jan. 5th.

We went through an entire flight of wines, 11 in all, beginning with the new Pinot Gris and finishing with the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. (Note to self, these new wines are going to be fabulous, and they are all going to sell out, again.)

Two wines I was very interested in tasting were the 2008 Estate grown Syrah clones. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the 2008 Estate Syrah wine will consist of two clones of syrah; Tablas Creek and Joseph Phelps, planted in separate blocks. The grapes from each block of vines were farmed and harvested individually. The grapes were crushed, fermented and barrel aged separately. Our job on Tuesday was to decide whether or not to bottle the resulting wine separately or as a blending of the two wines. We viewed, swirled, sipped and sloshed each wine as a stand alone and then tasted them blended together. For further interest, we added approximately 18% of our 2008 Estate grown Mourvedre to the mix. This blending results in a classic Northern Rhone valley Syrah. The sum is far greater than the parts....the blend of the two Syrah clones with the Mourvedre is fantastic.


If you are a Syrah lover, be sure to call us now to reserve a case of the 3 Horse Ranch Vineyards 2008 Estate Syrah. This wine will be available for release in the late spring or early summer of 2010.

3 Horse Ranch Vineyards in November

A beautiful fall vineyard photo. AmyUkalichick Amy Stewart-Cooper.