The 2008 CV is another example of a fine performance in a somewhat inconsistent vintage. It is an outstanding 2008 – one of the wines of the vintage. It will be a sleeper no one picks on paper, but it seems awfully fine to me and I’d still give it the nod over the more obvious 2007. With time, in fact, this 2008 has fleshed out. It shows more depth and fullness than it originally seemed to display, along with the beautiful structure it originally displayed. It is nice that it is a full point in alcohol less than the 2007, too. What makes this a bit different in general is its earthiness. It has less of the sweet fruit, more steel and earth, all of which gave it more character and complexity early on. You can drink this now, but as with the 2007, I would suggest waiting another couple of years for better results. For what it is worth, in this vertical this is the one I saved to see how it would work with lunch. Drink now-2030.
As its first vintage hits age 10, it is nice to present a CV vertical, comprised of seven vintages of the winery’s small production, old vines (80+ years) field blend. According to then winemaker Sandra Tavares da Silva (of Chocapalha and Wine & Soul), speaking to me when I saw the 2003 debut vintage, it was named “CV” because it was the type of wine a winemaker would want on a Curriculum Vitae. The 2010, the current release, is not included here because it was just recently reviewed in Issue 204, December, 2012: http://bit.ly/XVDTG6. To be sure, it is a bit compact and not as big as some of the others. It does not have quite as much “wow” factor. It is wonderfully refined, however, far more graceful and simply a pleasure to drink. It is a sleeper in a modest vintage. In that regard, one theme here is that CV is often an excellent and reliable performer in modest vintages, something of an overachiever, while it can sometimes seem a bit unwieldy and subject to alcohol spikes in more monumental ones. Perhaps its tendency to be big and deep – it is typically the biggest wine in the van Zeller stable – helps it in small years, while creating risks in bigger ones. Finally, these library wines here may not be available or if available may be subject to price increases. The price noted merely indicates the price of current releases.
(WA 23rd Dec 2010)
