Wine Tasting Notes
Five Rivers Wines.
Five Rivers Winery has been making wine since the 1979 vintage, when it sourced fruit from the Bien Nacido Hames Valley Vineyards. The name refers to the fiver rivers flowing through the Central Coast: the San Benito, Salinas, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez and Sisquoc Rivers. These rivers are at the heart of the major wine growing areas of the Central Coast. Focused on producing wines from all of the Central Coast, the winery itself and its estate vineyards are located in Paso Robles – the source of its Cabernet sauvignon. The label is one of two Central Coast wine brands owned by Louisville, Kentucky – based Brown-Forman, a 137 year old company employing nearly 4000 people worldwide and distributing over 35 brands of wines and spirits – including 10 California wine brands.
Much of the branding of the label, with emphasis on whimsy and the mystical, clearly appeals to the nurturing, feminine wine consumer. The personification of a spiritual force, “The Goddess”, who in many incarnations (“Earth”: Pinot noir, “Air”: Cabernet sauvignon, “Fire”: Merlot and “Water”: Chardonnay), inspires and guides the attuned winemaker certainly evoke softer, less technical notions of wine. Even the five rivers themselves are attributed spiritual forces: The Rivers of Truth, Time, Memory, Romance and Ceremony are mentioned, but remain vague and not clearly linked to specific rivers, their geography or history.
All this does not necessarily make Five Rivers a “chick wine”. Even those who see the Five Rivers branding as sleek packaging, may take interest in the fact that the wines are sourced from 100% organic sources. The 600-acre Fiver Rivers Ranch property in Paso Robles is certified organic and is located just north of the town of Paso Robles. Planted initially in 2201, to Cabernet sauvignon (160 acres), the vineyard was expanded in 2002 with 80 more acres of Cabernet sauvignon, 140 acres of Merlot, 60 acres of Syrah and an additional 20 acres of other, unspecified, specialty varieties. The first harvest from this ranch was in 2003. The pursuit of “being green” is realized in striving for energy efficiency at the winery facility and avoiding pesticides, and herbicides.
Santa Paula native, Steve Peck, is Head Winemaker at Five Rivers. The self-proclaimed former wild child and surfer was turned on to wine (and Pinot noir, in particular) when living in Santa Cruz. In addition to spending a lot of time surfing, Steve would help his uncle make wine. This led to him entering the U.C. Davis winemaking program in 1983 and graduating three years later. His first position after graduation was with Napa’s Joseph Phelps Vineyards. His focus in making the best wine is harvesting at the best time. While he spends a lot of time in the vineyard tasting the fruit, he delegates more in the cellar until it is time to blend. All Five Rivers wines are closed with synthetic closures.
2006 Five Rivers Pinot noir, Central Coast
2005 Five Rivers Chardonnay, Monterey County 88 Points
2005 Five Rivers Pinot grigio, Monterey County 87 Points
2005 Five Rivers Pinot noir, Central Coast 86 Points
2004 Five Rivers Cabernet sauvignon, Paso Robles 88 Points
2005 Five Rivers Merlot, Central Coast 88 Points
Search our wine reviews archive by: review date, vintage and winery.
Get the buzz:
-
Wine reviews
-
Great stories
-
Interviews
-
Wine education tools
-
New content every month
It's FREE!
Shop redwinebuzz.com:
Home | Contact Us | About Us | Feedback | Search | Tell a friend
Copyright © 2007 redwinebuzz.com All rights reserved.