This wine has aromas of raspberry jam, white peppercorns, cherries and cranberries with a palate of strawberries and spice. It looks light and delicate but then it packs an earthy finish. Think Nebbiolo, or if someone blended an old Zin with a Châteauneuf-du-Pap. Feels age worthy and fresh at the same time.
In our tasting notes, someone mentioned that this feels like a discovery, and I think that is one the greatest and truest compliments to this wine.
This wine was whole berry fermented with native yeasts and aged in neutral French oak for 16 months.
105 cases produced.
2018 Kobza Mourtaou
$24.00
Cabernet Pfeffer is grown in San Benito County, CA and nowhere else in the world. In France it’s known as Mourtaou/Mancin, an old variety from Bordeaux, which was brought to California by a botanist in the 19th century before it was be wiped out by phylloxera in its native vineyards. There are less than 15 known acres of it in the world. There was a story that it was named Pfeffer for its peppery qualities, and there is a story that it may be named for the man who sold the cuttings to vineyards Cienega Valley, though there is no record of him actually coming this far (his nursery was in Saratoga).
All the acreage was planted at around the same time, in the 1920’s, at four vineyards currently names Enz, Wirz, Gemelli and DeRose.
Pfeffer has received a lot of attention lately, and Gemelli and Enz are both banking on the renewed interest by planting more. Prices are on the rise. You can read more about the history and the hipness here or here.