Let’s explore together the backstory, the taste, the food pairings and aging potential of this wine you received as part of your Bonner Private wine selection of domestic US wines. Learn more about our wine club:
Video Content (transcription):
Hello bonjour, and welcome to your Bonner Private wine Video, I’m your host Julien and here we’re talking about a pretty special wine that I personally adore, I was very impressed by it, as this is a rare Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Barbara County, a wine you’ve received as part of your domestic US wine selection, 6 wines we’ve cherry-picked for you throughout the best vineyard areas of the West Coast. Here we’ll discuss what is the backstory of this wine, what you should expect from it in terms of style, my tasting note’s highlights, food pairing suggestions and when to drink it. Let’s go.
Let’s start with the name of this Cabernet, La Bomba, which obviously means The Bomb in Spanish, and indeed explosive it is. Although it’s really not only that, it’s not just a huge massive explosive wine as we’ll discuss in a minute. Let’s talk about the maker of the wine first. Martelotto winery is the baby of one man, Greg Martelotto, who started making wine in 17th century house in Southern Italy, and his winemaking career has lead him to work not only in Italy but also Mexico, Napa Valley, Paso Robles, and Santa Barbara. A skillful winemaker Greg is, who likes to make wine of character, with a distinctive vibrant acidity, using the art of blending to achieve more complexity and balance in his wine, and obtain wines as he says that feature a ‘hard to pinpoint X factor’. Martellotto wines are allocated, bottle numbered, and vineyard designated wines, exclusive wines that we’re lucky to have been able to source.
In two sentences, this is how Greg describes this wine: “Blending is key to creating the “La Bomba” Martellotto Cabernet which is fruit focused with balanced oak, integrated tannins, and moderate alcohol. The grapes were fermented in small lots and barreled down for fourteen months.” And I’ll let Greg tell you directly what is so special about where this cabernet comes from.
Fascinating story, right? It’s not usual to be surprised by a Cabernet from California anymore, but this one is really quite something…
Have a look at the video I made about the other Cabernet from Napa that you have in your selection. It is a very dense and rich Cabernet. When you’ll taste Peju, you will probably think that the Peju Cabernet is concentrated (which it is), but try ‘La Bomba’ and you’ll find out that this one appears even denser with a nearly-black and opaque color to the core of your tasting glass. The aromatic expression of Cabernet Sauvignon here is spicy, minty, and peppery. The typical blackcurrant notes to the nose are those of a basket of freshly picked berries just out of the bush. You can sense it’s made from perfectly ripe grapes, ripened under the sun of Santa Barbara County, yet it’s vibrant, it’s juicy. The palate confirms we are here with a rare enthusiastic and acidic expression of Cabernet. All the fruity goodness you expect from a superior red is here: the opulence and explosivity of the blackberry jam flavor, the generous notes of cherry jam, the depth of mixed sweet spices, augmented by the yummy complexity from hints of coffee and dark chocolate. It also comes with the terrific sensation you are biting into a handful of blueberries.
An exceptionally rare combination of outstanding California Cabernet ripeness, meld to the outstanding freshness brought into the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara by the overnight ocean fog. Outstanding!
I probably don’t need to develop much and tell you which food you should have with a dense Cabernet like this one with. As you’ll expect anything rich and tasty will go fantastically with La Bomba, I’m dreaming of Texas barbecue with it, I mean that would simply be phenomenal, so grilled meats, rich roasts, Italian and Mediterrean types of dishes why not, to honor the Italian heritage of Martelotto perhaps. I’m pretty sure Greg wouldn’t disagree.
As for ageing potential. This 2018 vintage is obviously a baby of wine. I personally like it now, and I think it’s ready to enjoy probably because of the skillful blend that already makes it smooth enough, and I love the vibrant berry fruit character as I described earlier that it has now. But with such acidity and concentration, this is a wine that will age well for 15-20 years so if you like ageing your wine, you like the fruitiness to be tamed down a little, and your wine to acquire more spices, more savoriness and depth over the years, this I would say is THE wine in this selection to put down a case of and have on hand for whenever you have something special to celebrate or you want to impress your friends with.
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