2007 Carter Cabernet Sauvignon Hossfeld Coliseum
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
(a merlot-based wine from a rocky site in Soda Canyon Bright, full ruby. Scented nose offers black raspberry and licorice, with some suggestions of superripe fruit. A sweet, fat, dark berry fruit bomb on the palate, with a strong component of oak (90% new, all French). Turns a bit tough on the finish, with clenched tannins calling for several years of patience. (My early look at the blended 2008 version of this wine turned up another fruit bomb, but this one with good floral lift and distinctly sweeter tannins than the '07.)
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The stunning, opaque purple-colored 2007 Hossfeld Coliseum Proprietary Red offers up notes of gun flint, blueberries, blackberries, and subtle toast from French oak, a rich, full-bodied mouthfeel, sweet tannin, and a long, heady finish. Enjoy this lovely red over the next 15+ years. Carter Cellars is a relatively new operation (it began in the late 1990s) run by Mark Carter and Nils Venge. The wines are made at Venge’s Saddleback Cellars in Oakville with some assistance from Fred Schrader. They have some interesting vineyard sources, including the Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, the Truchard Vineyard in Carneros, the Revilo Vineyard in St. Helena, and the Coliseum Block in Soda Canyon. Tel. (707) 445-0311; Fax (707) 444-8067