Sonoma County’s Rodney Strong Vineyards has impressed me for a hot minute or two. I recently received a few of their Cabs, in concert with the news that the winery is continuing its annual sweepstakes this year with an environment-centric offering: $2,500 toward the purchase of an electric bike for 15 lucky winners of its 2024 drawing.
You have until May 31st to enter here to win 2,500 dollars towards an E-bike! This is one of their sustainability efforts, including solar panels, reducing barrel wash water by 80% and maintaining animal corridors in their vineyards.
But. WHAT. OF. THE. WINE???
I decided to explore the when a winery makes multiple skews of wine–in this case 30, 70, and 90 dollar Cabernet Sauvignons. What differentiates one from another? Is the 30 dollar bottle worth inferior to the 90 dollar one? Is the most pricy not worth that much in comparison? I thought it would be fun to taste the three in proximity to each other.
In retrospect, I should have had someone pour these for me blind, but hey, that gives me the excuse to repeat this experiment with other wines. So let’s go!
2020 Rodney Strong Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon The 30 dollar Cab, which spends 16 months in French oak, 20% new, is pleasant as can be and evocative of the variety–on the nose, I get those cushiony dark fruited notes of both red and black cassis, a subtle underscore of green peppercorn and violet, and that high abv (14.5) registers! On the palate, the tannins are pleasantly reserved, actually. And a lick of licorice comes through, along with a smidge of vanilla. It is ripe enough to point toward the new world but not crazily so. Very balanced. Not the most complex, but the composure and elegance are remarkable.
2018 Rodney Strong Symmetry Sonoma County Red Wine At 70 bucks, it is simply gorgeous, with a more complex makeup: it is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon/9% Petit Verdot/6% Malbec/4% Merlot/2% Cabernet Franc and spent 24 months in French oak, 75% new. It strikes that balance between being clearly a new world – it is ripe- but also not overly so; there is a good lick of earth to it. The nose brings out purple plum and red cassis, a bit of blackberry, some cedar and a hint of green pepper and dirt. The palate –wooeeeee, how about those sweet but drying tannins, that fresh acidity and more of the fruit mingling with the evidence of oak: vanilla bean and allspice. The alcohol is high (14.5%) but doesn’t knock you over. This wine does a magic trick where you take a sip, and the first half of its journey across your tongue is linear, and then it spreads across the palate like a river delta on the way to your throat. LET It LINGER! The longer you sip, the more nuance makes itself known.
So, the 70 to the 30? The biggest difference was intensity and complexity–of course, it helps that the Symmetry had some time to age, which is part of what adds to the price tag. Housing barrels of wine takes more real estate! You really can taste that it is an upgrade.
2019 Rodney Strong Rockaway Cabernet Sauvignon is 90 bucks, and spent 24 months in 100% new French oak, which it carries it amazingly! This one gets into a ton of juicy blackberry and red and black cassis with spicy riffs and earthy lilts. So very vibrant with acid alongside. I feel bad that I drank this so young, and at the same time, it is showing well! Major vanilla bean rips through the dark berry fruit. Quite impeccably balanced and very fresh, a swathe across the tongue of just-there berries and merriment. The tannins are evident but show deference to the rest of the body–they lend structure but call no attention to themselves unless you think to look for them.
So, the 90 v 70 v 30? All, quite excellent. The 90 just barely edged out the 70. With each level, l got a tiny bit more complexity. I’d say the 70 and 90 were neck in neck, but both clearly more complex than the thirty, but also the thrity was high quality.