Oakville, Lateral Kathryn Kennedy 2016
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S$9697
Vintage : 2016
Location : Oakville
Country: USA
Winemaker Notes
Very deep dark royal purple color. Classic Bordeaux style nose with tobacco leaf herb notes and dark brooding black berry aromas plus hints of cherry cream candies. Ideal amounts of subtle creamy oak barrel influences. Soft ripe plums, vanilla cream and loamy earth notes are complex and very inviting. Fresh but rich in the mouth (like so many wines of 2016), lithe and elegant mouth-feel leads to cranberry, minerals and dark cocoa flavors. Tannins are still youthful and acid balance portends well for cellar development; This is a bigger style of LATERAL to be enjoyed now and over a longer period of years.
Blend: 66% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc
About Winery
Inspiration for LATERAL’s blend came from tasting the Premier Crus of Bordeaux labels such as Chateau Chevel Blanc and Chateau Ausone.
Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the dominant grapes that make St. Emillion wine. Merlot gives the wine lush textures, richness and concentration with flavors of plums, blackberry, licorice, chocolate and black cherry. The Cabernet Franc adds aromatic qualities like flowers and spice as well as tannin and structure.
It’s really the interplay of the two grapes that originally caught my interest, they come together to fill each others void and create a harmony that’s has an approachability uncommon among clarets. A style so friendly and plush in fact, St Emillion has been described as “The Burgundy of Bordeaux”.
The interplay of these two grapes is what gives Lateral a complexity unlike most California blends.
Very deep dark royal purple color. Classic Bordeaux style nose with tobacco leaf herb notes and dark brooding black berry aromas plus hints of cherry cream candies. Ideal amounts of subtle creamy oak barrel influences. Soft ripe plums, vanilla cream and loamy earth notes are complex and very inviting. Fresh but rich in the mouth (like so many wines of 2016), lithe and elegant mouth-feel leads to cranberry, minerals and dark cocoa flavors. Tannins are still youthful and acid balance portends well for cellar development; This is a bigger style of LATERAL to be enjoyed now and over a longer period of years. 67% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc.
James Suckling
Outer quote mark Lots of ripe red-cherry and berry character, but also bright acidity that helps keep this rather sleek, in spite of the generous body. Slightly drying and tart finish. A blend based on 60 per cent Merlot. Inner quote mark (2/2019)