What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Wine Pick - Can Tuscany rival Bordeaux You can imagine my pleasure in receiving a sample of the 2011 Arcanum so I could taste this wine in a more relaxed, non-blind setting. This 2011 blend is made up of 77% Cabernet Franc, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petite Verdot and aged in new French oak for a year. Though the 14.% abv was comparable to Bordeaux, as was the concentration and nuances of new French oak, the wine seemed like a warmer climate than Bordeaux and the voluptuous nature of very ripe Cabernet Franc. The wine is black and dense with an aroma of black fruit, prune, spice, leather and black olive aromas.

What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of cherry, plum, and green herbs. In the mouth, gorgeously plummy flavors have a wonderful brightness and a gorgeous floral overtone of violets above a dark cherry and cocoa powder core of fruit. Thick, powdery tannins muscle in for some attention as the wine soars through the finish. The oak hangs nicely in the background letting the fruit and earth do its thing. A blend of 68% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9.5.

What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Following up on my last column, we had covered four wines from our tasting at the Spire Collection. Here are the final five we enjoyed. Ryan Hughes then presented a great opportunity to compare and contrast. He poured us the 2014 Anakota Dakota Vineyard and the 2014 Anakota Montana Vineyard side-by-side. Both vineyards are in Knights Valley. Dakota runs southeast to northwest; Montana is northeast to southwest. Robert Parker preferred the Dakota to the Montana, rating them 98 and 93, respectively. I agreed with his assessment while Terry flip-flopped on the two. I got eucalyptus and berry on the nose, finding some tasty tannins that need a lot of air time to make it approachable. The Montana, for me, featured heavy tannins that will take considerable cellar time to dissipate. As is to be expected, my bride disagreed with me. She found the Montana smoother and less tannic. We concurred that both wines had blackberry and black fruit on both the nose and the palate. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the strong tannic presence in both wines. Pierre Seillan, Anakota’s winemaker, also crafts one of Spire’s crown jewels, Verite. I’ve always found hulking tannins in Verite that do mellow after 10 years, akin to fine Barolos, some of which need 30 years before they are drinkable.

Following up on my last column, we had covered four wines from our tasting at the Spire Collection. Here are the final five we enjoyed. Ryan Hughes then presented a great opportunity to compare and contrast. He poured us the 2014 Anakota Dakota Vineyard and the 2014 Anakota Montana Vineyard side-by-side. Both vineyards are in Knights Valley. Dakota runs southeast to northwest; Montana is northeast to southwest. Robert Parker preferred the Dakota to the Montana, rating them 98 and 93, respectively. I agreed with his assessment while Terry flip-flopped on the two. I got eucalyptus and berry on the nose, finding some tasty tannins that need a lot of air time to make it approachable. The Montana, for me, featured heavy tannins that will take considerable cellar time to dissipate. As is to be expected, my bride disagreed with me. She found the Montana smoother and less tannic. We concurred that both wines had blackberry and black fruit on both the nose and the palate. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the strong tannic presence in both wines. Pierre Seillan, Anakota’s winemaker, also crafts one of Spire’s crown jewels, Verite. I’ve always found hulking tannins in Verite that do mellow after 10 years, akin to fine Barolos, some of which need 30 years before they are drinkable.

Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of rich black cherries, cassis, and blueberries. In the mouth black cherry, cassis, and blueberry flavors have a slight herbal note as they are wrapped in powdery, fine grained tannins. Good acidity and length.

Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of black cherry and tobacco, with cassis and cola overtones. In the mouth powdery, chalky tannins wrap around a core of black cherry and tobacco tinged with earthy savoriness. Good acidity and length.

Very ripe black fruit, oaky, elegant, very sappy, smoky note, dense on the palate, velvety, very good potential, zesty finish.

Very rocky volcanic, dry soil; a warm site that ripens grapes into a plush, exotically perfumed cabernet.

A cool site with clay-laden volcanic soils; picked later than Montana, so more depth, more punch; dense, packed, powerful, many-layered.

An indigo-dark, velvet-soft red, this Cabernet Sauvignon broods with dark chocolate and espresso that bespeak its mountain terroir.

Next up was the Alcance Carmenère 2014. Sánchez started by questioning how the grape could have been confused with Merlot in Chile for so long. His own experience has shown how very different the two grapes actually are from both the appearance of the leaves and the grapes and even more telling the difference in the ripening schedule. He mentioned that the Merlot is typically harvested in mid to late March while the Carmenère is picked in the middle of May, over a month and a half difference. He discussed how he finds the grape somewhat difficult to work with as picking too early can create a wine with heavy green notes and despite his best efforts it can also have a bit of a hollow feeling mid-palate that requires an added bit of Cabernet Sauvignon for more substance. I found the wine to be nicely spicy with no green notes, primarily aromas and flavors of ripe blackberries with a black pepper note through the lengthy finish. This wine was also sourced from the El Maitén Estate Vineyard.

The Chilean Wine Revolution Expands Black cherry, black berry, blueberry, abundance of spice, cocoa, no green notes; elegant on palate, crushed velvet mouth-feel, long finish.

2014 Alcance Gran Reserva Carmenère – harvested from 20-year vines and notes of herbs, spice, black fruit and a great acidity. Old Vines Carmenère – how fun!

Final 2017 Update: The top 30 That Turned My Head in this Tasting In honor of Carménère Day, I was sent several bottles to explore the differences of this unique grape. Carménère is a red wine that originated in Bordeaux, France, and now grows almost only in Chile. The grape was actually once thought to be Merlot when it was first transported into Chile. My two favorites were: 2014 Alcance Carménère – this wine was incredibly smooth with lots of red and black fruit, exotic spice, mocha and minerality.

11 wines introduce you to Chilean carmenere's inky charms Blackberry and other dark fruits were joined by vanilla, cedar, smoke and spice in this 90/10 carmenere/cabernet sauvignon blend from the Maule Valley.

Our next pour was the Alcance Merlot 2015 from the El Maitén vineyard in the Valle del Maule. This vineyard area lies west of Talca, the region's largest city. Sánchez stated that this growing area has clay-rich soils that Merlot loves. The wine itself is gently treated with only 10% seeing 18 months in new French Oak resulting in a lighter, fresher style of Merlot bursting with dark plum character with a soft, lush finish. As we tasted, burrata with grilled peppers, eggplant, olives, and tomatoes on pesto with pita bread arrived to the table.

The Best Merlot Wine To Enjoy Now: MerlotMe Another fabulous Chilean Merlot I recently had the pleasure of tasting was The Alcance Grand Merlot from Alcance Wines. This was very delicious Merlot with bold rich flavors I loved, extremely smooth and silky in texture which was beautiful. I also tasted through quite a bit of the Alcance Wines and enjoyed them all. So if you’re looking for something outside of California check out Alcance Wines and be sure to taste this incredible Merlot.

Hint of oak, aromas and flavors of black cherries and mocha, full body, ripe tannins, smooth finish.

The Chilean Wine Revolution Expands Fresh picked violets, black cherry, black berry, plum, baking spice, dusty cocoa; fresh palate, light with nice lift, round, elegant, feminine.

2014 Alcance Gran Reserva Merlot – sourced from 16-year-old vines with notes of chocolate, spice, plum, dark fruit and earthy notes.