Coppola Claret Black Label 2010

Okay what the fuck is a Claret? According to a quick search, it is a style of winemaking from back when. It used to refer to light colored reds from the Bordeaux region, back when red wine used to be clearer or lighter, like a Rose, however eventually Bordeaux wines became darker. And now the term is a catch-all for dark red wines made in the Bordeaux style. So this a Claret-style Cabernet Sauvignon.

This is quite a smooth wine, very nice mouth feel, but perhaps more European than a California wine. I kept trying to "taste" it, and I just wasn't getting much. Like a lover that is clearly distracted. Do I have to do all the work?!?

I got fruit at the beginning but then I just got a flatness, a malaise.

To be honest, I haven't yet encountered a Coppola wine that I felt was rave worthy, or even revisit-worthy. I'd rather drink my "comfy-shoe-wine" Menage a Trois, because that shit is just FUN! My past Coppola experience is thus: I had whatevery Cab Sauv, a nasty Petite Sirah that no amount of decanting could make better, and a bland--I mean blend (a typo that became apropos). Now I'm sure this is "better" than a $7 blend but there is no heart in the wine. There is no emotion in it. I feel like I'm drinking a corpse, and not in a good Halloweeny way.

If you are a fan of Coppola, this is definitely one of the better wines, and I have seen it at Costco too. This bottle was a gift, though so I'm not sure of the price and I'm too lazy to google it, which would take about five seconds, but that is precisely how much I really don't give a shit about Coppola wines.

Bottom line: If you are a fan, this just might be your jammy jam. Otherwise, just imagine it being distilled through Francis Ford Coppola's neck hair (you're welcome for the visual).