2012 Keever Vineyards, Inspirado, Proprietary Red, Napa Valley.
The beautiful, seriously intense and richly flavored Keever Vineyards Inspirado red wine is a classic Bordeaux style Cabernet based wine in the same league as the Napa greats, like the Joseph Phelps Insignia and or Opus One, and since it is about half the price and made by the extremely talented Celia Welch, I’d highly recommend this Keever, it’s a rocking good California wine! A small vineyard near Yountville, sitting on the hillside with well drained rocky/loamy soils, makes Keever a gem to discover, with small production and a star winemaker, this is a label to follow, Keever has been around about 10 years now and each vintage seems to be getting better and better, and this 2012 Inspirado Red is one of the best of their impressive efforts to date, it has a mix of about 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 6% Malbec, a combo that is similar to what you’d find in Margaux or St. Estephe on the left bank of Bordeaux, and it’s a full bodied and powerful wine with a certain flair you often find in wines by Celia Welch, known for her own label Corra, as well as having made (making) legendary wines at Scarecrow as well as some classics at Staglin too, to name just a few! The 2012 Inspired delivers a seamless flow of dark fruits, floral tones and ripe tannins along with complexity and elegance, with loads of blackberry, creme de cassis, cedar, sweet tobacco leaf, graphite, hints of acacia flower, smoky vanilla/mocha and black licorice. Lengthy and thick on the palate, this blend doesn’t go over the top, it tastes of balanced wine with great mouth feel and expansion, but not heavy or porty. The Cabernet Sauvignon dominates here and if you are a Napa Cabernet lover, you’ll be wonderfully reward by this Keever Inspirado! This wine just gets better with air, opening up and intrigues with every sip, this is fabulous stuff, one of the best 2012 values out there with class, depth and lots of sex appeal, drink over the next 5 to 15 years, if this 2012 is this good, wow, I can’t wait for the 2013 and 2014 vintages!
($75 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
