Roberst Sinskey makes several different wines.  The 1999 "Vineyard Reserve" is a Bordeaux style blend of 52% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Cabernet Franc.  The wine takes its inspiration from St. Emilion.  The wine has a saturated dark purple color.  The nose is dominated by dark fruit, a hint of smoke, and a touch of mint.  On the palate, the wine has a lot of tannin for a 50% merlot blend.  The tannins softened after 30 minutes of air time.  There is also a lot of fruit in this wine, so even without breathing, the tannins were by no means overpowering.  The finish was of moderate length, and fairly smooth.  A thoroughly enjoyable wine.  If you like right bank Bordeaux, you will probably like this wine.  The fruit here is a little more robust than "real St. Emilions" , although the St. Emilions tend to have a more complex bouquet.

The wine is a current release, and is available at retail outlets, as well as through the Sinskey winery website.  Retail price for this wine is $36, which is a good deal for the quality.  I had the wine with dinner at Dobson's Restaurant in downtown San Diego, and paid about 60 dollars.  The wine was enjoyed with a venison chop, a nice chunk of sourdough bread,  and a hot bowl of cioppino.  The comination worked very well.  Dobson's is a clubby type restaurant, with a fairly nice wine list.  The wine list is not huge, but large enough to satisy most tastes (about 80 bottles).   There are several good choices for each grape varietal.  Prices reflect standard restaurant mark-up, but are not outrageous as is the case with so many places these days.  The restaurant's forte is red meat, but they also have several pasta and seafood entrees, and a long appetizer list.  The restaurant is a popular jaunt for the down-town office crowd.  The restaurant has been around for over 20 years, and is on the periphery of the Gaslamp.  It has survived the fickle trends of the restaurant business by consistently delivering good food in a nice atmosphere.

I gave this wine a solid 3.5 star rating.  My guest revewer for this wine, my brother Laith, gave it 3 stars before it had a chance to breathe, and 3.5 stars after 30 minutes of breathing.  The wine will probably improve with further time in the bottle.

 

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