O’Shaughnessy wines are outrageous

Amanda Schark , an extremely knowledgeable and agreeable wine representative who works for Charles River Wines, alerted me she would be pouring some special wines at Spirited Wines in Lenox at its weekly, complimentary Saturday tasting.

I told Amanda I have heard about O’Shaughnessy wines from peers, but, have not had the opportunity to sample any of the well-known Cabernet Sauvignon blends.

The reality is simple: the O’Shaughnessy Winery sells out of most vintages and rarely needs to promote their wines. Due to a loyal customer base, which includes high-end restaurants and collectors, few wine shops carry a large variety of O’Shaughnessy wines. They are collectables.

After sampling a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon with Amanda, I can easily understand why the world has gone wild for the entire O’Shaughnessy portfolio. I wanted more.

Amanda said Luke Russ, O’Shaughnessy’s worldwide sales and brand manager, would pour other vintages at the Newport Mansions Wine and Food Festival. That put a big smile on my face, as I attend the festival yearly (see my past Berkshire Beacon articles).

Fast-forward to the Newport Mansions Wine and Food Festival: I meet Luke Russ and explain my mission, since sampling the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon with Amanda, was to sample as many vintages that exist.

Luke explained the history of O’Shaughnessy to me. He said Betty O’Shaughnessy, originally from Minneapolis, was a cooking professional with a passion for wine. Betty somehow landed in Oakville, Calif., fell in love with the land, bought a home with a vineyard and started her Napa wine career in 1990.

As time passed, Betty acquired more land (Howell Mountain and Mount Vedeer) so she could produce a variety of grapes that would lead her to her goal, which was to produce a world-class mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.

O’Shaughnessy Winery was now a reality. A cave, a wine facility and a large enough variety of grapes to work was met with approval by O’Shaughnessy’s first and only winemaker, Sean Capiaux. Luke asked me if I wanted to meet Betty O’Shaughnessy and Sean Capiaux and taste all of the vintages (2001-2010) that O’Shaughnessy has produced.

I answered with a positive, “Yes, that is my California wine dream.”

Luke said that he would make it a reality. But, not today. Luke was planning an “O’Shaughnessy Winery Thank You Tour” featuring every vintage that has been released.

Both Betty O’Shaughnessy and winemaker Sean Capiaux would lead the selected ‘chosen’ attendees on a vertical tasting. The attendees would be the retail stores staff and owners who have supported their wines throughout the years. Luke mapped out the plan and said he will see me in December.

I received my invite to attend the vertical tasting at Corkbuzz in Manhattan. The months passed slowly and the day finally approached.

I was the first to walk into Corkbuzz and was immediately greeted with a glass of sparkling wine. It was eleven in the morning and I was drinking sparkling wine. It was a tease. All I wanted was O’Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon.

After eating a few appetizers that paired perfectly with the bubbly, the real O’Shaughnessy Thank You Wine Tour began. Luke introduced Betty, who introduced Sean. Sean led us (less than 15 participants) into oblivion by sampling the vertical Cabernet Sauvignons from 2001 to 2010 vintage.

To comment on perfection in wine is impossible. Purchase any vintage of O’Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon and your California wine dream will begin, like mine did.

And it will never end!

Posted by Phillip Kampe on December 13, 2012. Filed under Columns,Food,Opinion,Wine and Beyond. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry