Review: 2 Wines from the SommSelect Website, 2014

By Christopher Null | August 15, 2014 |

If you’ve ever seen the documentary Somm, you will remember Ian Cauble, the bright-eyed sommelier who seems like a shoo-in to pass the Master Sommelier test administered at the end of the film. I won’t spoil what happens in the movie, but fast forward to today, and Cauble has his own internet wine website, SommSelect. Essentially a spin on the “daily deal” website, SommSelect is focused on bringing limited-release, high-end, international wines to market at discount prices. You won’t find $5 bargain bins here, mind you. The two wines the company sent us to try out both hover around $40 retail (though pricing as they appeared on the SommSelect site during their original offer is not available).

I can’t comment on SommSelect’s service — though the website seems really straightforward and you get free shipping if you buy just two bottles — but I can talk about a couple of the wines the company recently had on offer. Thoughts follow.

2011 Clos du Mont-Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Unique – This southern Rhone wine drinks like a much more mature bottling than it is, rich with earth tones, raisiny/Port notes, and some chalkiness. Despite a somewhat harsh attack on the palate, a little too balsamic-meets-barnyard for my taste, the wine settles down as it gets some air, offering notes of blackberry jam and distinct notes of fruit-flavored tea. An intriguing combination of Old World and New World, though ultimately those barnyard notes are tough to shake. B / $47

2012 Chanin Wines Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard Santa Barbara – Surprisingly tart and lemony for a Chardonnay, only 15% of this wine is finished in new oak, the rest remaining in neutral oak barrels. Bright with fruit and grassy notes, it does open up as it warms (as Cauble’s tasting notes promise), revealing apricot notes, creme brulee, ginger, and a seductively mushroomy, earthy backbone. A- / $38

sommselect.com