A friend, Sky King, brought this newly released cult wine (Sky King's words, not mine) over for Vinomaker and me to try last night. The 2006 Rocket Science, from Caldwell Vineyard, had great colour extraction, a high alcohol content (14.9%), heavy mouth feel, not a lot of tannins, an underripe red plum fruitiness and a burst of vanilla on the finish. Yes, being a 2006 it is young, but I think you can take its youthfulness out of the equation: this wine just seemed a little out of balance to me. Thankfully, this is not John Caldwell's (famous in these parts for his suitcase clones) primary label, other Caldwell wines I have tasted have been far more enjoyable. The name, Rocket Science, I am assuming is a tongue-in-cheek attempt at saying that winemaking is NOT rocket science. That's right, it's not. But it can get awfully complicated.Is Caldwell a cult wine? I personally don't buy into the whole cult wine fad. Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to partake in a blind tasting of wines commonly referred to as 'cult wines' - Bond, Harlan, Phelps, etc., all 2002 Cabernet Sauvignons. My favourite was a David Arthur Elevation 1147. I'm a bit of an 'emperors new clothes' type person, so I'm usually not easily influenced by the opinions of others. To me, the David Arthur was simply the best of the bunch because I was assessing it with my taste buds, nobody else's.
Rocket Science is great if you like a particular brand of humour paired with your wine. Admittedly, it was a rather nice quaffing wine once it opened up, albeit a little young right now. In the end, I was just left feeling sorry for the poor retailer who is trying to merchandise this wine, on it's side, in a bin. The angled sides of this bottle would make it rocket right out onto the floor, whoosh!
To quote Colin McPhail of Larkmead Vineyards, "Less cult, more cultivation". With that being said, I'm launching myself out into the vineyard.
