Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Right Coast Red
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor
As a general rule, I don’t like double entendre on wine labels. It gimmicky and usually only clever in a too-obvious or not-all-that-funny sort of way.
With the city skyline on the label, we are led to believe that the primary meaning of Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Right Coast Red ($30) relates to being made on the East Coast — right when looking at a map — versus on the West Coast, which would be Left Coast.
Given my drive to drink locally, I tend to prefer the other meaning — the meaning that seems to imply an incorrectness with the other (left) coast.
Creative proprietary names matter very little to me if the wine inside isn’t any good though. Great packaging — which this wine has, including a bright red screwcap — can’t make up for terrible wine inside the bottle.
Gladly, this isn’t a terrible wine. Not at all. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
This red qualifies as a “Bordeaux-style blend” because it’s made of merlot (45%), cabernet sauvignon (20%), cabernet franc (20%), malbec (12%) and petit verdot (3%) and I think the more important story here is the power of blending in a cooler or “lesser” vintage like 2008.
A melange of aromas, including plum, red raspberry, cassis, black pepper, lavender and violets, come together on a pretty, intriguing nose. It signals a cool vintage, but it doesn’t lack ripeness.
Juicy on the palate, it’s fruity at first — mostly plum, black berry and cherry — before more of that spicy pepper character emerges on the mid-palate with the faintest dried herb quality on the finish. Medium bodied, with medium-light tannins but subtlety fresh acidity, it’s well balanced and is the kind of wine that will remind you what Long Island reds can be in more “normal” years after a day of tasting 2007s.
I wish it were $20-25 but $30 isn’t completely out of line for the quality.
Producer: Lieb Family Cellars
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
ABV: 13.3%
Price: $30*
Rating: 86
Lenn:
Me (and my brother) will have to repsectfully disagree with your assessment on this one. We actually were not very thrilled with the Right Coast Red (especially given the price point). I’ll take the McCall Pinot Noir @ $24 over this. We love Lieb and this is one of their few misses.
Mike, wouldn’t be much fun if we all agreed now, would it?
I just had a glass of the McCall 09 Pinot at Southfork Kitchen on Saturday…it was delicious (as was the 07). I really like what Russ is doing there.
I do tend to agree on the pricing here. There are better $30 (and under) Bordeaux blends.
Hi Mike,
I’m really pleased to hear that you and your brother love Lieb! Thanks for saying so. But I’m sorry to hear that you think we had a miss with the Right Coast Red. What was “missing” in your opinion? We love the wine and so do most people who try it.
Lenn,
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks. Don’t miss the entendre with the Right Bank too. And we really do agree that the quality is there for the price! I’m curious about your thoughts on the screwtop on this particular wine.
Cheers!
Raelinn Doty
Marketing Communications Director
Lieb Cellars
Raelinn: I don’t think it’s a great value at $30, but I tend to not write much about pricing.
As for the Stelvin — I think it’s fine. I’m not anti-screwcap by any means.
Lenn,
well you know I love to have fun with wine and most of our good customers get all the jokes. RIGHT COAST RED is not a double entendre, it’s a quadruple with a half-twist dis-”mouth”. I do however deny any implication of position re morality (right versus wrong) or politics (right vs left)… that is part of the art of wine, in the eye of the beholder.
More seriously, the world by and large does not expect consistent quality red wines for the NOFO let alone NY state, so why not tell them? which was our goal: ” you mean THIS is from NY? WOW, I can’t believe this is from NY!”.
The 2008 vintage was not the best for the North Fork, especially when bracketed by outstanding 2007 and 2010 vintages. But I wanted to show that a good producer can provide a safe harbor in lesser years. Re pricing, this is basically our ‘second growth” meritage blend, and priced substantially less that the local “first growth” reds. I do charge a premium for fun, jokes, slick packaging and entertainment, and still think think this is a pretty good bargain. It takes more effort and money to make a good wine in an off year than to be a rock star and offer a value in a great year. I look forward to the 2010 offering that will make believers out of an even broader audience.