1984

May 10, 2018

Albariño 2017

(Carneros, CA) $28

The famous George Orwell novel aside, 1984 is also the brand created by Doug Shafer (president of Shafer, Napa Valley) and Elias Fernadez (Shafer’s winemaker). Albariño is about as far from cabernet as a variety can get, but the partners have made a lovely, long white with a rich texture and loads of personality.

What wine region boasts the oldest cabernet sauvignon
vines in the world?

A. The Graves region of Bordeaux

B. The Ribera del Duero region of central Spain

C. The Barossa Valley of South Australia

D. The Livermore Valley, east of San Francisco

C.

Cabernet vines planted in 1888 in the Barossa Valley of Australia are thought to be the oldest in the world. The vines are part of Penfold’s famous 10-acre “Block 42” parcel within the Kalimna Vineyard. Grenache and shiraz (syrah) vines that are more than 100 years old are also commonly found in Australia. Amazingly many of these oldsters are on their own roots (not grafted onto American rootstock), since Australia was not crippled by phylloxera, the root-eating insect that between 1860 and 2000 destroyed vineyards in most other parts of the world.

“In north Africa, Spain and Portugal, [cork] forests are the last firewall to complete desertification.”

—Patrick Spencer, Founder, Cork Forest Conservation Alliance

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