The Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 2018 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Petite Sirah sourced from a vineyard in the Lodi AVA of California’s Central Valley. This is a brand of wine from Thomas Allen Wine Estates (Lodi). They produce over 1,000,000 cases (12,000,000 bottles) for well-known brands.
This brand is sold at Costco stores for $11.99, though it has sold there on-sale for 5 or 6 bucks. A quick check of the web showed this wine selling at retail wine shops in states that do not allow Costco to sell alcohol for $20. Their website says, “Today, we ambitiously produce, easy-to-drink wines that hold up against those twice their price”.
A Field Blend is an old, think 100 years ago, way of creating a Red wine blend by planting grape varietals together in one section of a vineyard. They choose grapes that should ripen at the same time. When it comes time to harvest they try to judge when all the grapes are at or near their peak. They pick the different grapes together and crush and ferment the grapes in the same container.
Each year brings different yields to the grapes and the grapes also ripen at a different pace than the previous year. Mother Nature determines the proportion of the blend with every vintage. It is a style of winemaking that is seldom practiced. Winemakers like to control the process and Field Blends leave a great deal to chance.
The Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 2018 may be more of a homage to the Field Blends of the past since the technical notes mention blending the wine before aging on oak. A Field Blend is pre-blended in the vineyard and fermented all at once. The tech notes are rather sparse and mirrored the details with the other Red wines in the line that was not Field Blends.
The Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 2018 has a good deal of aging, a 2018 vintage selling in 2022. A wine that is aged for a long time is aged for a reason. A typical $10 Red wine has less grapes extraction of tannins and chemicals, and a shorter oak aging period. They are produced in a bright fruit-forward style that comes together quickly so the wine is ready for sale sooner.
Wine with more aging has greater grape extraction and a more intense oak program (10 months with the Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 20180. The more tannins and oak in the wine, the longer the wine takes to find its balance. The longer time should also provide a wine with more complexity and depth. The alcohol content is 13.9%.
The Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 2018 Tasting Notes
The color is dark, but see-thru strawberry jam red, The nose is strawberry jam, blackberry, back pepper, soft spice, light herbs, vanilla, and a savory note. The Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 2018 is smooth on the palate with rich, subtle flavors.
This Red Blend tastes like blackberry, spice, dark chocolate, toasty vanilla, and ripe plum. The mid-palate shows tart cherry, sour cranberry, dried strawberry pieces, and faint black coffee. This blend has excellent structure and balanced acidity. This is one of those wines where the flavors change with each sip.
The Summary
- The Hook Or Crook Cellars Field Blend 2018 is an exceptionally tasty, well-priced Red Blend.
- I do not care if the wine was blended by Mother Nature in the vineyard or by the winemaker in the winery, it tastes good and the price is more than right.
- This wine was received as a sample, we don’t usually do samples. But it looked like something we actually wanted to drink.
