Our Wine of the Week: BoaVentura de Caires Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Blue Label 2012

One of the most magical things about wine its its ability to evoke memories and transport you to times and places far away. So it is with this week’s Wine of the Week. Three and a half years ago, we were invited to the Livermore Valley Barrel Tasting Weekend. For two days in March 2018, we visited several wineries and tasted lots of wine. (You can read about our adventures in the two-part series here and here.) One of the wineries we discovered on day one was BoaVentura de Caires Winery, or simply BoaVentura Vineyards. BoaVentura specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon, and it shows. As we reported more than three years ago, their wines stack up against Napa Cabernets at more than 3X the price! The day of our visit, we purchased this week’s Wine of the Week, the BoaVentura de Caires Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Blue Label 2012.

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Does it surprise you that Livermore should produce such outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon? Well, it shouldn’t. During our research prior to our 2018 visit, we learned (and wrote) that Livermore Valley was instrumental in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon’s success. In fact, some 80% of Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in California can be traced back to clones developed at Concannon winery in Livermore in the 1960’s. And these clones can be traced back to the Concannon Mother Vine, imported from Château Margaux in Bordeaux, France, in 1893. So it makes sense that the wineries in the Livermore Valley would produce world class Cabernet Sauvignon. 

BoaVentura Vineyards was inspired by owner and winemaker Brett Caires’ grandfather, BoaVentura Baptiste de Caires, who had a passion for good wine. BoaVentura immigrated from the Portuguese island of Madeira in 1915, and settled in Oakland, California, not far from Livermore. Family meals always featured wine, and Brett soon developed his own passion. In 1999, he and wife Monique bought five acres of land in the Livermore Valley, and a dream became reality. 

The BoaVentura de Caires Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Blue Label 2012 is made from 100% estate fruit, all hand-picked by family and friends, as are the grapes for all of BoaVentura’s wines. BoaVentura produces five different Cabernet wines, color coded from Green Label to Maroon Label. The Blue Label is near the top of their lineup at number four. Don’t let that scare you, though. We paid just $59 for the 2012 vintage, and on their website, the price for the (sadly sold out) 2016 vintage is only $40! Not exactly daily drinker wine prices, but for a wine this good, we made an exception on a Tuesday night, to pair with our steak dinner.

Deep, opaque ruby color. On the nose Black cherry, black currant, and blackberry with hints of bell pepper and eucalyptus. On the palate, blackberry, black cherry, cassis, stewed plum, boysenberry, and blueberry, with vanilla and white pepper notes. Full body with smooth tannins and still-puckery acidity. Lively and fresh, drinking well now, yet with several more years of potential.

We are way overdue for another visit to the Livermore Valley. And though there are plenty of other wineries there that we haven’t yet visited, we’ll definitely be paying a return visit to BoaVentura de Caires Winery when we go.

What was your wine of the week?

Cheers!

• By Kent Reynolds and Robyn Raphael-Reynolds
• Photos by Robyn Raphael-Reynolds