AFV’s Hope receives 91 pts on Cork’d.com

We just received our first official review, unsolicited, on Cork’d.com for our Rhone style blend, Hope.

http://corkd.com/wine/view/111153

2007 Hope Aver Family Vineyards

91/100

2007 HOPE Aver Family Vineyards Rhone Style Blend, $35
Hope expresses the emotion that vineyard owners John and Carolyn Aver felt as they watched firefighters battling to save their vineyard from the Summit fire of 2008. “I hope our vineyard makes it!” Carolyn said to herself, as she watched, half filled with hope, half filled with disbelief, half filled with trepidation. Yes, she was filled beyond capacity with many conflicting emotions. The firefighters prevailed, so did the vineyard, and so did hope.
Hope is more than just a wishful emotion. As the label on this inspired Rhone blend intimates, “Hope is what lets us all fulfill our dreams.” It is also what also carries us to the next level of our consciousness, away from the things that drag us down. We could all use a little Hope in our lives. If you like Rhone blends, you will love, love, love this one. I guarantee it.
There is something wonderful about the way each of the Rhone varieties in this wine helps pull each other up to the next level in a way that precious few of them can achieve on their own. The beauty is in the blending of ideal parts of several beasts. The concept of a centaur becomes quite plausible when you taste this wine: the plush, aristocratic bluebloodedness of the Aver Petite Sirah (37%), mates with the beastly, gamey, marauding Mourvedre (10%), slips into the sophisticated silky mincemeat pieness of Syrah (36%), and gallivants straight into the garrulous, flirty and capricious Grenache (17%).
What a brilliant, gorgeously crafted beast this is, with fine saddle leather, pepper-glazed roast beef, dark Peets coffee with an extra shot of espresso, white pepper and fine-grained tannins, and a hint of roasted rosemary-encrusted lamb on the finish. Complex, delicious and refined, but with a subtle, seething-beneath-the-skin personality reminiscent of Harrison Ford or Gary Cooper, you’ll find yourself drawn to this beast, wanting to uncover more of its intriguingly layered secrets.
Silver medalist, 2010 SF Chronicle competition 

AFV’s Heritage receives 88 pts on Cork’d.com

http://corkd.com/wine/view/111299-2006-aver-family-heritage

2006 Aver Family Heritage

88/100

Named for the heritage of their particular vineyard, which was long-planted to Cabernet, this wine is dedicated by winegrowers John and Carolyn Aver to the memories of their fathers. What a nice memento to these men to whom they owe a good deal of their heritage! This Santa Clara Valley Cabernet is a wine that my own father would enjoy: its smooth, ripe cassis outer layer, with cherry-mocha and earthy overtones, wraps nicely around the satiny oak influence of the blackberry jelly filling. It reminds me of those Sunday morning donut runs my Dad would make before church. I loved the black raspberry jelly filled ones! This wine goes down as easily as those plump doughy morsels that oozed sticky remnants on little kid fingers, and that would often find their way onto car door window handles. The adult in you will appreciate the merry mix of currant, mocha, herb, anise and fresh earth, and the toasty oak finish will make your inner child smile.
Bronze medalist, 2010 San Francisco Chronicle competition