Eagle's Select - 2008

The wine cellar is place of hope and dark deception. Dark, infinitely dark. There are no cobwebs because the structure is too deep to support even a spider’s appetite, this space built between earthen walls that reek of clay and dampness. Shhhhhh. Quiet. Alone in inky darkness. The bright, happy commerce of the tasting room doesn’t make it down here. The noise of the loading dock, the laughter of the crew relaxing doesn't make it down here. The only sound to be heard here is the periodic fretful footfall of the winemaker as he wanders about with his thief and a glass. If properly built, cellars are dark, almost purposely so in that a flashlight never seems to penetrate the corners.

The top of the RayLen pyramid is called “Eagle’s Select.” It is not difficult to imagine that one day on Mt. Olympus when Apollo suggested inventing wine, this is what he was talking about.

Pull the cork, as I did, on a 2008 vintage. Pour it in a glass. A big one. Besides browsing a rapidly-dwindling number of real book stores, appreciating a small amount of wine in a big glass is one of the last great rewards of success. This wine is dark, the mysterious color of a quality ruby. The wine is opaque and heavy…there’s meat here for those who like to circle their wines like agitated sumo wrestlers. It is clear, remarkably, but red and so dark the light seems to enter and never leave, like the cellar from whence it came.

The nose is equally complex; black cherry survives hydrolysis. There are higher orders as well: mushroom and violet, white pepper, tea, and golden, cured tobacco, the magic aroma that used to coat the state of the Eagle’s birth. The barrel is there, the unshakeable underpinning; this oak is new and very French; you can easily taste the Limousin where Coeur de Lion caught his last bolt. There are at least 18 months for barrel and tenant to get to know each other, like randomly assigned roommates in a college dormitory. This worked out better than that usually does.

We feel the barrel on the tongue, where it manifests itself in thick, silky hints of leather only noticeable when combined with body heat. The wine has excellent astringency, that quality that allows our gums to participate in the event. Tongues do better with bitter; here, an absence as welcome as laryngitis in your mother-in-law. When bitter grows up and polymerizes (another miracle in the barrel), it becomes astringent. Astringency is the mark of quality in a wine, of breeding and skill. It is what accompanies the finest and heaviest foods we equate with luxury and success. I would devour pork with this; filet mignon, better still; lamb on a spit or pheasant taken with your own hand. The reward of such a meal brings a smile to the lips. Prepare yourself with some Camembert, Roquefort, Beaufort, Pont l’Evêque, or Roncal.   It would even support cheesecake, particularly chocolate with blueberry topping.

Eagle’s Select is a Meritage blend made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. If the Eagle’s style is that of Bordeaux, you know why people have heard of Pessac-Léognan…

It is the mouthfeel that remains in the memory, the warmth that traces its way down to our bellies and subtracts our tension as it goes. I can taste the fruit still, but fruit is everywhere. The strength of Eagle’s Select is not in its novelty but in its execution. It is supposed to be Bordeaux-style, which it manages not only to hit, but also to surpass. There’s more here in a bottle than Bordeaux gives at three times the money. Rounder mouthfeel, more delightful finish, a grander weight. An American version of Emmanuelle Béart: beautiful but without the implications of mercurial brashness….

RayLen Eagle’s Select. Drink in the next decade at room temperature. Let stand for one hour before the first kiss. Such suffering is advertised as good for the soul, n’est-ce pas? 

Customer Reviews:

This is by far the BEST red wine I have ever enjoyed regardless of price or Country of Origin. You folks who have not tried NC RayLen wines are
missing outon some of the best wines available. Mike Drn Spartanburg SC