“If feelings fail you, vain will be your course, and idle what you plan unless your art springs from the soul with elemental force.” - Faust (Goethe)

That this happens to be part of one of my favorite Faust references certainly didn’t hurt matters around here as I was checking out the Faust 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ($50). (I actually considered improving my German to the point that I could try to read Faust in its original language, but to date have only managed to keep my thumb-worn Oxford World Classic translation relatively dust-free…)

Faust is the newest edition to the family of wines, created by Agustin Huneeus, that include Rutherford’s Quintessa and Chile’s Veramonte. And even without the literary inspiration and pedigree (or, on second thought, exactly because of the inspiration and pedigree), this wine is lovely.

It is rich and opulent, with a decadent chocolaty ribbon weaving through the silky blackberry and black cherry aromas and flavors, with subtle touches of baking spices and toasted vanilla lingering in the generous finish. Ready to drink now and over the next 4-6 years. Locate this wine online or in your area.

And yes, to the Faustophiles among you are already thinking it, I get the irony of a wine writer (neither an ape nor a child, as far as I am able to say; but then again, self-evaluation can be such tricky business…) heaping admiration on a wine that comes in a bottle emblazoned with the above Faust quote. I can only hope that Mr. Huneeus and I are in agreement that, and to finish the passage,

“…what is uttered from the heart alone will win the hearts of others to your own.”

In short, this is some damned good wine. Learn more about it at www.faustwine.com.