SOB shows the softer side of Yannick’s favorite red grape, Tannat, and its amazing potential as a blending varietial.
Color: Deep black cherry.
Nose: Bright, complex, generous and profound with notes of baked blackberry pie, dry sage, white pepper, licorice, medium roast coffee, forest floor and subtle French oak.
Mouth: Supple attack, delicate roundness, full-bodied, offering sweet spices, pure dark berries, silky tannins and a fresh long finish.
It’s an unmistakable California resident…rich, juicy and a youthful vibe…but this one doesn’t forget its French heritage and its ‘je ne sais quoi’. Our mouths start salivating when we think of a delicious lasagna, flavorful meatballs, a steaming bowl of chili, eggplant parmesan, or “tout simplement”, a juicy hamburger to go with the wine.
Winemaking Notes
French winemaker Yannick Rousseau’s love affair with wine began at age five with his first glass of watered down wine made by his grandpa, Pépé. Pépé was an artisan butcher, he also hunted his own food, and made his own wine. Yannick has fond memories of long dinners with many laughs and heated discussions accompanied by simple, delicious dishes and good, unpretentious wines. His ‘Son Of a Butcher’ is a salute to his French heritage and a “homage” to the easy-going way of life in the south of France. Open a bottle any day of the week and enjoy the warmth of family and friends, and the delights of an everyday meal. Pépé and Yannick’s Dad (pictured on the label in front of the family’s butcher shop) would approve!
Y. Rousseau Wines is a dream that began long ago in the South-West of France and continues to grow and evolve today. Yannick Rousseau, French native, founder and winemaker, followed his heart and passion for winemaking all the way to Napa Valley where he met his Texan-born wife, Susan. The two of them bring their combined entrepreneurial savvy to embrace the ebbs and flows of running a family winery with the legacy of their racines, hospitable style, and discriminating artisanship.
Yannick’s reputation has been made not by following in anyone’s particular footsteps but rather by taking what he has learned from great mavericks and integrating it into what he discovers to be true. His history of working with grape varietals from the Southwest of France is well known. Now, he carries forward his winemaking mission still embracing Colombard, Tannat and other favored varietals and blending them to create revived, and even edge-bending wines.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher Red Blend
6 bottles for $79.99 $13.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2019 Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher Red Blend - $10 = 6.25%
@ttboy23
Iron Horse holds the record for both low and high. They had an offer here that was actually a penny more for the full case than for 2 lots of 6.
I had the pleasure of being a labrat for the 2019 Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher
I was intrigued as the past offerings were the Musketeers so this was new. As I pulled out the cork, I chuckled as the side read, ‘SOB’. Nice.
The color was deep dark purple with no light shining through. After a generous swirl and a big whiff all I sniffed initially was alcohol. First sip, it was tannic and tight with no real discernible flavors. After 10 minutes I smelled dark fruits, maybe blackberry, tasted the same flavors, and the wine had settled a bit as alcohol was less.
After approx 30-45 minutes the scent and flavors came through. Blackberry, some earth, coffee? It was full bodied, deep and lush, by no means a fruit bomb, but tannins definitely present with a bitterness at the finish. Seeing as this was a Tannat and Cab blend, the flavors and fullness made sense. I had made chicken parm with a spicy arriabata sauce. Divine. I very much enjoyed it with food. The flavors melded and seemed to be made to go together. I tried a square of 55% dark chocolate and the wine was very complementary. The bitterness and spice in the foods had erased that slight finish and just brought out the savory aspects of the wine.
I then tried this again by itself (maybe two hours had passed at this point) and the bitterness reappeared, but was not as harsh. My guess is the extra time and air had lessened that bitter finish. Corked and on the counter for day two.
Day two - The wine seemed to have become more tannic with less fruit. The chocolate did not bring out the beautiful marriage of flavors but left me wanting the wine from day one. Interestingly, today was chili and that presented beautifully, but on its own was a hard pass.
I’m not well versed on aging, but given the Tannat and Cab blends, I would venture to guess this would benefit with a few years in the bottle or plenty of air if drinking now.
In summary, for me this is a full bodied red, best served with food. I would consider this an everyday drinker rather than an occasion wine. It drinks nicely with spicy and slightly bitter foods as I personally did not enjoy as much on its own, especially on day two, although based on what Clark tells us about Tannat, I would lay this down and drink on its own after a few years. As a comparison, I would drink both The Musketeer and Winesmith Tannat now, on their own or with food; and enjoy both over a few days. Good deal at both the 6-bottle and case price. Thank you WCC, Alice, and Y Rousseau for the labrat opportunity.
To add to a very nice review by @chefjess – she was nice enough to let me try the SOB as well on the second day (thanks again!). Didn’t bother decanting but poured a glass and sniffed some earthiness, couldn’t sense much else. Definitely got some tannins on the taste, but couldn’t pick out much else at first. Certainly not too fruity which works for me!
Reading the bottle, I saw in a scripty font 90% something… “grease”? Then 10% “Je ne sais quoi” – oh ok it’s en francais, that makes sense. Guess not the actual blend though haha
With a few more sips over time, I started to pick out a little more – some dark cherry maybe, possibly cola. My partner tasted as well and said she liked it better than the store-bought rioja we tried it against (also from the day before), and I undoubtably agreed. Both of us like the dry reds. Not sure I can speak much to intensity or complexity but I guessed based on the quality this might fall in the $10-12 range, so I’d say it’s well worth it. Might have to grab a few bottles to see how the first day compares Cheers!
@chefjess@james Just to clarify. On the back label, it says 90% “elbow grease” not just grease (of course simply because it takes a lot of work to make wine and create the blend for SOB.
@james excellent pairing suggestions. Dark chocolate and Tannat based red blend works great. SOB is definitely a food wine and you can enjoy it over the course of 2-3 days easily.
@james@yannickrousseau
Thank you. I thought the strong flavors might be complimentary and those flavors presented well and left me wanting another sip. What is the ideal drinking window? Was my assumption that aging might be of benefit and laying this down for a few years correct?
It is definitely a wine that will age 5 to 7 years; as of today, decanting the SOB works well for the wine.
That said, it is the softest of our red wine.
Enjoy!
@pete0744 Unfortunately, IL makes it very difficult and expensive for small family wineries to ship to IL wine drinkers. Sorry about that. Maybe you have a location/someone outside IL who can receive your wine.
2019 Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher Red Blend
Tasting Notes
Winemaking Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$252/Case at Y. Rousseau Wines for 12x Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher Red Blend
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, May 27 - Tuesday, Jun 1
Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher Red Blend
6 bottles for $79.99 $13.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2019 Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2019 Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher Red Blend - $10 = 6.25%
@chipgreen from 44% to 6% they’ve got us covered!
@chipgreen might be a record low
@ttboy23
Iron Horse holds the record for both low and high. They had an offer here that was actually a penny more for the full case than for 2 lots of 6.
@chipgreen Thanks, I remember something about that!
@chipgreen @ttboy23 SOB is one of the best value in America for the price!
I had the pleasure of being a labrat for the
2019 Y. Rousseau Son of a Butcher
I was intrigued as the past offerings were the Musketeers so this was new. As I pulled out the cork, I chuckled as the side read, ‘SOB’. Nice.
The color was deep dark purple with no light shining through. After a generous swirl and a big whiff all I sniffed initially was alcohol. First sip, it was tannic and tight with no real discernible flavors. After 10 minutes I smelled dark fruits, maybe blackberry, tasted the same flavors, and the wine had settled a bit as alcohol was less.
After approx 30-45 minutes the scent and flavors came through. Blackberry, some earth, coffee? It was full bodied, deep and lush, by no means a fruit bomb, but tannins definitely present with a bitterness at the finish. Seeing as this was a Tannat and Cab blend, the flavors and fullness made sense. I had made chicken parm with a spicy arriabata sauce. Divine. I very much enjoyed it with food. The flavors melded and seemed to be made to go together. I tried a square of 55% dark chocolate and the wine was very complementary. The bitterness and spice in the foods had erased that slight finish and just brought out the savory aspects of the wine.
I then tried this again by itself (maybe two hours had passed at this point) and the bitterness reappeared, but was not as harsh. My guess is the extra time and air had lessened that bitter finish. Corked and on the counter for day two.
Day two - The wine seemed to have become more tannic with less fruit. The chocolate did not bring out the beautiful marriage of flavors but left me wanting the wine from day one. Interestingly, today was chili and that presented beautifully, but on its own was a hard pass.
I’m not well versed on aging, but given the Tannat and Cab blends, I would venture to guess this would benefit with a few years in the bottle or plenty of air if drinking now.
In summary, for me this is a full bodied red, best served with food. I would consider this an everyday drinker rather than an occasion wine. It drinks nicely with spicy and slightly bitter foods as I personally did not enjoy as much on its own, especially on day two, although based on what Clark tells us about Tannat, I would lay this down and drink on its own after a few years. As a comparison, I would drink both The Musketeer and Winesmith Tannat now, on their own or with food; and enjoy both over a few days. Good deal at both the 6-bottle and case price. Thank you WCC, Alice, and Y Rousseau for the labrat opportunity.
@chefjess nice rattage!
To add to a very nice review by @chefjess – she was nice enough to let me try the SOB as well on the second day (thanks again!). Didn’t bother decanting but poured a glass and sniffed some earthiness, couldn’t sense much else. Definitely got some tannins on the taste, but couldn’t pick out much else at first. Certainly not too fruity which works for me!
Reading the bottle, I saw in a scripty font 90% something… “grease”? Then 10% “Je ne sais quoi” – oh ok it’s en francais, that makes sense. Guess not the actual blend though haha
With a few more sips over time, I started to pick out a little more – some dark cherry maybe, possibly cola. My partner tasted as well and said she liked it better than the store-bought rioja we tried it against (also from the day before), and I undoubtably agreed. Both of us like the dry reds. Not sure I can speak much to intensity or complexity but I guessed based on the quality this might fall in the $10-12 range, so I’d say it’s well worth it. Might have to grab a few bottles to see how the first day compares
Cheers!
@chefjess @james Just to clarify. On the back label, it says 90% “elbow grease” not just grease (of course
simply because it takes a lot of work to make wine and create the blend for SOB.
@james excellent pairing suggestions. Dark chocolate and Tannat based red blend works great. SOB is definitely a food wine and you can enjoy it over the course of 2-3 days easily.
@james @yannickrousseau
Thank you. I thought the strong flavors might be complimentary and those flavors presented well and left me wanting another sip. What is the ideal drinking window? Was my assumption that aging might be of benefit and laying this down for a few years correct?
@yannickrousseau Oh hahaha I see that now – I thought I read ellom and “by a French SOB” and figured it was all French, that makes way more sense!
@chefjess @james
It is definitely a wine that will age 5 to 7 years; as of today, decanting the SOB works well for the wine.
That said, it is the softest of our red wine.
Enjoy!
@chefjess Thank you for the great report. I want one just for the cork.
I do enjoy that this keeps getting referred to as “the SOB”.
No IL - the Tannat shipped here?
@pete0744 Unfortunately, IL makes it very difficult and expensive for small family wineries to ship to IL wine drinkers. Sorry about that. Maybe you have a location/someone outside IL who can receive your wine.
@pete0744 @yannickrousseau I feel your pain. I’m in IL, and ratted a prior Yannick. We’re missing out on some fine vino.
Big fan of the Musketeers through the years but never had this SOB. Looking forward to 1/2 a case based on reputation and great lab-ratting!
fantabulous-drifting-mosquito
Think I’ll just stick to my shoelaces. Maybe I need to look at slip-on shoes for the future
For conversation, …Nice weather we are having, don’t you think…
No MI but I’m a gonna get out some other red blend and just “pretend” that it’s a Y.Rousseau
/giphy aged-perennial-country
