TN: 2007 Educated Guess Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Picked up some of these for right at $20 all in on the reco of Segui. Figured what the hell…$20, 2007, Napa and Cab. The wine might be the sleeper of the vintage.

Inky purple in the glass with good glycerin adhesion on the sides. Big nose of dark fruits with vanilla and sweet licorice. Palate has some grip, but nothing over the top from the tannins and oak there…actually fairly soft for such a youngster. Dark cherries, baking spices, licorice and toast. Lots going on with this bottle. So much so, I think it warrants another case purchase. I hate to say this, but this is almost like a “Maybach Lite”, if such a bottle existed.



For Father Saxon: Pop & Pour with no decant time

I like the label on that wine, have seen it in Whole Foods or somewhere similar. So worth the $20?

Scott, I think it is worth $50 or $60 a bottle…easily. Blind against wines in that price bracket would be unfair.

Shortly after reading the same thread where Segui sung its praises, I tried one of these too. I figured at $17, I didn’t have much to lose. The first thing I noticed was how beautiful the label, bottle, and cork were – just a gorgeous job of packaging! Then, I drank the bottle over two nights, and was pretty shocked that it delivered so well for this price.

I went back to the same retailer (Wine House in L.A.) to buy more, and found that they had lowered the price to $10. I grabbed two cases, and they told me it was mispriced … but they would honor that price. [wow.gif] Score of the year.

$10 is like stealing it.

Had the other half of the bottle last night. With air, this gained tremendous weight and opened up to an even better wine. I think a nice four to six hour decant and you are in business for having a giant killer in your glass.

You like me… you really like me. flirtysmile

It is a really solid wine and I’d love to slip it in to high end Napa Cab tasting to see how it would do. I’m pretty sure it would take down more than a few labels whilst saving stacks of bills.

Damn you. Here i’d written off napa cabs as grotesque monsters picked at 31brix and bathed in oak. And then you wrote this. So, when I was looking for a nice but inexpensive Cab to drink this evening, and saw this at the supermarket, I grabbed one. Hey, $18…

Now, remember, I’m a Burg/Barolo/ aromatics and acid guy. And you know what? This is really nice Cab. It’s very classic Napa to me, mid-weight on the palate with noticieable but nice tannins, good fruit with a hightoned aromatic profile and a good finish. Lovely nose too.

For those of you looking for a Cali Cab that’s a bit from the mid-90s in profile, try this. It’s a very nice bottle of Cab that hearkens back to the days when Cab wasn’t all about size, but was about balance.

Bottle number two down tonight.

Agressive decant for three hours before service. IMO, better than bottle numero uno…rounder and fleshed out a bit. I agree with Segui that this takes down big names in a blind tasting and humbles those at the table.

Bring one tomorrow, we can try it next to some of the big fliers here.

Segui said “whilst”. When did Molly buy him a big book of big words? neener

[thankyou.gif]

Grabbed one this weekend because of this thread. Really enjoyed it, especially for the price. Proves that Napa can make good wine < $100

Last weekend, I added a brown bag “mystery” wine at the end of our group monthly tasting. The group is very Napa Cab focused. Overall everyone thought the mystery wine was nice, but it had about two glasses left in the bottle after pouring for 6 people. No one was rushing back for another taste, instead they were grabbing a '94 Palmer that was also open.

Long story short, the mystery wine was the 06 Scarecrow. I’d be happy to wager that group would have been more impressed with the Educated Guess if tasted head to head.

Tim - great move! I love the blind mystery wine. I’m sure everyone thought it was some low priced wine you were trying to compare with the ‘big boys’ and you reversed the table on them! Blinding is the great equalizer.

Now, after the label was off, did they rush back to finish off the last 2 glasses?

Chris

I got another case.

Will - where can we get some in Nor-Cal?

Glenn – The owner has been into the restaurant a few times, I’m going to see if I can track down his contact info.

T H E N U M B E R S
100% Napa Valley
85% Rutherford and St. Helena
15% Yountville, Oak Knoll and Calistoga
85% Cabernet Sauvignon
6% Merlot
7% Cabernet Franc
2% Petit Verdot
12 Months French and American Oak (60% New)
25,000 Cases Produced (Bottled June 2009)
$20 Suggested Retail Price (UPC Code 8-98079-00100-0)

Our two primary sources for Cabernet
Sauvignon are Beckstoffer Vineyards in Rutherford
and Louer Family Vineyards in St. Helena

FWIW Laube gave it an 88

IMNSHO, that is about five to six points too low for this wine.

According to Wine Searcher, $20 per is too high. [scratch.gif] There’s a shop in San Diego with it for $14. I can get it on the east coast for $18. Sounds like a screamer of a deal; many thanks for the post! [cheers.gif]

Wine House lists it for $15.99 as of today on their site.