I prefer the 2013 over the 2012. Drink the CVC now and put down the Estate for 3-10 years. It’s not a crime to drink the Estate now. I last had it in September and its quite good already. I just feel that the future of this wine will be even better. The CVC may also get better but its only $30 and drinks so well now that I don’t feel the need to wait.
My wife and I visited with David at Calluna in August, and picked up a few bottles of CVC along with most of his other reds. It was a great visit, incredibly personal, and the wines were all really impressive, as well. With respect to the CVC, we had the 2014 and I really liked it at the tasting.
I popped a bottle a couple of weeks ago, consumed over 2 days, and liked it even more. I think this is a really great value for a cab blend at ~$30. The 2014 is balanced, with deep fruit both at the forefront and in the finish, and has great mouthfeel. Enough tannin to support the fruit, with structure to age at least a few years, and stuffing that tells me it’s not ordinary. I think most wineries in the area would be proud to have this as a flagship wine, not a more simple cuvee as it is here.
With the fires, and Calluna and the rest of Sonoma in my mind, and in the spirit of “drinking Sonoma” to send strong vibes for calm winds and aggressive firefighting, I wondered how the 2013 would compare. So I found some 2013 CVC at a shop nearby and grabbed it up. Drank about half of the bottle last night, will go back in for Day 2 tonight. To me, 2013 is silkier and much more ready to go at this point. It showed well right out of the bottle, but shone even more after an hour or so of air in a decanter. The nose was open, the fruit was bright and noticeable, and it was pretty impressive overall. I’d say both the 2013 and 2014 show red/black fruit and don’t even approach the blue/black profiles you’d get over the hill in the other valley. I wouldn’t call it “old school” but I find a lot of balance and attractiveness in this wine.
I think David is going for a more grounded Bordeaux approach that gets the benefit of amazing CA weather and hillside exposure in his wines, and I really like the results.