How early is too early to open a Napa Cab?

This has come up several times, with somewhat uninformative polls, some smart-ass answers, and a few nuggets of wisdom. Here I’m trying to dig deeper:

Take a relatively balanced Napa Cab. Not a Dunn or Togni (just to avoid the “these take 15 years to come around” arguments) but anything from a Dominus or Insignia to a Myriad Beckstoffer-of-your-choice or Rivers-Marie Panek. A solid 14-something %er probably, with a decent treatment of new oak.

Yes of course you can drink it right away if you want to. You can also drink Grand cru Burg achingly young if you want to. My question is, when do you think these wines start to show their best?

7am if you’re drinking.
8 is OK.

Somewhere, out there, Johnny Carson is chuckling and a percussionist is clashing his hi-hat.

I am not trying to be cliched, open early and file in memory, then again in year 7.

Seven seems a good starting window.

I was going to say 8am.

6 am if you are fishing…

Napa cabs are my favorite wines and, as a generalization, I hold most of mine to start drinking at 6-7 years post-vintage. With some exceptions, I’m usually drinking them up by age 12.

It really depends on the winery.
In the past, most needed at least 3-5 years to show well. In general, with changes in style, many show very well at realease, but then often shut down for 3-7 years, before they emerge again.
In general, I will open a new wine, expecting it to need a serious decant to get an idea where it is.
Then I won’t touch the rest of the wines ( I rarely buy under 6 of a cab that I like) for at least 5-7 years. If its a Montelena, they sit for at least 10 years.

The ones like Myriad and Rivers-Marie are ready to be enjoyed immediately, with the possible exception of the Myriad Dr. Crane, which would benefit from about 5 years in the cellar.

While you can drink a lot of Napa cabs right away, and I do, I like most of my Napa cabs (Rivers, Outpost, Drinkward, Larkmead and a few others) at the 5+ mark. The fruit is still there, but the wine is a bit more interesting and the finish lingers just a bit longer with a sense of cab maturity. That said, the late 90s Mondavis I’ve had lately have been absolutely beautifully mature and nuanced wines. On the other hand, the 87 Beringer we opened Saturday night, was on the downward slide. A touch of fruit and a hint of a nicely aged cab, but clipped would be a good description of the finish. Like you were just getting ready to say “oh, that’s interest…” and then it’s gone.

I’ve really found that I enjoy them best between 7-9 years if I want youth, 10-15 for some secondary notes, and if I want them as soon as possible I try to wait until at least 4-5 years from the vintage.

I think in the car on the way back from the winery is OK

not before the FedEx driver sets the parking brake

The two big questions:

  1. How do you feel about giving up youthful fruit vs. possibly gaining in complexity, and

  2. Why exactly are you aging the wine (e.g., to tame the tannins, to gain complexity, to achieve a better “balance,” etc.)?

Then you have to look at the characteristics of the particular wine and try to make an assessment of when the wine will start to show its “best.” As a very gross generalization, I would say that many Napa Cabs start to show their “best” 3-4 years after release, but of course some don’t really hit that mark until 10+ years.

Bruce

That’s why you get 3 of them :slight_smile:

If it’s Pobega, see many of the answers above [grin.gif]

Otherwise, I try to wait at least 2 years until after I’ve taken possession of a current-shipped vintage.

Doesnt it depend on vintage, a 12 is fine young but a 13 would suck

This

There are a few Napa Cabs that are built drink now. Most are inexpensive, but some of the producers have dedicated, (declassified) some fruit to an ultra entry level wine with good fruit character, minimal tannins and light to medium acidity. It’s not 20 year old Tor like. It’s made to enjoy now. Most are under $25 but also puts them in or near that price range of absolute plonk. Need to know the wine and/or maker.

I typically hold a wine to give it the opportunity to “integrate” a bit. It seems like Napa cab with a few years on it flows from flavor to flavor without being too upfront or abrupt. Ideally, I’d wait 6 years from vintage, but i frequently ignore that and open at 3-4, which probably lands me right in the middle of a “dumb phase”, and I sit there wondering why the wine is kinda meh.

With the exception of Dunn and a couple of others, as mentioned by some above, most are crafted so that they can be opened fairly young (like immediately). Most all will benefit from at least a year. Now you go through the balance of whether you want it young and get fruit and big, or wait and it becomes more muted, balanced and complex.

I have done both so there is no wrong answer but I’d avoid opening a '13 or '14 but I opened a '12 the other day, and the week before that an '05. I enjoyed both of them.

And, I disagree with Peter - I don’t think my palate is ready for wine much before 10 am.