I read about Michael Haven’s Cave Dog project when it started and grabbed a couple of bottles of the first vintage, 2014. 2016 was just released and was curious as to the community feeling on this project. I really found a lot to like in the '14 (tasted 7/18), though it was quite young. Anyone in for the next release?
My note on the '14:
“Immediately it opened with a very intense blackberry and cotton candy aroma that faded fast, after a few hours and then into the next evening it opened back up into licorice, red and black berries, damson plum, and roasted coffee/oak spice. Ridiculously elegant on the palate though at this age it is very very fresh. Silky tannin…”
Release letter for the 2016
GREETINGS!
2016 marked the continuation of two trends at Beau Terroir Vineyard, the Napa Valley source of my Cave Dog Red. These special vines, which I formerly used in my Bourriquot blend, have been on a trajectory to ripen later, which in 2016 meant September 22 and 29, as compared to September 13 in the previous vintage. Part of that is due to a cooler season, but also to increasing vine age. As the vines age, they tend not to flash sugar into the berries, ripening flavors at a more steady pace.
The second trend is the increasing ascendancy of the Cabernet Franc, which in 2016 was 42% of the total. You can sense this in the increased aromatic piquancy, more of the currant, cedar, and underbrush notes. But it also shows up in the charming, elegant entry of this year’s wine, which continues into the finish, at this time showing some fine-textured tannins. So even at 42%, Cabernet Franc (traditionally known as Cabernet Bouchet, and one genetic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon) makes itself felt in this new Cave Dog.
Which is not to say that the rich Merlot is not also here: plum, fruit cake, cocoa. The two work together, as they have for centuries in Bordeaux’s Right Bank, in the right years reaching glory in St. Emilion and Pomerol. I’ve been dedicated to blends of these varieties since 1985 (after a year of pure Merlot), and I am still charmed by the alchemy of their co-mingling.
The alcohol is a balanced 14.0%, which means the wine is ripe but not raisined, full but not weighted down. Likewise, my use of oak (33% new) is intended to develop the wine in its cellar time, not to show up as an identifiable taste or texture element. If you’ve had the 2014 Cave Dog Red, you know that it is aging gracefully and slowly, like its predecessors. I would liken this 2016 to the 1996 Bourriquot, which continues to gain complexity as it ages today.
