Anyone tasted any 2016 Mike Smith cabs ?

Thinking of Pobegaring a Mike cab, maybe a Quivet 16

Curious if anyone has done it yet and what to expect, is this a more forward juicy vintage like 12 or more structured and frankly unapproachable like 13 ?

Paging Brian !!

These were opened just a week or so after bottling. Anything is possible moving forward. They may all have shut down now. Hard to say. A long decant should be the minimum treatment at this point in time. The Napa is usually the most approachable young but I remember this being so big that it may not be a good time right now. The Round Pind seemed like it would drink well anytime. HTH.

  • 2016 Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley (6/2/2018)
    Deep dark red with purple tinges really opaque. Ripe purple berries abouund on the nose with some earthiness thrown in. Picking up rich Calistoga fruit up front, not sure what the vineyard blend is but Kenefick Ranch and GIII come to mind here. I’m probably wrong but the flavors remind me of those vineyards. Very rich ripe purple core, teeth staining and chewy. A big mouthful of Cabernet goodness and another solid Napa Blend in 2016.
  • 2016 Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Round Pond Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford (6/2/2018)
    Opened on a Thursday, notes from Saturday evening. Dark ruby color. Tobacco leaf, cedar, dark chocolate covered cherries greet the nose. More cedar, creme de cassis, mocha and toasty oak. Rich red and black fruit from a persistent core. Fine ripe tannins finish it off. A restrained version of Mike Smith Cab wth a more traditional red fruited profile with lots of cedar notes at a price point that’s easier on the pocketbook.
  • 2016 Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Steltzner Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District (6/2/2018)
    A week after bottling, opened on a Thursday, notes from Saturday evening. Dark black to the core with dark ruby rim. Concentrated aromas of blackberry and anise. Rich extracted blackberry, cherry and black currant. Dense and layered with wonderful purity and depth. Fruit pulls right through the finish framed by firm tannins and cocoa. Satisfies immediately yet the structure assures a long happy shelf life. Another thoroughbred in the Myriad stable. Exceptional.

Posted from CellarTracker

Great notes. Glad I bought me a bunch of 2016 Myriad cabs… they all arrived this week. Hoping to keep my hands off of them for a while.

I drank the Myriad Napa blend this past weekend and to me the 2016 has been the best so far from the past years, its delicious.

From my visit in July at Mike and Leah’s:

2016 Quivet Napa Cab

Pellet and Kenefick for this. Deep cherry and plum sniffs. Very nice! supple, fruit-filled tobacco and sandalwood.

2016 Myriad Napa Cab

Kenefick, Bourne, Scarlett (next to Caymus) and Georges III vineyards. 15.1%, a bit of Petit Verdot from Scarlett. This is more about cocoa, plum and light boysenberry. It’s a little unfinished now, but length and power here with sour cherry and plum, truffle notes a little later.

2016 Myriad Round Pond Cab

They are the only ones to get fruit out of here besides Round Pond itself. Across the street from Georges III. Slightly earthy bouquet with sweet plum and cocoa as well. Le gout is super-round, umami–and delectable. Soft as it gets but absolutely no heavy or surmaturite at all, with shiny blue and black fruit. Had to mark down a bottle of this.

2016 Myriad Halcon Syrah

I asked for a Syrah and Mike told me to stroll over to the show fridge and pick whatever I wanted. My eyes lit upon this and lit up! The vineyard is the highest in Mendocino, at over 2100 ft. Whole cluster. I smelled and tasted this. smiled. And said to Mike “You couldn’t have made this wine 9 years ago. Now you have the wisdom, the knowledge, the assurance to do it”. And do it he has! Alluring aromatics of fresh herbs, a bit of earth and a slice of walnut. Mike has brought his intensity of winemaking character to cool climate Syrah here in a compelling tart and lengthy drink of Mendocino. Has a real good chance to get into the top 25 of the trip.

I’ve had both the 16 Myriad and Quivet Napa blends over the past week. They were just delivered so bottle shock could always be an influence here. With that said, the Myriad performed a bit better/more accessible with an hour+ decant, although obviously still very young.

I tasted the Quivet at Pnp and it was an explosion of ridiculous flavors for the first couple minutes and then it shut down for two days.

For those who just received their shipments, I would definitely recommend waiting a month to let things settle down a bit (for the NVs). I don’t think I will be approaching the single vineyards for a little while.

Spoke to Mike directly about this a couple of weeks ago, and he suggested that the '16 Myriad Steltzner was the most ready to go of the bunch (with a 2 hour decant).

We pobega’d the 16 blend and the esther syrah. The syrah was the wotn against 2012 realm to kalon and tempest. Was really something

I’m reading this thread and wondering what the hell “pobegad” means (always thought it was some auto-correct issue). Look it up on urban dictionary and damn if it doesn’t use Dr. Crane as an example (2011 tho)!

Had no idea the term had made pop culture level. Named for Mike Pobega, famous in the WB community for popping open a bottle of his favourite wines as soon as they arrive on his doorstep. (Mike’s a fine fellow if you ever get to meet him).

Mike