Ageability of Mike Smith cabs

Anyone out there with thoughts on how long they think the Myriads will drink well, prime drinking windows, and otherwise deep thoughts on the construction and style of the wines?

Great question. There seems to be diverse opinions with a set of tasters drinking very young.

Interesting question now that Mike’s earlier Cabs are entering into their middle years or beyond.

Our experience with the 2007 Dr Crane at age 7 was disappointing. It had lost structure and was showing signs of overripeness. Perhaps the vintage?

However the last 2009 GIII we enjoyed last year at age 8 was much better. This was vivid, pure, rich and silky, a great bottle!

I am drinking a 2011 Myriad Cellars Syrah Esther Block Las Madres Vineyard now and it is splendid. Super dark. Stemmy on the palate. Easily recongizable as a Syrah. A great wine with many more years in the bottle.

Re: Ageability of Mike Smith cabs
#4 Unread post by PaulMills » Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:44 am
I am drinking a 2011 Myriad Cellars Syrah Esther Block Las Madres Vineyard now and it is splendid. Super dark. Stemmy on the palate. > Easily recongizable as a Syrah> . A great wine with many more years in the bottle.

Good news Paul. That will help a lot with that whole Cab question. neener

Funny thing is, I think I like his Syrah more than the Cabs.

As for aging, depends on what you’re looking for. They’re pretty drinkable out of the gate, so it would be interesting to know what people want to transform them into. I have zero first hand experience, but based on what they are and what you find when you age other wines, I would probably just drink them and wait for the other wines to age.

Ha. Honestly, I did not even see the ‘cabs’ reference in the title. I even read the thread twice to see if there was a reference to variety. The cabs age well too.

had the 2012 Myriad Beckstoffer Dr. Crane two nights ago, and it was far too young; very well balanced, just not fully integrated yet; miles to go

Noah - I have been buying Myriad cab since the inaugural 2005 vintage, Quivet since 06 and 12C since 07. I drank a few of the cabs young to get a sense of the style, but once I knew I loved them, I bought in quantity and let most of them age. I do still have one 05 Myriad cab left, but have drank through most of the 05-09’s. While I can’t speak to more than 10 or so years of aging, I can confidently say that these wines have been delicious with 5-8 years of time sideways, and I have never opened one of Mike’s wines and thought it was past its prime drinking window.

I have a lot of Mike Smith cabs (Myriad, Quivet, Scarlett, 12C, Carter) in my cellar and generally don’t start to drink them until they’re at least 6 years old. I think they show better balance at that point and I really enjoy them in the 6-8 year range (again, as a generalization). I can’t seem to hold them much longer than that, as they’re so tasty in that window.

I haven’t had a bottle of his cab that I thought was on the downward slide.

Well, I see that if I had just read Sherri’s post more closely, I could’ve simply said “ditto”. :slight_smile:

They’re awesome out of the gate, BUT do they improve over time?

Kevin,
Yes, my experience is that they are structured and improve over time; however, YMMV, all depends on your definition “improve”

My experience is YES, they do.

I’ve been buying since the 2008, opened one of my last bottles of 2008 Dr. Crane last summer. I would say it showed as one would expect, w/integrated oak and less overt fruitiness. Certainly it hadn’t developed any qualities even remotely resembling tertiary but I wasn’t expecting it to either, still so young.

We gotta keep in mind that for many of us it’s going to take another 10 years to really know how these wines will have aged, 5 at the earliest. Certainly with regards to Mike’s 2012s, which for my palate are only just now even starting to open.

They drink so well young I have not intentionally aged any past a few years, but have recently had a 2013 Quivet Kenefick Ranch, and a 2011 Myriad Dr. Crane. I plan on setting a few from each vineyard in the 2016 vintage to age longer.

I drank through most of my 2015’s because they were just so good young, I still have some 2013, and 2014 Dr. Crane’s and Las Piedras, and based on how the Las Piedras drank a few weeks ago, it has a long time before entering prime time, IMHO. Please keep in mind I have not been drinking or collecting wine half as long as most on the board, but I have greatly enjoyed Mike’s cabs, but don’t limit myself to just the big Cali cabs.

Here is my review of the 2013 Kenefick Cab:

Drank over 2 days via Coravin, decanted 2 hours each tasting, and served around 56 degrees. I have to say this is really starting to come into its own, after last having a bottle in April, the decanting certainly helped. I always wonder if Coravin use, over time will damage a wine, but did not notice any degradation. On the nose, I get aromas of vanilla, cassis, and blueberry. Good structure (which was more evident on day 2), and adequate acidity. I’ve always wondered if Mike Smith’s cabs had acidity, but I think the purity of fruit (especially in the first year or two) tend to overpower the acid and tannin. As this wine has gained in bottle age, the mid-palate has filled out with milk chocolate, ripe blue and black fruit, and some tannin and acid on the finish. I think this wine can go for quite a bit longer, and plan on finding some more if I can.

Mike and Leah also have tasting notes, and drinkability windows posted for Myriad and Quivet, and several wines they recommend several years of bottle age before consumption. The new Stags Leap AVA cab they have, I think it might have been up to 6 years.

As another data point, we opened up a 2010 Myriad Spring Mtn. Cab last night and it definitely showed a bit of progression, certainly on the nose. Although I’ve never been a fan of this particularly bottling, I’d have to say the bottle from last night was absolutely delicious, archetypal Napa Cab and really in a nice spot. Had it alongside a 2010 R-M NV Cab, which showed more youthful & closed than the Myriad.

Fair question. Let’s define “improvement” as showing more site characteristics with age, greater complexity, and secondary characteristics.

in that case, ‘yes’, they improve;
some folks might miss the opulent fruit and power