Tried this wine (amongst others) at EmilioCastelli’s last Sat night:
- Castelli CabernetSauvignon GreenVlly of RRV/SonomaCnty (14.1%) 2012: Med.dark color; quite herbal/CS/very Bdx-like slight earthy/loamy light toasty/oak beautiful nose; rather tart fairly herbal/Bdx-like/Cab bit green/lean light toasty/oak structured flavor w/ modest wiry tannins; very long some herbal/Cab/very Bdx-like light toasty/oak some complex rather tart/lean bit complex finish w/ modest grippy tannins; very/very atypical of Calif Cab and would be right at home in a flight of Bdx mid-range old-timey Cabs
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- I was unaware that Emilio had a few vines of Cab on his Estate. GreenVlly is an extraordinally cold place to be growing Cab and it doesn’t ripen every year. So when I expressed an interest in trying it, he scurried out to retrieve a btl.
This Cab is definitely a cold-climate Cab and atypical of Calif Cab. The herbal character suggested very much a mid-range Bdx Cab. But is way far away from what those early Monterey Cabs were like in that it doesn’t have that vegetal/canned asparagus character those used to have before DougMeador taught them how to grow Cab in the SalinasVlly. In fact, this wine reminded me a lot of those Ventana Cabs that Doug made back in the '80’s. Not a Cab that fans of NapaVlly Cabs would appreciate, but I was quite attracted to this wine.
Tom