Last night: 2012 Scarecrow and 1997 Mondavi To Kalon Reserve

In laws are big Napa cab fans, so I grabbed a couple bottles on our way out to dinner at Cuvée 30A in Rosemary Beach, FL.

2012 Scarecrow - It’s funny tasting in comparison to the Mondavi ‘97 when 97 is this famously hot/watershed year for Napa … the Scarecrow was, to me, jammy, “saucy,” and really just somewhat uninteresting. There’s an undeniable density/concentration and it was a huge crowd pleaser — the delicious factor is undeniable … but I just don’t see it as a nearly 4 digit bottle. It was super primary, but given how it was borderline flabby, I’m not sure how you can expect the wine to hang on a few more decades to develop complexity? To me, this is 92 point drink it now and over the next 5-10 years wine.

1997 Mondavi To Kalon Reserve - Much more in my wheelhouse for Napa, there were more layers of flavor here and while the fruit still had a sweet character, it was a bit more in balance with some earthiness and florals whereas the Scarecrow was just straight power. It’s just starting to develop that sweet tobacco character that is my favorite aspect of old California wines, and I’m confident this bottle has a much longer life ahead of it than the 15 year younger Scarecrow. 95/100 on this one.

Both come from CA Grand Cru dirt for sure with Cohn and To Kalon.

Scarecrow has always had beautifully smooth tannins, and that has removed some of the character for me especially when tasted against Rubicon.

My guess is the 2012 Scarecrow needs an 8+ hour decant or even even more aggressive treatment to begin showing its wares.

For reference, I had a 2009 Scarecrow and 2009 M. Etain a few weeks back. Both decanted at the same time and the M. Etain began to open up around the 2 hour mark and the 'Crow was still tight and concentrated. Even at close to 4 hours it was still a some ways away from being ready to my sense. It was undeniably high quality juice but still some ways from reaching its potential.

I’ve had great success with the 2005 vintage with a 2 hour decant but we also drank that over 2 - 3 hours following the decant.

Have felt like this every time I’ve opened a bottle of Scarecrow, honestly.