2008 Congruence Cabernet Update

WINE TALK
1

Last month I had told you about a new and exciting venture undertaken by my friend and fellow board member Steve Eisenhauer, Congruence Cabernet. His vision is a house blend of Cabernet Sauvignons from top parcelled vineyards in the Napa Valley to create a sum that is unique and complex. One would think it would be easy, but I can assure you in speaking at length with Steve about this, it’s not.

For the 2008 Congruence final blend, which was first mentioned here(budbreak: Steven Eisenhauer's Congruence Cabernet Update" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), there were 4 different site components consisting of 5 barrels in total.

Steve contacted me for this impromptu tasting of these plus the final blend in a moments notice. I said: tasting Cabernet on a beautiful early Spring Sunday? Why not?

Sample # 1 was reddish ink in color that left a viscous covering on the glass. There were some nice fruits of black cherries. The mid-palate was slightly hallow, but the finish was long and sweetish. Interesting. The grace.

Sample #2 had some really great vibrant dark classic transparent color. A fragrant floral nose that was amazing, realy amazing. The palate had a more classic fruit profile of cassis and blackberries. This was a slight angular and chunky. Tannins were surely evident. The muscle.

Sample #3 again had the deep dark color. The nose had some very interesting brambly qualities I truly enjoy. There was also some herb and leaf notes with some earthiness and tar. Big and brawny, this sure had its own profile. The fruits were a combination of red and black: black berries, currant, kirsch, an red cherries. The depth.

Sample #4 was from a totally different site (slightly more up-Valley), and it was evident. It was the blackest of the group with brooding color. It was also the plushest of the group and I sure like mine plush. A very intense & lively full bodied mouth feel, this was elegant and lovely. A true black fruit profile that any cab lover yearns for and the nose was worth the price of admission alone. This had nice balance of tannins and acidity unseen in any of the others. The class.

The final blend was all of the best components mentioned above. The breakdown from 1-4 was 40%, 20%, 20% & 20%. A truly multi dimensional fruit filled wine with grace elegance, brawn and complexity. I say one a few years in the bottle and this will be sure to be a winner to have in the cellar. I think Steve has achieved his goal and will have a wine he can be proud of.

2

Sounds really great, Mike. I was sorry I couldn’t make the tasting, but I hope to be able to taste the blend soon.

See you tonight. :wink:

3

Sherri - we missed you and David. Poor planning on my part - but that’s what happens when four bottles of barrel samples show up unannounced at your doorstep.

I think the exercise was fun and interesting. Picking the final blend was the toughest part of the whole process for me. Your instincts are valuable, but the blending process can lead to many unexpected results. For example, when Mike was tasting, he loved vineyard #4 and started speculating about a blend that featured more of it (as did I when I first tasted it). I felt badly in informing him that we had tried a blend like that back in February (barrel sample #2 on that night) - and it had fallen flat on its face.

I am fortunate that I’ve been able to source fruit at four vineyards where the fruit have positive virtues (along with some shortcomings) and a clearly defined individual character. Each on their own would be very enjoyable to drink, I believe. Indeed, everyone there yesterday enjoyed each and it was fascinating to see the individual preferences among the four wines. But, thankfully, all preferred the blend to any of the individual vineyards.

In the end, I feel pretty confident that I’ve arrived at a blend that manages to be synergistic. The wine is seamless and complete. The best aspects of all the vineyards manage to be enhanced and the weaknesses recede. A lot of trial and error was involved, but the final result makes me very happy and make me feel very blessed.

4

So Steve, how do we get on the list? =) -mJ

5

Since the wine won’t be released until 2010 sometime, the website will be launched sometime in the late summer/early fall of this year. In the meantime, email to me works.

PS - You are on already. :smiley: