Hi,
I bought the 2013 MB futures for the first time this year. I believe the 2011 estate cab will be released shortly and I have a great pre-buy price from my LWS. Anyone tasted this? Not seeing much info out there on CT. My LWS New World buyer is telling me that 2011 is shaping up to be a record year and suggesting two cases. Should I trust him?
Thx, David
Two cases untasted would be too much for me - what do you do if you don’t like the wine?
It certainly wasn’t a record year for California cabernet overall, unless you like botrytis-infected red wines. But I can’t speak to Santa Cruz Mountains or Monte Bello specifically. Ridge quite likely handled the cool temps better than most, though I did pick up a bit too much in the way of unripe green pepper flavors in many of the 2011 Ridge Zinfandels…
I’m not sure what LWS is, but if “record year” is his turn of phrase, I would want some serious clarification. The 11 vintage presented a lot of challenges in California, and while there are lots of very good wines, anyone selling you 11s as a cakewalk vintage of the century kind of thing would raise serious red flags for me.
Santa Cruz Mts is not Napa, but it was not an easy vintage there either. They poured the 2011 Monte Bello at the recent assemblage tasting (2011 is the current release, and what we were picking up). I liked it quite a lot, but it is a leaner, tighter wine than normal for a MB. I don’t know what that means exactly for the Estate Cab, but that will probably be a little “less” of everything than the MB. I don’t think I would go 2 cases on the Estate Cab, probably not even a full case. It’s not a wine that should sell through immediately anywhere in most years, and almost certainly not for the 2011. I would wait, taste, then buy if you like.
Welcome to Wine Berserkers David. So, what is “LWS”?
Sorry, LWS = local wine store
Here is his advice,
“All of the best wineries made some of their very best wines in 2011. Not sure if you have been following vintages but 2008-2011 happened to be the worst four year stretch for Cali; record low production, but on the contrast some of the best wines. Wineries and winemakers had to work harder and more intelligently than ever before to stay afloat, especially in 2011. It was said that in 2011 production was down by 25%; it was so bad wineries that never had to allocate wines had to for the first time in years. On top of low production there is a very good chance 2011 will achieve “Classic” status. I’m just giving you some advice based on what I have heard and seen.”
My advice would be to find a new wine shop. Sounds like someone is trying to move '11. If '08-'10 are the worst, then I must love shitty wine. ![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}
I’ve been selling wine at retail successfully and with integrity for a long time. That guy is an idiot or a liar, and you can tell him I said so. Give him my name.
David,
Going back to what you were asking on the Ridge thread, if you haven’t tasted the Ridge Estate I would purchase a bottle and give it a shot before I picked up 2 cases. If I like a wine, I usually purchase 3-4 bottles to cellar; then, I can pop one every few years to see how it’s evolving. I’m not telling you what to do, just passing on some of my bad habits. This board is a great resource for advice on wine, tasting notes and about everything else related to wine. Once again, welcome to WB.
Thanks Rick. Great advice. I read the 2011 Vintage Napa Report thread and found a 2011 Santa Cruz Vintage Report on another site. Looks like a challenging year across the board. The only people making comments that align with this guy are the vineyards and they clearly have a vested interest.
David: First, I agree with everything said above about 2011 generally. I was in Napa/Sonoma last week and almost everyone we talked to poured their 2011s with an explanation/story/discussion. Certainly there are good and great wines in 2011, but it’s not a vintage to load up on without tasting first. I know nothing about the vintage in Santa Cruz Mountains, but anyone pitching 2011 as a vintage where stellar wines were made across the board is just flat out wrong or not being honest. Second, we stopped by Ridge between a couple appointments and I tasted the 2011 Estate Cab and didn’t buy (it was $50 at the tasting room). It was fine, but nothing spectacular, so that’s a second reason I wouldn’t load up, definitely not multiple cases. What was the price you were offered? I don’t think it’s a bad buy at $50, I just didn’t love it and spent my money elsewhere. At $40 I might have grabbed a couple bottles, but not a case. One thing I can tell you is that I bet you made a good decision to get the 2013 MB futures…that’s almost always a good deal, and 2013 is going to be good.
Awesome
Add my name to Jim’s!
David,
I think rule no. 1 these days is to try the wine first and see if you like it - REGARDLESS of what others say. That said, if you ‘trust’ your LWS and if he/she has not steered you wrong in the past and you’ve been happy with the results, then feel free to go for it. BUT you might want to ask them - if you DON’T like something they are so psyched about, will they take it back from you?!?!? THAT would be a great way for them to ‘put their money where their mouths are’ - and I’m not sure they’ll be willing to do so . . .
Cheers!
![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
Run as fast as you can, the guy who was telling you this was probably selling mobile phones last week and water filters the week before that
Yeah, in this case I’d say LWS = Lying Wanker Sh!thead
You can still get earlier and better vintages of the estate red.
We tasted the '11 Estate Cab & '11 Estate Merlot at the recent Monte Bello Components tasting. I like the Cab and will pick up a couple bottles at retail (should be about $40). The Merlot was just meh.
Sounds like the sales guy is a weasel. This is a good wine, but how good you think it is depends on your preferences. Not sure why you’d want 2 cases of anything. There are so many interesting wines out there to try, why drink the same thing over and over? If you’re so inclined, buy a bottle and try it. You might want a few more.
'11 was a challenging vintage. Don’t expect any “big” wines. The best wines have great depth with lower alcohol. Generally, I think they’ll be approachable earlier. A couple of the main problems - low fruit set and not ripening (not harvested) - don’t exactly effect quality. Some areas had rot issues. Of those, a lot was (again) not harvested. Others were subject to meticulous sorting, making rot a non-issue (but further reducing yield).
I’d be buying at $28 for 2 cases no more as it will not be that hard to acquire and I’d also prefer to get 5 bottles of 5 wines instead.
In some circles, people call average vintages “classic”, as opposed to other vintages called great. Bad misuse of the word Classic IMHO and quite misleading - three types of vintages: great, classic and useful. I wonder if that is going on here. If so, run from the retailer, although my guess is that virtually every Ridge cab will be quite good.