Steve Eisenhauer was kind enough to pour a couple of his 2008 Congruence Cabernet barrel samples last evening for a few of us.
What a great wine.
2008 Congruence Napa Valley (barrel sample 1) - nice blackish color, purple tinged edges. Great nose of red and black fruits with something of a hint of herbaceousness reminiscent of Petit Verdot but I was assured none was in the mix. 4 separate vineyards of Cab coming together here.
The palate has great currant filled fruits layered with some black cherry and blackberries. Throw in some cassis liqueur and a touch of leather. Elegant now and if it were a bit plusher I would have thought it be a very high end Cali cab. Really.
The mouth feel is very nice and everything is hitting a harmony very early on, keeping in mind this is a barrel sample, I just got to say….wow. Super structured with a balance and promise one could not ignore. Once this has a few years in the bottle and sheds its almost non-existent baby fat anyone lucky enough with some in their cellar will be greatly rewarded. (This is the final blend choice for the 2008 Congruence).
I had asked Steve to please re-label as Chateau Mike. He said he will think bout it.
93/100
2008 Congruence barrel sample (blend 2) – This was very different. One of the component sites of Cab has been removed and it is surely missed. It had some black fruits, some cassis but was much edgier and more four square in style. Gone is the elegance and structure and present is some sour cherry and and a slightly green tinged short finish. Amazing when you realize how that one site of Cab really fills out the sum of all. The group of tasters all agreed on this as well. Since final blend choice was not known going in, Steve was beaming as he told us that his final blending choice had already been decided and was glad to announce it was number 1 above. So were we.
Congratulations, Steve! Where did you make your wine? Do you use Crushpad? (Maybe we should have a Crushpad virtual tasting of board members’ wines?) Are you going to buy grapes again this year, and if so, what changes would you make?
Thanks. Yes, CP. I will be buying again this year and will not be making any changes. I’m getting pretty much exactly what I want from my current vineyards.
Sherri, that was the '07. If you could imagine, as good as that was, and it was, this one last night was even better.
Cheers!
Here is my notes from that other site: 2007 Congruence– 3 site Cabernet, Napa- Steve Eisenhauer’s wine surely made a splash. Nice medium to dark color, very pretty floral nose. I sensed some Petit Verdot, but was assured none was in the mix. The palate has a nice pure mouth feel that exhibited deep dark cassis and black cherries. Nicely balanced and elegant. If there is something I would like to see in this is a bit more backbone, as they are being judicious with the French oak. Smartly so. This was my number 5 on the evening! Number 6 was the Schrader ToKalon! Throughout the night this really held its own. I kept it in my glass all night and made sure to take seconds early on. (good thing as Sherri was the ‘Real Housewife’ ambassador and took it away). At the end of the night I was left with 10 glasses in front of me, only 3 were empty: 2 Maybachs and this. What an amazing effort Steve and thanks for sharing. Where do I sign up? Oh yeah, I did already. 91/100
Actually, on Pobega Points, which are eerily similar to the scores Parker gives to wines later (see 2007 Polaner event), I would have tied for second place at the Ghost Horse diiner, one point behind WOTN.
From what I heard, at the price point you are going to offer it at, which is congruent with that of Levy & McClellan, I think you’ll do just fine! Only kidding Steve, but looking forward to it! -mJ
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