A terrific blind CA cab tasting

WINE TALK
1

A wonderful (and obviously carefully curated) selection of cal cabs that belie the notion that its climate or some other cosmic forces forcing folks to make pruney firewater in California. My first pass through these wines was double blind - knowing only that they were CA cabs - and it was only after I realized they were terrific that I had the chance to look at the tasting sheet and realized this was an all-star group.

Wines were ultimately single blind, except for the ringer which replaced the “dummy” Togni which wasn’t actually poured.

In the group’s ranking from worst to first, with my notes:

2007 Beringer Bancroft Ranch - I liked this at first, but to his credit Greg called this out as poorly made long before I realized it. Muted nose; in the mouth, sweet cassis, decent acid and tannin but pruney in the mouth and a touch hollow. Better at first when it seemed fresher; the pruniness got much worse with air. Pretty good wine, but not relative to this very impressive group.

2004 Mayacamas - Big dose of pyrazine here, so most folks guessed this as Eden. Corey, who loves the producer, guessed this blind. The nose is a bit bell peppery, otherwise sort of muted, but this is much better and really quite excellent in the mouth, with cassis, LOTS of graphite, only a touch of pepper and a really nice round, mouthfilling level of concentration despite good acid. I liked more than the group; this is excellent wine but not for the pyrazine shy.

(tie) 2007 Spottswoode “Lyndenhurst” - My least favorite bottle, this is sweet, ripe, hot and unenjoyable. Very polarizing in the group, as it is the cheap date of the evening.

(tie) 2009 Domaine Eden - Everyone agreed this showed a lovely bouquet of fresh crushed cassis and blackberry; everyone agreed that the acid was good. This had surprising complexity, as well, showing a nice cured-meat element that made it more than a barrel of fruit. But this had heat on the finish - so those who objected to that, like me, scored it lower, and those who didn’t mind had it at or near the top. Given the price, this is an excellent wine; ranked low only because of such stuff competition.

2008 Leoville Barton - Ringer. Before the reveal, everyone was commenting on how wonderfully lead pencil this was and how it would fit in so well at a Bordeaux tasting. When told it was a ringer, Greg called it as Leoville Barton without a flick of hesitation, which was magic that Slydini would’ve been proud of. Excellent wine, very classic.

2010 Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Boy, was this obvious. American oak, cassis, and just tastes, for lack of a better description, like Ridge. Everyone nailed this blind. Great acid, good concentration, surprisingly accessible - shows its Merlot. Terrific. My second favorite.

2009 Corison Napa Valley - Others liked more than me - which is not to say I disliked, since the average here was so high. Cassis and tomato leaf on the nose. Crisp, mineral, cassis, juicy palate - clearly made in a less ripe style. Very accessible, less tannins than the other serious bottles. But a bit hollow / dilute, IMO. Others disagreed. Very delicious, drinking great now.

2004 Dunn Napa Valley - my first experience with the Napa though I’ve had several mature examples of the Howell Mountain, none of which have blown me away. This blew me away. Plum, cassis, chocolate, flowers on the nose, by far the most expressive nose of the group; full, rich palate that keeps the chocolate and plum coming with a dollop of oak caramel, and a velvet, soft-textured finish - and yet the wine doesn’t show a hint of heat or sweetness. Long, long wine; I can practically still taste it. Like the other Dunns I’ve had, but with every rough edge sanded off. I liked more than most, even though this was group’s number 1; this was as good as any young cab I’ve had this year.

2

Nice notes, thanks for sharing.

3

Nice.

Note that a green note used to be common for Martin Ray/Mount Eden. Jeffrey’s learned a lot and made changes in the vineyard and winemaking. He said it took him a decade to figure that Cab out. I don’t recall green in anything I’ve tried since maybe '95.

4

I much prefer the Dunn Napa Valley to the Howell Mountain.

5

Well, I was impressed that this was their second wine. I’ve had good examples of Mount Eden in the past (pours one out for the “Old Vines”) but this was a $35 wine that fit right in with the big boys. A couple of folks had as their #1.

6

This surprises me - why do you prefer it?

7

That’s my experience, too. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Howell Mountain, even quite old, where I didn’t find the tannins unpleasantly hard. (Well, I guess there was one from an off vintage once.) The Napa bottling has given much more pleasure for me.

8

I’ve interleaved my notes with David’s.

It was a very good tasting, thanks to Andy Boden’s curation. Much more fun than the 2001 Barolo ordeal on Saturday.

Nice, classic nose, but hot and overripe in the mouth. A shame because there were some nice chocolate and blackcurrant notes. Maybe at 2 brix less… This was the only one I guessed (correctly) at, based on the alcohol. 80-82 points and tied for last place for me.

Some untoasted wood notes on the nose and then some serious vegetation. Tough tannins, less ripe than most here. Hard tannins in the finish. 85 points by me.

I ranked this first, but was too generous, I decided on retasting later. It’s got deep cab fruits on the nose and was rich and luch in the mouth. As it sat out, a strange rosemary taste emerged. Nice wine but not 92 points as I had it originally.

Funky wood smells at first, then fresh green pepper. I mean, get out the paring knife and let’s cut some peppers! Good structure and depth of fruit, though less fruity than most. Chewy. Very restrained. Will be interesting to see where this goes. I found it a tad thin at the back. 90 by me.

Strangely piercing aroma, then some bug spray (i.e., Raid) on the nose. A bit strange. Very, very hard tannins. Stood out in the group structurally. Hard and green at the finish. “Brutal” I wrote. I put it 7th and gave it 80 points. This was the wrong context for the wine, but giving it the benefit of the doubt, one will have to be very patient. I suspect an 09 L-B would have fit in better here.

Well, I didn’t nail it blind, but I wasn’t really guessing last night. Lovely custardy American oak nose. Very balanced and immediately pleasing, but a bit boring at first. The finish seems tougher than the mouth. Was 2010 a cool year in the Santa Cruz Mountains? Seems to have less flesh than other recent bottlings, but still nice. 87+

Taught in the nose, not giving much at first. Approachable in the mouth, but good structure. All is in balance, with nice earthy cab flavors. Less ripe than some, restrained. Could use a bit more flesh on the finish, I thought, but I liked it a lot. 90

Earthy nose. The fruit seemed to be speaking. Lush on the nose. Lush, creamy, silky in the mouth. Yum! Somewhat soft in this crowd – softer tannins and lower acid. More merlot, I wondered? (No.) Could use a bit more backbone on the finish. 89+ -ish for me.

9

I find the Howell to be a touch hollow, the Napa is more complete and generous. Seems a consequence of the extreme manipulation (mal)practiced on that wine by Dunn, namely the alcohol removal. (Not sure if he does that to the Napa as well, but if so that wine can take it better.)

10

You are talking about the 2004 specifically? That’s the only vintage up through 2006 at least that was de-alched so if you’re seeing something else in every other vintage of the HM that is intrinsic to the wine.

11

Was talking about a 2009 I had recently.

12

I had this a month ago at Ridge and bought several. I think this a terrific wine but don’t think it is showing as good as the 08 and 09 was at the same phase. Only 13% abv if I remember correctly and that is always a plus to my way of thinking. The 2010 Monte Bello is sublime.

Thanks for the notes!

Cheers
Tim

13

A great post. I really like the detail of each wine and the secondary comments were also great.

Thanks

14

Sounds like a great tasting. Thanks for the notes.

15

This was a fun tasting. Very predictably for me i had Mayacamas first, Corison 2nd, and Ridge 3rd. I liked the Dunn but did not love it quite as much as others did, and nobody else liked the Mayacamas nearly as much as I did. You could very clearly see the stylistic differences among the producers, in a lineup of mostly traditionalists the Spottswoode was obviously cut from a different cloth.

In the other direction, the Leoville-Barton stuck out like a sore thumb. Good potential but backward as hell and very cedary and drying. Needs a long sleep.

16

I just finished the leftover Ridge, Mayacamas and Leoville Barton tonight. (There as a lot of leftover LB! I had no interest in the Beringer.)

The sweet American oak of the Ridge really came to the fore. It’s a nice wine, but I think the cool vintage (2010) left it a bit lean, certainly compared to recent prior vintages. I think that’s probably why the oak stood out so.

The Mayacamas (2004) is nice, but didn’t send me, and had a little green streak.

The surprise was the (2008) Leoville Barton. The first sip tonight was still of the brutalist school. But with some beef mushroom stew with pasta, it really started to open up, and even showed a little sweet fruit by the end. That wine will both demand and reward great patience. It would have been interesting to have the 09 in this crowd.

Reflecting back on Tuesday and some other leftovers yesterday, I (a) was thrilled to have a line-up that, with the exception of the Beringer, was not jammy or candied and over-alcoholic, but (b) was left wanting a bit more flesh, and a little less leanness. Even the 09s – the Corison and Dom. Eden – were very restrained. I’d like wines that were three-quarters toward this end of the scale but a quarter of the way back to rich California cab.

17

If it was double blind, wouldn’t you only know the wine was red? I’m trying to remember high school science here, but a single blind would tell you that it’s CA cabernet, correct?

18

Beau – This was single blind: We had the list but didn’t know which was which. With the twist that the Leoville Barton was served in place of the Philip Togni that was on the list.

But David arrived late and didn’t look at the list before tasting through the wines. That’s why he called it double blind for him (if you allow that to cover knowing the category of wines).

19

Great tasting guys. As mentioned, the '08 Leoville Barton (a Frenchie that I have a soft spot for) was just too young. The American Oak on Ridge cabs can be a dead give away to be sure. Monte Bello is 100% new oak (demanding age), not sure about the Estate. I’d guess that both the LB and the Ridge Estate will be far more pleasurable in about five years.

20

Its funny, right before I left, I dumped all my leftovers in a single glass; so it was, say, 33% Beringer and Spottswoode and 66% everything else. It one was of the more delicious “wines” of the evening.