Article;The return of Cabernet

WINE TALK
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Jon Bonné

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Looks like an interesting one to read. The annoyance have having to register is just that. The title is quite accurate though.

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Ah! Voila! It’s a pay site.

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If you google it, you can read it. Nice article, with a small amount of (admitted) bias. I tend to agree with the author so didn’t bother me much

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I enjoyed the article and collect many of the producers recommended for this style, e.g. Corison.

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Enjoyed the article… I really enjoy his writing – fully understanding his POV – and his willingness to praise wineries that don’t get the love from the best-known publications. Thanks for referring!

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So without reading it I’m sure he goes on to heap praise on his friends (like all his articles); Corison, Mayacamas, Larkmead, Konsgsgaard, Matthiason etc. Right? Always the same tiresome drumbeat from him.

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Anyone got a link that opens?

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I had a difficult time reconciling the article with the fact that, according to the Grape Crush Report, the average brix at harvest of 2013 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon was 26.3. That’s the highest on record by over half a brix.

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

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maybe you should try reading it

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Ok, just did. Every producer I mentioned is named in the article and it’s the same thing he always says about napa and Cabernet. What’s new about this?

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Glenn- for some reason if you do a google search and then use the link from search you can read the article.

I thought it was an interesting piece and not surprising as there is some pull back on ripeness happening and obviously a topic that has been well discussed. I don’t find him too dogmatic like Asimov and most importantly my palate seems to be aligned on a lot of the wines he recomends so I have a good feel for the wines he usually recommends.

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Definitely a lot of the usual names but I enjoyed the read.
Then again, with your location I assume you see much more of JB than I do.

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Sarah, you seem frustrated. Which producers is Jon missing?

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Mike, the snapshot the author takes is certainly small. There are many names who make world-renown class Cab in the valley that have not been mentioned, but I guess that is par for an subjective opinion. (Bevan, Myriad, Schrader, are the peak of such an iceberg), but let’s be real, the moment Dunn and Togni are mentioned it is well expected.

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Mike, I think Jon’s article focuses on a specific, more restrained segment of the market. I enjoy Mike Smith and TRB too, but they are outside this segment, IMO.

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Snowden is certainly not in that group of ‘returnables’

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I’d probably include TRB and MS in the “ripe but balanced” category, but this was Jon’s article. Overall, I think that Jon does an excellent job describing an interesting new, mostly more traditional movement in California wine.

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A few of the usyal suspects are mentioned…a few new ones. Overall, a fairly interesting read. Though I have
next to no interest in NapaCabernet, I enjoyed the article, even if it was a bit predictable.
But a few comments:

  1. The “food wine” revolt of the early '80’s was almost exclusively a reaction to the high-alcohol Zinfandels of the '70’s.
    Those “food wine” Zins of the early '80’s were, by & large, pretty nasty things. But, from my perspective looking in the
    rear view mirror, the Cabernet arena was pretty much untouched by the “food wine” revolt. I certainly don’t recall a concious movement by Cabernet producers to reign in their alcohol levels
    and pick earlier.
  2. Jon characterizes the Cabs from Monterey (and Central Coast…though there weren’t many other than Firestone & Tepesquet) as “seriously green, in the underripe, not herbal, sense”.
    Again, that conflicts w/ my recollect. Those Mirrasou and other SalinasVlly Cabs had plenty of alcohol, usually above 13% as I recall. They displayed a rather herbal streak to downright
    vegetal character…canned aspargas and canned green beans (for the folks who worship at the altar of terroir…they shoulda loved those wines). Primarily it was the result of extensive
    irrigation of the vnyds to give a heavy/lush foilage to the vines. A lot of pryazines were the result. It wasn’t until DougMeador and BillJeckel learned how to farm those grapes
    that the “Monterey veggies” became a thing of the past. SalinasVlly Cabernets still show a distinctly herbal edge, oftentimes chocolately…but they’re far better than they were
    in the late '70’s.
    Tom