I’ve been saving a lot of these California cult wines for a while to do exactly what our wine club , the Euryanthes , did : to compare them blind to their Bordeaux counter parts when they are supposed to be ready . In this case , after 17 years . Most of the Cali wines were bought in the US on release and hand carried back to Belgium . All these wines have been in my cellar for more than 10 years . Our goal was to initiate conversation ( proving absolutely nothing ) and we definitely achieved that , especially at the end of the night !
Regarding the Bordeaux’s , no surprises at the tasting ( unless this : 40 wines , 2 corked : Petrus and Las Cases ! ).
California was a mixed bag : there were a lot of wines that I found from average to horrible : with green unripe flavors , reminding me of asperagus and with other vegetal dominant flavors . A second category of big fruit bombs , with lot’s of alcohol but often with beautiful ripe fruit . But even after 17 years , they remain monolythic in taste ( and I think that it wil stay like that ). Then a third category of lovely finesse wines that do not have that big concentration but that I adore . This third category ( Dominus , Opus 1 : yes , Beringer ,Ridge , etc ) are difficult to distinguish from their Bordeaux colleagues , I thought .
But a good trick to know when you do these blind tastings is : when it smells like Eucalyptus , it’s California .
It was a blind tasting , and my top-5 wines were
Haut Brion
Lafite
Margaux
Latour
Dalla Valle Maya .
Others had a completely different top 5 , votes were all over the place . At the end , Lafite came in first , followed by Beringer reserve cabernet , Trotanoy , Eglise clinet and Margaux .
We were 9 tasters and their nr 1 wines were : Trotanoy , Beringer ( twice ! ) , Dalla Valle ( not the Maya ) , Eglise Clinet , Lafite , Abreu , Margaux and Haut Brion .
I will post my individual tasting notes tomorrow , I have to run to a dinner … ( for the insiders : with FdC )
Great stuff Herwig. I have to say that the third category of wines you listed (Dominus, Ridge) are indeed my favorite Cali Cabs. Look forward to reading the complete notes.
Wondering, how was 95 heralded as a vintage in California? I don’t hear things about it much, anecdotally.
Cros Parentoux or an echezeaux tonight?
It was agreat tasting indeed with unseen differences in preference between the tasters but we must admit that Herwig nailed most Bordeaux wines of all.
my top 3 was Margaux, beringer, latour
I have had some wonderful bottles of 1995 Mondavi Reserve…well stored bottles can be a great blend of finesse and California fruit. Was it in the tasting?
Hi Patrick , what a pleasure to hear back from you . I hope a good wind will bring you back to Belgium some time ( for a good Burgundy tasting ). None of the 40 wines above were really exciting except for the Haut Brion maybe . The DV Maya stood out too , best in class if you like that kind of wine . My 2 disappointments were the Harlan ( completely out of balance ) and the VERY uninteresting Bryant . We went back to those wines a few times and they had gotten worse .
My surprise of the evening was the Opus 1 , really delicious ( I knew Dominus , Beringer , Mondavi and others pretty well so that was not a surprise . )
Chris , contrary to what you may have concluded , I do not believe that the results of these tastings mean anything other than having a good time and provoking nice discussions . We had a few at the tasting who’s top-5 were al California . Nothing wrong with that .
I just do not agree with Robert Parker that you cannot identify California from Bordeaux . If you have some experience doing that ,you will score well . There are different California styles of wine but I find them relatively easy to identify ( except that 5 % Opus 1 like wines ) I have more trouble with new style Bordeaux a la Valandraud and others .
Great tasting, Herwig, and quite an impressive personal performance for you in nailing the origins. I wonder if your “results” give some degree of credence to the more “modern” style of Napa cab, hang the grapes until ultra-ripe and craft a softly-textured, fruit-driven wine for early consumption? My thought is, if this is what you get by aging the wines, why bother? FWIW, it was the same conclusion I had when I tasted 54 CA cabs and 6 Bdx ringers from 1985, at age 10 years.
I would disagree with this. I think both regions would classify 1995 as an excellent vintage but not an exceptional one. The CA wines might show a bit better if from '91 or '94, but I doubt conclusions would change fundamentally. And the Bdx wines would show better if '82 or '90, no?
Looks like Harlan hasn’t changed its stripes in over a decade. I tasted a recent vintage not that long ago and, to me, it was so far over the top it was undrinkable (as a dry table wine). More suitable (after dinner) as a substitute for a vintage Port.
My experience with 1995 Harlan is extremely different (from a bottle last month and one in September). Over the top would be about the last description I would use and funny enough, Bordeaux like would have been more like it. I do not have a California style palate at all and normally drink Burgundy, but those wines with 15 years on them are normally not over the top and are lovely normally.
Then again I have never had an Abreu that I would call Pinot Noir like either so maybe wines just show differently in CA then across the ocean.
Herwig,
It would be great to see you in Belgium. I should be in Europe at some point this summer–I will drop you a note and I can plan to swing through Belgium. Also, if you come to New York, let me know.
I have to say, I too have had a soft spot for the DV Maya. I agree it is not exactly in the Bordeaux style, but I enjoy it. I also am not surprised to find that Dominus was to your liking. I find the 91 and 94 Dominus really quite good.
I have not had any 95 California Cabs in a long time, but at the time of release, it was considered an excellent vintage that was somewhat closed and would age well. It certainly did not get the hype of 1994 or 1997.
? Interesting. I would have thought 1995 was comparable in each. If I had to pick a 1990s vintage from California to show off in a comparison with Bordeaux, it would actually be 1991, not 1994 or 1997.
By the way, years ago I went to MacArthur’s annual barrel sample tasting on the 1995s. Certainly a lot of different wines from what Herwig and his group tasted, but my memory is that my two favorites as futures were the 2 wines from Dalla Valle. That is the only year in which I went that I can remember Dalla Valle being there.