Tastry sighting on the website!!! ![]()
Also, I like boom boom, thinking about another case of lot 5.
Tastry sighting on the website!!! ![]()
Also, I like boom boom, thinking about another case of lot 5.
Don’t think the new oak clue helps as both the Peter Michael wines say 100% new french oak already?
These tastry ratings are not particularly intuitive. For example: Lot 6 Rose crispness 0.9/10 – so this is the least crisp rose imaginable? Or is a 0 the most crisp?
We didn’t have time for much of a decant, so it was out of bottle the whole night! I was shocked as I thought IT would be shocked, it wasn’t.
FWIW the 2019 Au Paradis (their 100% Oakville) was 60% New Oak (source WA Review here: 2019 Peter Michael 'Au Paradis' Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, USA (750 – Woods Wholesale Wine) though later years it seems like 100%, but nevertheless it is conceivable that they might have some extra non-NFO-aged Oakville vinified in case they want to blend it.
According to the winery, the 2019 Au Paradis was 100% but as I look back through my notes, it could be that they aren’t updating the oak treatment each year as their tech sheets state “18 months in French oak barrels from artisan coopers” for every vintage since inception (2011). Of course this is the former Showket vineyard.
More recent vintages of the l’Esprit are a blend of fruit from both the Les Pavots and Au Paradis vineyards. My notes indicate that the 2016 was the first vintage to include fruit from Au Paradis. If L5 is Peter Michael, it more closely resembles recent vintages of l’Esprit IMO. Having tasted Lot 5, again, I’m not convinced it is PM, but I am not willing to say it isn’t. For <$17, it’s damn fine.
Are we sure it isnt a custom blend from Beringer? They own a lot of Knights Valley grapes, and all the grapes listed in the lot 5 are grapes that Beringer has access to and has used before in some of their Private Reserve Cabs like this one (2018 Beringer Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Magnum)
Only thing I’d say is for sure my guess doesn’t change. The “second wine” clue was a huge nod to Peter Michael from a prominent publication. If I had a real guess to add, these are 9 discrete barrels that were final blends that didn’t meet the desired profile and were bulked out. Some may have been earmarked for Les Pavots, some for L’esprits des pavots. I’d assume they taste awesome (I’ve tasted it and I think so) and that it is barrels that they didn’t want in their final bottling so I wouldn’t expect it tastes exactly like either wine, but close. I haven’t compared and I don’t intend to spend the money to find out.
Wait, is lot5 Boom Boom?
I like a good Beringer guess here.
I’ve recently posted I think dN Lot 78 is actually Beringer Home Vineyard….
A lot does seem to line up. Although the Knight Valley isn’t usually in the Private Reserve Cab for Beringer I thought?
Or is the ‘labeling error’ Cam mentioned really just slight of hand that maybe this isn’t ’Knights Valley’…
What the hell does boom boom mean - other than great marketing by ‘the king’?
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Bold, Outstandingly rich, Overripe, Mouth-filling?
I feel like Beringer’s flagships are too Cab Sauv dominated for them to be the source, plus their prices are not hitting $200. Especially since the recent email from Cam said he checked the blend’s varietal compositions and it looked like the house’s flagship wine.
Beringer does use a lot of Knights Valley fruit but I think the copy today saying this isn’t the second label is telling.
Also 5 is good…
What exactly is your charter here? To attempt to undermine Cameron Hughes’ business model, patronize his loyal customers, or other?
“Boom boom” in style, I believe.
It’s AAFWE
It’s just Larry being Larry … he knows exactly what boom boom means, unless maybe he has forgotten.
Is there an all red Cam X sampler rn? I will happily send one to Larry so he can give his impressions of the actual wines.
He just wants you to buy the rest of this one, an 11 year young future:
I do want to taste Larry’s wines. He’s been around here enough and I have a thing for Mourvedre.