Lean California cabernets

WINE TALK
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A topic near and dear to my heart. Lots of great suggestions here already. A couple others that haven’t been mentioned:

Ryme’s Massa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon definitely fits this bill. About as close to lightfooted as Cabernet can get without being dull. My wife, a Loire Cabernet Franc devotee, loves it.

On a different note, August Briggs makes a nice Cabernet from Two Moon Vineyard that is nicely restrained, though may be polarizing in style, being vinified in American oak. I like it and would recommend it as a wine that doesn’t get a lot of widespread love.

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Awesome! Have read about Rhyme and will check out

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I prefer this style.

Arnot-Roberts, Beta, Ceritas, Corison, Extradimensional YEAH*!, and TIDINGs.

Had Hardy’s Cab recently and was really impressed! 15% Merlot and clocks in at 13.2%.

cc : @H_Wallace_Jr

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Sandar & Hem Bates Ranch is a good one, reasonably priced too.

Not SCM, but I opened a 2013 Stony Hill the other day. Cool, stern, classic in style. Will be better in a decade I think.

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Maitre de Chai – they make a fairly lean cab, in addition to other wines in their portfolio
Corison – already mentioned, great
Ceritas – already mentioned, his cab is definitely on the leaner side, good, but green and would give some years to soften
Stony Hill – I had a current release cab from them recently that was lean, indeed

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Ashes & Diamonds is the “leanest” I’ve had. Some of their cabs are below 13% abv. Minimal new oak, earlier picks, etc.

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Do you have a favorite of theirs and it seems like their naming strategy is a little confusing (it’s not easy finding the exact wine on Cellar Tracker).

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This is a fantastic Cab, Ryan used to make another awesome Cab from a vineyard in the Fountaingrove AVA but it was destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs fire. Love what Ryan and Megan are doing at RYME.
Hardy’s Extradimensional Cab (and Merlot and Cab Franc) is also terrific.

Tom

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Thank you, @Robert_Dentice !

Thank you, Tom!

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Agreed, their naming convention is annoyingly complicated - there’s zero reason to have an extra number on top of a vintage. We’ve had the most Rancho Pequeno and Vineyard 1, both really good (2015 and 2016) but honestly the Grand Vin (Cab Franc / Merlot blend) is probably my favorite. We’ve yet to try V 1 or Saffron but have a few on hand.

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Have heard their wines are great but have never tried. Will need to fix that.

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I had the 2021 Lichau Hill Cab from Desire Lines over the weekend - definitely on the leaner side of Cali Cabs, and it was really quite good. Singing with a 3 hour decant.

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I recently tried the 2018 Spider Chase Cabernet Sauvignon from Unturned Stone, it’s also from Waterhorse Ridge (like Enfield). Really nice wine entering a sort of secondary stage already with evolved aromas but good depth and plenty of acidity. Reasonably priced as well.

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Thank you John! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it.

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Stony Hill is an example of my point. They got punished for not making the expected style of Cab and actually ripped out those vines. Later, they realized how good they were and they they didn’t need to be concerned with some head-up-his-ass critic, so replanted. Enough people realize this is a great Cab that rewards extensive age that it makes sense. That speaks to relying on long-term loyal customers who know their stuff, instead of trying to market to point whores.

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Agree with others that “lean” wrt Napa or CA Cabs is a relative term, but I’ll infer what you’re after.

Enfields Hennessy Ridge (Napa) and Waterhorse Ridge (Fort Ross) are some of the leanest I’ve had.
Sandar & Hem SCM is also pretty lean as is Hardy’s ExtraDimensional SCM Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc offerings. I’ve had the Enfields with some age but the others have needed a bunch of air as they’re so young.

Still savory but not as lean IMO-
Smith Madrone
Togni
Mount Eden
Curly St James
DiCostanza

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I would highly recommend the Steinbeck cab from Paso Robles. It’s so lean it’s almost Pinot like.

Their winemaker is Steve Glossner, the Justin winery OG, who really knows his stuff.

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A member here
EMH Black Cat
https://www.emhvineyards.com/home.html

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Merrill recently sold her vineyard and house (it’s no more).

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I am aware of that, but I brought up her wines because they age well and I have seen them from time to time on the auction sites so with some patience they are still findable and worth the effort.
In fact there is a bottle of her special selection on Winebid right now.

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