We got a chance to visit with Jeff, Brittany and their beautiful little girl last week on our trip to Napa. Great time hanging out with family Ames and tasting through the fall wines. No notes so these are from memory.
The release wines are
2012 Bedrock Red Wine- great cali field blend drinking very well right now. Juicy bright fruit that should pick up a bit of weight with time. Very good wine and nice value
2012 Napa Cabernet- Wow, might be the most complex and open young Rudius Napa I’ve tasted. The fruit is a blend of Larkmead, Pritchard Hill and Oakville vineyards. Layers of plush dark fruit with a touch of casis. Very good and nice value.
2012 Knockmore(Pritchard Hill) Cabernet- Whoa ! Jeff’s thought’s in the release email are spot on. Plush and seemless from entry to the finish. Reminded me of one of his TOR BTK’s. This is big time Cabernet. Excellent.
We also tasted some Anthem wines including a terrific 11 Mount Veeder cab and a knockout 12 Merlot from their Veeder estate. These were all very good. It seems that Jeff has turned up the dial a bit on his wines and these are a bit more full bodied and plush but very balanced and have the stuffing to support their fruit. Great set of wines from team Rudius.
To get an idea of the style before the offer comes out this week, I have a 2010 Rudius Oakville cab standing up for tomorrow. It’ll be my first cab from Jeff. Any advice on how to treat it?
Andy, I had one earlier this year and remember it being fairly accessible. I don’t remember if I decanted or not, but an hour or two definitely wouldn’t hurt.
andy- I haven’t had the 10 since our tasting but I think that’s the way to go. Open a few hours and pour off a bit to try and then lit it sit. Notes in CT look very positive on how it’s drinking right now.
Mike- the 12 Napa was my favorite of his regular Napa cabs that he’s made. I think he’s making these a bit more on the plush side and more readily accessable and that is also indicative of the vintage. I wouldn’t hesitate to open either cab right now.
Well, we opened our lone bottle of the '10 Rudius Oakville cab tonight and gave it an hour in the decanter before pouring the first glass. On the first sip, my wife says, “Mmm…I really like this!” Me, too. Full-bodied but not overtly sweet, there’s a nice mineral quality to this wine. There’s a touch of black olive (sans brine) on the back end. Reminds me most of the '10 Joseph Phelps cab, which was a high water mark for them, to my palate. At 2.5 hours, the last glass is showing a beautiful bouquet. If I had more, I’d hold my next one for another two years and expect it to be doing fine for at least another 5 years after that.
Andrew- thanks for the note and sneak peek. Sounds like the other positive notes on CT. Will have to give one a try after working through some of the older vintages.