Suggestions for an under-$50 Cal cab tasting?

WINE TALK
61

Scherrer was my first thought.
And if you are looking at auction you can often find older vintages of the original Karl Lawrence at around $45 plus vig.

62

For this purpose, I think we’ll stick to one vintage. 2014 is by far the most readily available.

63

Kathryn Kennedy Estate is a fraction of the size it used to be. Only the small portion facing Pierce remains. Suggested retail on the '14 is $145, a good notch up. Volume of their Small Lot has gone up. Price is still $35. Most vintages I prefer it to the Estate because of the mountain character. (It’s a blend of various Saratoga sites plus a good dose from Martin Ranch and some Bates Ranch.)

I was going to suggest Martin Ranch Estate (which is right next to Bates), but it’s $60 and club only. A bottle of this won our blind tasting of 18 '07 SCM and SCV Cabs, back when they were current releases, with Monte Bello and Mount Eden close behind. (It was my third after those two.)

64

Lots of great suggestions already.

I’ll toss one in for Daou Cab.

65

+1 on the Adelaida Reserve Viking Estate, good wine for the money.

66

Frog’s leap

67

I believe one or both were already mentioned, but Rafanelli and Scherrer were first to come to mind. Anthill made one in 2007 that remains one of my favorites if you can find it. Not a huge cab drinker but I buy those.

68

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69

IMHO:
Good match to parameters:
– Ridge Estate: I’ve really enjoyed the 2014 vintage of this, I should probably buy more
– Frog’s Leap: last vintage I had was 2012 and I think it matches what you’re looking for
– Clos du Val: last vintage I had was 2013, not bad for $25
– Stag’s Leap Artemis: age allows the savory aspects to come out more, fresh vintage may taste more simple
Fair match to parameters:
– Robert Craig Affinity
– Robert Mondavi Oakville: I’m on my last bottle out half a case of the 2008, it has had a nice run for the price
– Heintz Napa: had a 2009 couple of months ago that was drinking well, I think these also taste more fruit forward when young
Less of a match:
– Faust: fruit forward style, don’t get a lot of the cab savory notes but its a crowd pleaser
– Round pond: I enjoy this wine (I like all styles), but I don’t think it’s a match to what you’re looking for due to the higher extraction/alcohol style (last vintage I had was 2013)

70

Thanks for all the thoughts. I can see a consensus emerging on some.

As I think I mentioned above, we’ll limit this to current releases, probably mostly '14s.

71

That’s interesting, as four other people had recommended it on the first page of the thread. What’s a tasting organizer supposed to do?
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72

Hess Collection Mount Veeder Estate Grown

73

Second the motion on Volker Eisele, current release is 2012 I believe.
Second the motion on Neal Family

Vote Von Strasser Diamond Mountain
Vote Snowden The Ranch
Vote Blue Rock out of Alexander Valley

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74

Here are our blind cabernet tasting results from January:

…7 of us tasted 7 cabernet sauvignons. Most were decanted an hour ahead of time. Lowest points was the favorite.

  1. 1984 SF Symphony Bd of Gov. Select (bottled by Wheeler) $60 (in 1984) - 41pts - 4 lasts - it was amazing this 34 year old bottle held up so well - it was very drinkable and only about half the tasters identified it as the oldest one.

  2. 2012 Stonegate Rutherford $35 - 31pts - 1 first

4/5. 2014 Daou Reserve Paso Robles $48 - 29pts - 2 lasts (my last) (the 2015 is better)

4/5. 2014 Cameron Hughes Lot 601 $32 - 29pts

  1. 2015 Textbook Napa $27 - 24pts (my #3 and my wine) (the 2014 is better)

  2. 2014 Louis Martini Napa $30 - 22pts - 3 firsts, 1 last (my first)

  3. 2015 Substance Columbia Valley, WA $16 - 20pts - 3 firsts (Costco - Parker 92pts)

All of these were pretty good and as you can see, the preferences were all over the place. Some held up a little better or improved over time. The top 3 wines were only 2 pts apart. Most preferred a young, inexpensive wine to the older, more expensive ones.

75

We’re including a '14 Clos du Val - Estate - Napa Valley for $44.

It seems that a couple of years ago, they cut their cab production in half and are now producing all their wines exclusively from estate fruit. They have 100 acres of cab vineyards in Stag’s Leap but the label doesn’t say Stag’s Leap, so I assume there’s some fruit from their vineyards in Yountville. There’s nothing about this wine on the website, which probably means the vintage is sold out. I gather this is now the base cabernet bottling. They also have others north of $100.

The shift to estate fruit sounds good, but this statement in Wines & Vines about where they’re going under the Ted Henry, the new winemaker hired in 2016, makes it sound like they’re now trying to move away from a classic style to a more modern, riper one:

As only the fourth winemaker in the four-decade history of Clos Du Val, Henry will be responsible for guiding Clos Du Val’s transition to an estate-focused portfolio, while also continuing a vineyard-driven stylistic shift toward greater ripeness, more mid-palate depth and greater tannin integration.

It sounds like the '14 was made in a transition period.

Anyone know more of the story there? Was there a change in ownership?

76

#137 is a message from Steve Tamburelli at CdV

77

Thanks! That’s super helpful. I hadn’t really followed that thread at the time.

78

[u]AG's Clos Du Val score 95 points - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

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79

FYI, the Clos du Val was very good, my second place among the eight we tasted last night. I’ll post notes later.

80

I’ve (finally) posted notes in a separate thread.