Sorry, tangent alert:
I don’t know squat about CA cabernet, but I do know my Steely Dan. When I saw this title thread, I couldn’t help but think of “My Old School.”
I was smoking with the boys upstairs when I
Heard about the whole affair, I said oh no
William and Mary won’t do
My first post with the new site layout…
I tasted both the 2016s a few weeks ago, so FWIW, here are my impressions. I have yet to receive the offering email, however.
Posted from CellarTracker
LOL
I’m both a big Steely Dan fan and have a daughter at William & Mary. I’m almost obligated to buy some.
just had them last week…for me this is a must buy. loved both cab and blend. great juice
Spot on with the Cab, Frank. Totally agree.
Will was kind enough to bring over his 16’s…plus almost the entire range of 16’s from Rivers Marie a couple weeks back. Both of Will’s wines were good but the 16’ Cabernet really stood out as being super serious and for sure his best Cabernet bottling to date.
In for Cab.
Wish I could take my full allocation because Will is an awesome dude. Unfortunately overcommitted.
I wish him him best of luck with his project.
How’s the cab compare to other $110 bottling? Any fair comparisons?
The cab smokes other $110 bottlings. Do not hesitate. It’s really a $90-something bottling with free shipping and no tax. Buy!
I like your self-brainwashing strategy! Might have to start telling myself the same lol.
I’ve been buying since the 2014, haven’t tried one yet…although that will soon be changing, as I grabbed one today from storage - will post impressions.
Whelp. I’ll be in for at least 3 then. Maybe 6. Good selling.
I went in for threee of the cabs. We opened a 2015 Sunday and it was fabulous. I really wanted to pick up some of the propriety red but just can not swing it right now due to other commitments, wine and otherwise. It it was sold by single bottles I would at least get one just to try it.
I went all-in again this year. I have not tried the 2016s yet, but the 2014 and 2015 Cabs were spectacular. They are “big boy” wines, but there is a seriously structured inner core to them as well which I think indicates they will age AND transform with time.
As a general rule, I am very much old-world minded- Chateau Magdelaine is the largest holding in my cellar- but this a rare California Cabernet I have found that has that thrilling edge and heft of the some of the more “modern” cult wines, yet with a proper balance and a firm basic structure keeping it all in place.
On the question of price since many have raised it- yes I know $95-110 is, on the face of it, a lot of money (and buying both at once was really painful- hoping for staggered releases in future)- but it is a good bit less expensive than many other limited production Cabs new to the market in recent years which do not show near the promise. If a major critic starts publishing the kinds of ratings I think this will get, $110 will be a dream long gone before too long is my guess.
My prior post on the 2014: “Opened a bottle of 2014 William & Mary recently. What struck me about this bottle was its uniqueness in the large sea of often good but somewhat indistinguishable Napa cabs. There were two things about this that stood out to me. One was the “oily” texture, mentioned above, which was definitely there and definitely a positive. The other was on the palate for me, which screamed cherry with an under layer of dark cocoa, but in a really cool and unique way which was not at all traditional overripe red fruit and chocolate notes. It was very nuanced and delicious. Really cool wine, glad I ordered some.”
I have not had the 2015, but bought some, and I just bought 3 of the 2016 Cab. I would buy more, but I’m very overweight U.S. in my cellar and trying to rebalance old world. I’m hardly buying any U.S. wines right now…the fact that I bought this is a sign to myself that it is very high on my list of Napa Cabs.
Love it Phil…I may steal this strategy to justify my purchases as well!
I went in too!
As mentioned above, Will is the winemaker.
The fruit comes from his wife’s family vineyard which had previously sold the fruit to another producer. Will got involved and helped “update” the contracts with new producers and Will is taking some of the fruit for his bottling.
I really like it. I wrote down tasting notes when FMMIII / I visited but haven’t written them up.
We had the '14 with Brian Tuite in June; it was terrific (but no formal notes).
I took 3X Cab and 3X proprietary Red. Haven’t tried any of my 15s yet but am excited to as the reviews seem overwhelmingly positive. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
+1
I opened the 2014 yesterday, ended up drinking it with unexpected company so no notes. It was my first William & Mary and all I can say is that it’s awesome, awesome Cab – in fact, we had it next to a 2012 Myriad Dr. Crane (“regular”) and the William & Mary was just as good, if not even better.
Although this is at the top end of what I pay for wine, I’m already regretting only purchasing 3 bottles per release.