2002 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon- USA, California, Napa Valley (6/6/2009)
Classic napa nose, with abundant kirch, black rasberries, blackberries, cedar and hints of spice and bitter chocolate. One of the more impressive noses that I can recall smelling recently. Palate has good mix of red and black fruit and lively acidity. Mid palate is a little hollow but good tannins, currant and spice on the backend. Unfortunately, the fruit seems dominated by the tannin and I feel that the balance won’t be regained as time progresses. If you got these in your cellar, I would drink up over the next couple years.
Thanks for the note on my absolute favorite Napa producer. I do however respectfully disagree on the aging curve. I believe they will get much better in the future if stored properly.
I’m with Franks. This wine has great stuffing and everything will come into balance for the patient. The tannins are ample, but nothing that time won’t resolve. It’s not like the fruit is going to disappear. I’d say give it 5 more years and then dig in.
One way to find out. With the few I have left, I will lay a couple dpwm for long term storage and a couple for near term drinking. My issue was that, even with air, the fruit didnt take the front seat and I felt that the tannins would outlive the fruit. Either way, completely agree about how good and consistent KL is.
I have to agree with this sentiment. I had a '95 recently that was just entering its drinking window . . . for my palate. These wines age gracefully and probably should be avoided any earlier than 7-10 years.
I just picked up two mags of the 1995 for summer drinking and I can’t wait to pull the corks. Last time I had it out of large format it was just killer and blew away a lot of other very big names.
My curiosity was raised, so we popped one Saturday night. While tannic, I thought there was more than enough fruit there to ensure good aging. I’ll probably wait 2-3 years for single bottles and 4-6 for my magnums.
