TN: 2003 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard (USA, California, Napa Valley)

WINE TALK
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  • 2003 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (2/11/2012)
    Very youthful color at nearly ten years old. Quite opaque purple with only a tiny bit of ruby at the rim.
    Very pretty nose. Granite, black fruits, tobacco and cedar. Quite lovely and complex.
    Dense palate with full body and significant extract. Powerful, but balanced. Showing a strong tannic backbone, but lovely complexity and balance. Definitely not a fruit bomb. Drinking quite well right now, but definitely has the stuffing and balance to age and improve. The texture is a bit gritty almost fom the tannin and extract with a bit of a sour cherry / Asphalt note on the palate.
    Really quite tasty. I hoped it would be good, but this was really very nice. The 2003 vintage in Napa was tricky, but Araujo did a masterful job! I suspect this will be even better in ten years! (96 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for checking in on this one, I have a few in the cellar and have been holding off. I’ll probably continue to wait, but your note is making it tempting.

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Steve,

Thanks for the note. You are correct about the 2003 vintage being difficult, but the winemaking team at Araujo hit it out of the park. I tried one from my allocation and was so impressed that I then hid the rest away in the remote reaches of the cellar in hopes that I would forget it was there.

Thanks for the note and the reminder that it may be time to try another one soon.