2005 Babcock Fathom- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (11/28/2009)
This wine is so ‘Babcock’ in nature, I could probably pick it blind. Blackberries, blueberries, and the quintessential Babcock baking spices with a big dose of tobacco on the nose. Rather substantial mouthfeel, good dose of oak, more blackberry sauce, salty meat, and even some cassis on the palate. It’s a big, bacchanalian wine, without question, and sometimes that’s exactly what you are looking for. I wouldn’t think of pairing this with food, but it is perfectly enjoyable on its own, just in a very grand scale. (88 pts.)
SantaBarbaraCnty has a reputation for making weedy/vegetal/herbal Cabs. That reputation was well deserved back in the day when Firestone was the only one making Cabernet in SBC.
But that reputation is sooooo yesterday. There are some very/very good Cabs & Cab-based wines coming out of SBC these days. BrianBabcock has been one of the ringleaders of
this movement. Dore/Walthen another. This Fathom is a good place to start for those who still believe the old paradigm of SBC Cabs.
Tom