I couldn’t wait and had to try our friend Roy’s new wine. Here’s my notes as I’m sure there are many interested out there.
2011 Roy Piper Cabernet Sauvignon- USA, California, Napa Valley, Oak Knoll (12/8/2014)
Not an atypical Napa cab upon opening. Day one had a tight nose of forest floor/mushroom crushed rocks. This is a very dark purple in the glass. Tightly wound up right now but think it has potential which I wouldn’t say of many 11 Napas I’ve tried thus far. Have half the bottle left for tomorrow with some air. Interested to see how it evolves with more air. Day two. 1/2 bottle recorked left in cellar overnight. Much prettier more feminine floral nose peeking out this evening. Some nice red fruits starting to poke out in the mouth with a touch of sweetness I didn’t get yesterday. Also some grilled meats with big dusty tannins on the finish. Lots of structure something new every sip. This is a big brooding wine with layers and layers to unwind. You should be proud of this for a first vintage Roy. I’ll try my best to hold off a few years for another and definitely think this goes 7-10 easy. Impressive for a 2011. Make sure it has a very healthy decant if trying now.
I must admit, it is scary for me to give up control of my wines. I made them and have raised them and for the first time, they are out of my control, entirely. Haha.
Some people are opening them already. If any of you do get tempted, I suggest trying the 2011, rather than the 2010, which is still evolving a lot lately. I opened a 2011 last night and it seemed best with about 4 hours decanted, so I recommend that, and having it with a bold red meat to stand up to it.
Piper…I was told early on that you should not let any wine of yours out of your sight until you were ready for it to become someone else’s wine. Anyone out there can do and say anything they want: it is now their wine. And, I am pretty sure you know who that was, and he was not wrong.
I actually LIKE young wine. That probably comes from being a winemaker, where 98% of all the wine I taste as part of my job is under two years old.
So for me, I say, if you bought 3 of each vintage, is…
Have one bottle of 2011 around Christmas. Just make sure you have it with red meat. It would overwhelm chicken or turkey. And give it 3-4 hours of a full decant beforehand.
I actually like to try at least on bottle early on, so I get a full understanding of what it is like in its “primary” stage. I do that even with Bordeaux, upon release. I like to experience the full-evolution of a wine, rather than wait until a specific wine is at its apogee.
Give the 2010 a good 6 months. The 2010 has a good dose of Cayuse-like reduction, that comes from having just one racking over its two years in barrel. It needs more time and more air. My 2010 is the closest thing I have ever done to “natural” winemaking and has a lot in common aromatically Northern Rhone Syrah right now. Over the last twelve months it has really come around and is shedding that reductive note, but it could use another 6 months to shed even more, imho. Even thought the 2010 is more fruit forward and with less structure, it is the one that actually needs more time.
Hahaha, actually my wine is listed as “Napa” and not “Oak Knoll.” And the 2010 is 96% Rutherford GIII Cab and 4% St Helena DR Crane PV. The 2011 has 25% Moulds, which is Oak Knoll. But I would never label a $100+ Cab as Oak Knoll, unless I was trying not to sell it.
Congrats on everything Roy, but now your too busy to post like you used to, miss that.
Best of luck sweating out reviews etc. If you have time maybe you could post about that process a little…are you planning to submit bottles and if so to whom kind of thing.
Good question about 2012 offer. I am partially tempted to offer them as soon as March, with immediate delivery. I just don’t want to overwhelm people.
The other option is to wait until late summer, with delivery in early November. I made a mistake making the offer of 2010+2011 so close to harvest this year. Aaron Pott does this, but he has Claire to do the offering while he is making wine. I sometimes forget I am a one-man operation.
I am very open to people’s thoughts on when to offer the 2012!
