Good point!
Try Muga or some other Rioja of that style. Thatās kiln dried AO, where the dill is in your face. Some '70s and '80s CA Cabs had that, but itās mostly a thing of the past. Air drying pretty much takes care of the dill. Iāve had sensitive people point out dill in a wine where it didnāt occur to me. Then, thinking on it I get it in the herbal mix, but not prominent enough to note. (Often we are grouping a few different smell sensations into one perception, so you might be able to dissect things in your mind and āgetā what someone else is getting when itās not how you get it naturally.)
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Not sure whatās going on recently, but just opened the 2019 Ceritas PMR Cabernet for thanksgiving (I know, a terrible pairing with sweet thxgvn foods, but I didnāt have anything else fancy to open!). Again I get a VA note, same as I had on the two Betaās I opened last week. Iām starting to think I have something going on with my palate at the moment. In any case, itās improving with air by the minute, but still I canāt figure out of itās a VA note our a fruit note, which is really bothering me.
Kept improving. I think something is going on with palate.
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I pick up American quickly. Dill/pine/eucalyptus on the front end of the aroma. Real herby on the palate/fresh cut forest lumber when drinking them. I worked at a winery way back that exclusively used AO and wished theyād use French; not sure if they have mixed things up now. I can immediately tell when blind tasting Ridge.
Stick to riesling on Thanksgiving 
Quoting in reaction to Gabeās note. I didnt get dill when tasting this in a vertical. The Ceritas pdf says 70% new Bordeaux barrels, with the rest neutral. Thatās barrel style, not oak source, so Skurnik could be making an assumption. But, as someone familiar with quite a range of SCM Cabs, they are herbal. Thereās a distinctive local shrub that imparts character to many SCM wines that i havenāt experienced in wines from any other region. This wine has that, itās also from head trained vines. Probably picked around 22-23 brix with some clusters in the mix a bit lower, no Napa shrivel. So, herbal. Old school.
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I was at the Saratoga, California wine stroll on Friday. I got to taste a lot of incredible wines from Santa Cruz Mountains. Clearly an under appreciated high quality area! The 2019 Vidovich, Lake Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, which is linked below, was an excellent wine and value at $38. They are running a special now on both the 19 and 21 at $299 for 12 bottles with free shipping! I bought a case of the 19 that I tasted. Oh, by the way, the winery is on Montebello Road. I did taste the Montebello Road Cabernet, it was tighter than the Lake vineyard. Possibly a better wine down the road, but tight for now.
Love the fact that Santa Cruz can still make these old school styles of CA Cabernet that will go the distance in the cellar. Lots of great choices from Ridge and Mount Eden to some of the smaller producers getting vineyard sources here. And every new release is not $300
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Thanks for the note. I havenāt tasted for a few vintages. Their Lake vineyard is one the property the/a son the (late) founder. Itās in Los Altos Hills. The lake is a former quarry with a few mansions around it. I went there for a SF Symphony fundraiser a decade ago. When some of us (mostly industry) stopped by Vidovich after a Ridge event about 5 years ago, some 3rd generation family were pretty new at working the tasting room and becoming involved in the business. Need to catch up.