TN: Oakville Cabernet, East vs. West

[Eric_LaMasters]

OAKVILLE CABERNET, EAST VS. WEST - (1/19/2016)

Given the huge difference in geology and soil between the red, rocky, volcanic soils of East Oakville and the grey, gravelly, alluvial soils of West Oakville, I wanted to put together a tasting for our wine group comparing wines from these two areas. My thesis was that we would be able to taste the differences between the two groups enough to distinguish wines from one area from the other.
The wines were served single blind in 2 flights, east and west, plus a double-blind ringer in its own flight. The idea was that if the terroir truly showed through into the finished wines, the tasters should be able to identify if the ringer was from East Oakville or West Oakville.

West Oakville

• 2012 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Plush texture, dark berry fruit and graphite. Luxurious velvet texture. (98 pts.)
• 2012 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Very big and structured. Cherry and olive with a broad mid-palate. Needs 5 to 10 years in the cellar. (97 pts.)
• 2012 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Super sexy, polished wine. Black cherry, vanilla, herbs. Amazing texture. (99 pts.)

East Oakville

• 2012 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Tight. Nice aromatics. Mixed berries. Leather, celery, minerality. Very complex. Needs time. (96 pts.)
• 2012 TOR Kenward Family Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Like a mouthful of fresh blackberries. Higher acidity and a bit angular. Not as much complexity as the others but very nice. (94 pts.)
• 2012 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Really beautiful. Blueberries and cherries. Texture is pure silk. My favorite wine of the tasting. (100 pts.)

Ringer
Every table at the tasting was able to identify the ringer as originating from West Oakville.

• 2012 Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Bigger wine than the others, darker color. Red and black fruit, licorice, fresh herbs. Very nice. (98 pts.)

This was a very fun and informative tasting. All of the wines showed very well, though a couple stood out above the others. The group concluded that they could distinguish characteristics between the two groups, and every table at the tasting was successful in identifying the ringer as a West Oakville wine.
Posted from CellarTracker

[Sherr1_Shap1r0]

Wow. What an awesome tasting! Maps are great too. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Joe_S]

^ +1.

[Justin_Wittkopf]

Great lineup, Eric. What a great idea for a tasting! Did you supply all of the wines? Spendy night if so.

A few months ago I had the 12 MacDonald vs the 12 Schrader T6 at a dinner and the MacDonald was head and shoulders the better wine. While the T6 was great, it had a sweetness and plushness that was too much for me and the others.

How were the wines prepared for the tasting? All with a similar decant?

[cjsavino]

http://oakvillewinegrowers.com/oakville_map/index.html

Always found this map fun to play with for Oakville

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

Great notes, thanks for sharing. Based on the tasting, what were the distinguishing features between the east and west wines?

[mike_pobega]

A good idea for a CLONYC.
Thanks for the read.

[Bud_Carey]

I had a hunch that you’d pick up on this one.

[Steve_Nordhoff]

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[bweimer]

Are there higher resolution pictures of the maps available?

[Eric_LaMasters]

The maps were made from google earth using the kml file from the Oakville winegrowers.

[Eric_LaMasters]

@Scott Fitzgerald

Great notes, thanks for sharing. Based on the tasting, what were the distinguishing features between the east and west wines?

It is a little hard for me to put the difference into words. To me, the main difference was texture. The West Oakville wines seemed plusher and fuller in the mouth, while the East Oakville wines had a bit higher acidity. Also, the fruit tended more toward cherry in the west and more toward blue fruits in the east.
The difference was subtle, but was enough that most of the tasters were able to pick out the ringer as a To Kalon wine. The consistency with which they were able to do that makes me think the difference is real and not just in my imagination.

[Carlton_McCrindle]

Thanks for sharing, Eric.
In planning your next tasting event, please consider me as a tie breaking taster. I would be pleased to make the drive to Des Moines!

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

@Eric LaMasters

@Scott Fitzgerald

Great notes, thanks for sharing. Based on the tasting, what were the distinguishing features between the east and west wines?

It is a little hard for me to put the difference into words. To me, the main difference was texture. The West Oakville wines seemed plusher and fuller in the mouth, while the East Oakville wines had a bit higher acidity. Also, the fruit tended more toward cherry in the west and more toward blue fruits in the east.
The difference was subtle, but was enough that most of the tasters were able to pick out the ringer as a To Kalon wine. The consistency with which they were able to do that makes me think the difference is real and not just in my imagination.

Thanks Eric.

[Ed_Steinway]

Great notes on some great wines, Eric!

Thanks,
Ed