Virtual Tasting Series: Week 5 "Take a guess" ~~~> Cab!

WINE TALK
61

2000 Viader from Magnum. Who says the 2000s are bad? Well integrated and no green/underripe fruit what so ever. Nice tannic grip still there with cooler fruits and cigar box coming through. Not sure about a 750, but no sign of coming down from maggie.


62

2006 Rivers-Marie "Napa Valley"

14.5% alcohol. Dark ruby red. Aromatically rich and expressive. This is a rich, deep, long wine with good Cab typicity and an excellent mouthfeel. I’m looking forward to tasting an 07 on Christmas for comparison.

63

I opened a 2003 Pride Cabernet today. I am slightly under the weather so I will blame myself for a less than good showing. My brother liked it though.

64

Decided to go with a Bordeaux tonight, just to mix up the cab theme. Pulled my lone bottle of 2001 Branaire Ducru. Opened about 90 minutes in advance, which helped to blow off a faint barnyard note and allow a more attractive bouquet to emerge. Deep, dark purple-black in color…showing no signs of age in the glass. The palate is smooth on entry, with savory blackberry, leather, and a clean earthy note in the background. The tannins on the finish give some textural interest. Not offering anything particularly complex or memorable, but a very good wine nonetheless.

65

Provided I can fight my way through the worst ice storm in Toronto’s history tomorrow, I’ll be getting to my parents’ place to pull my 2007 Outpost True Cab from my “secondary cellar” for a look-see.

66

C’mon dude–I have a '10 Hayfork in my glass

67

2009 Inglenook Cask Cabernet @ Ruth Chris so limited air tight and tannic until the end Dark fruits toasty oak and floral notes. Last glass was the best.

2010 Oakville Ranch ( thanks King Cab) Delicious, open and ready black fruits, spicy oak and herbs.

68

2006 Maybach Materium: I opened this and left it on the counter three hours before the first glass, which still showed pronounced mocha-chocolate personality. A few more hours of time in the glass, and the wine has transformed. It has an expressive nose of red fruit and florals. On the palate, the red fruits remind of kir/cassis, and there is something resembling the filling in a chocolate covered cherry (in a good and not overtly sweet way). Cedar and tobacco notes have replaced the mocha/chocolate. There is a bit of distracting heat as the finish plays out, but apart from that this is a solid Cab in a good spot. Give it some air for current drinking.

69
  • 2005 Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain (12/21/2013)
    Excellent bottle of wine. Really expressive nose of dark fruit with subtle vanilla. More dark fruit on the palate with some cassis and cacoa. Tannins were a bit grippy and dusty, but smoothed out after a couple of hours. We opened this about 3 hrs before dinner and it never made it to the table. We kept going back for another taste and before we knew it, the bottle was empty.

Posted from CellarTracker

70

2007 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (12/22/2013)
Drank over three days. Coarse on day one. Day two showed some mellowing but still it was tannic and gritty. On to day three. The nose shows dark chocolate, black licorice, oak and blackberries. The palate is right in my wheelhouse with bright upfront red fruits with beautiful acidity but some darkness in the back of the mouth reminiscent of plums. I really like pride reserves.

Posted from CellarTracker

71

Bill, there have been some successful 2000 (Colgin Carid comes to mind as does Seavey, which was a great success) but for the most part it was a failure of a vintsge. Glad you found a good one.

72

Here are my last notes in support of King Cab’s charity work this week. Was at a party last night and saw these Cabs out and so in the theme of this week’s effort, I found some paper and jotted these down, the only dude taking notes at a holiday party. For disclosure, the party was the home of the Riverain proprietor, Steve Nordhoff, who is a fellow WB member here. I knew his wine was to be out and I reviewed it fairly. The other 2 cabs below, those came with some guests. FWIW, I found the Maiden wine blah and too sweet, the L and M was much better. Candidly, I’d rather drink Steve’s wine, as given the pricing on the other two, and with Steve’s wine having some acid and grab to it, the wine simply fits my palate better.

  • 2002 Harlan Estate The Maiden - USA, California, Napa Valley (12/23/2013)
    I didn’t care for this, as it came off sweet and on the syrupy side, with blackberry fruit. I’d much rather drink the 2005 Heitz cab that was poured for me earlier this week. The difference is one tastes like it has cabernet fruit markers and the other tates like confected wine.
  • 2006 Levy & McClellan Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (12/23/2013)
    Had this next to a 2002 Harlan Maiden and this Levy tasted more like cab, showing some definition and varietal composition. Metal shavings, cherry, a bit of wood tinged chocolate but it had some structure in it, whereas the Harlan was sweet and without definition.
  • 2011 Riverain Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vinerard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (12/23/2013)
    Tasted from magnum. Was tasting this next to Ryan Curry, who knows TRB’s wines quite well and I have to agree with his comment that this had some Rivers-Marie aromatics in it, like the pine needle and orange peel of what comes through the RM pinots. There is a lot of spicy cherry in this wine, acid running through it. Imagine, acid in Cabernet? The fruit has mostly red tones with a little bit of a blue edge and then into the finish, the same spicy cherry, some vanilla, finishing with a bit of tang. This will appeal to those who seek Cab that runs outside some of the hype and Big Flavor elements, to borrow the Jon Bonne term. Good job to Thomas and Steve on the wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

73

FMIII going deep with the cab!

TRB does very good work with Cab, balancing fruit-forward flamboyance with traditional cab typicity. I’ll have to take a peek at Riverain.

74
  • 2010 Hayfork Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena (12/22/2013)
    P&P and then followed during the course of the evening. The first sniff and sip were tight but the wine quickly transformed into a mix of lovely dark fruits dominated by strong cassis. My wife, the alcohol police, felt that the 15.3 ABV was in balance. Early cedar and camphor evolved into smooth black licorice and a long, smooth finish. This is delicious already but should be dynamite in five years.

Posted from CellarTracker

75

Frank is making my notes pretty unoriginal, but I will have some more after tonight:

2002 Harlan Maiden - I have never been much of a Harlan fan (at least from 97 forwards, 94 and 95 were fabulous). Recognizing this is the second label, it certainly does not lack concentration, the opposite really. It was dense, fumey and somewhat over the top, but a fair number of 2002 are like this since it seems to be the highwater mark for picking super ripe.

2006 Levy and McClellan - First try from them. Also quite dense and dark, but not the super ripe flavors of the Harlan. More balance, had a wide spectrum of flavor, black and red fruits, tobacco, cedar and some minerality. I liked this.

76

A 2005 Araujo ‘Altagracia’ (admittedly, a cab blend) was just delicious this afternoon. This wine was all about balance - everything was perfectly in place and the overall impression was just elegant. Per the back label, all the fruit came from the Eisele Vineyard. Given how good this was, I can only imagine what the first wine is like. The last glass was the best, so a 45 minute decant might be warranted.

Given that my dad is around and doing his best to help with the wine consumption, we also opened a 2009 EMH ‘Black Cat’ cab. Such an approachable wine, with an alluring bouquet, a fresh tasting midpalate, and rounded tannins. Prominent black cherry was noted by all three tasters.

Another good night of Napa wines…

77

I’d have to agree with you, Andrew. Had an 05 Altagracia myself around spring this year & it was simply beautiful. Day 2, it was definitely struttin’ its stuff. [cheers.gif]

78

Opened for tomorrows dinner with my bro. Slow ox minus an ounce. :slight_smile:
I won’t tell him if you don’t…

  • 2011 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Panek Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena (12/23/2013)
    A pretty nose of blackberries and violets. Palate shows an amazing balance with tremendous lift right across your tongue. Deeply structured and big boned, this has beautiful black/blue fruits with notes of caramel, creme de cassis and worn leather. A very elegant wine that sets the bar high, this reminds me of the 2009 in its attack and verve. Tannins are big and youthful and acidity is perfect. Finish is long and precise. This is a serious wine; I maintain it is still the best bottle of wine you can buy for $75 and I believe it to be better than Schrader, or at least as good. Really. (96 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

79

Sounds lovely, Mike. Can’t wait to try a Panek myself soon. TRB does wonders.

80

Sticking with 2006 (see my post no. 68 on the 2006 Maybach Materium), I moved north to Washington for another note for charity.

2006 Betz Family Winery “Pere de Famille”: On opening, this wine seemed simple and a bit stewed so I decided to decant it and give it some air. Two hours later, it has come to life. Youthfully dark in the glass, the aromatics are earthy, dark and dense. The wine has a red fruited flavor profile which includes some earthy, tar-like funk that adds some intrigue. It is a dense wine, but not a fatiguing one, and to my palate it is at the front end of its drinking window. Although I am no Betz expert, I suspect this wine will have a more multi-faceted personality five years from now. For current consumption, the wine needs a good deal of air but is quite interesting once it opens up.