#2 today. Damn good, ready to go. Will let it sit and drink the rest and take notes when cooking a turkey tomorrow.
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I havenāt tabulated all the results yet, but Lot 5 is going to be the big winner. 5 of 6 people put it as their #1 wine (the other put it #3).
(I can say it wasnāt a group think thing as well, because by the 5th wine with kids running around and cooking dinner and chit chatting, people were progressing at their own pace).
I remember Cam sent the email out about how well it was showing, but might still be underrated 
.
Iāll post all the results, my personal ranking was Lot 5, Lot 32, Lot 27. But I think Lot 27 will end up in the end, receiving 3 second place votes.
Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving!
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Here is the run down. Average of all 6 rankings. If variation number is low, there was broad agreement on rankings.
All wines were opened the night before, poured into a decanter, and then back into the bottle.
This was really fun. Thanks for putting together the Cab Sampler, Cam!
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good to see the 5 Knights Valley and 32 Stags are coming aroundā¦both were definitely inside out last time I had them but that was a while back. Whatās interesting is that I would put 5 and 32 at opposite ends of the style spectrum for Cabernetā¦5 is lots of overt oak influence and ripe fruit style, big extraction etc while 32 is classic Stagsā¦earthier, more graphitic with blacker fruit and probably 1% lower alcā¦
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I need to bring wine for a shellfish lasagna dinner (bechamel, crab, shrimp, lobster) tomorrow. I have 289 (ā20 muscadet), 257 (ā20 Brut Rose), 320 (ā21 rosĆ© of Syrah), 367 (ā18 RR Chardonnay), CAM X 4 Chardonnay, and CAM X 28 Gewurtz. I was thinking of a couple muscadets but I donāt know what the second wine should be. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Lot 27 tonight as the aperitif pre-turkey! Stellar. Lives up to Camās description and my favorite so far (vs. 1, 2, 5 and 25). Guess I prefer the mountain cabs :-).
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Non-blind Napa Cab tasting with BIL today, all were PnP.
We had the same rankings for the 3 bottles.
- 2019 Keenan 93 pts. ($52 Costco, purchased last year)
- 2023 CamX Lot 25 92 pts.
- 2018 Neyers Ranch 91/92 pts. ($50 Costco, purchased this month)
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Thx. Approx price points for each?
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Added to last post, both purchased from Costco.
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Love that you did this. How did you decant 12 wines at the same time? I got my case when we had friends visiting so we are able to try a lot of them. I believe 5 was my wifeās favorite while mine was 27. I donāt own any 5 so probably need to correct that today.
My experience is Knight Valley cabs take forever to come around so this blend with the Merlot seems like it will ready to go much sooner.
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I poured into a decanter, gave it a couple swirls, then funneled back into the bottle. Then a little tiny rinse of the decanter with the next wine.
Obviously, would love to had each in a decanter for an hour and again then next day, but not feasible. That said, a friend of mine always shows young cabs this way, and they have shown pretty well. If it was possible, I would have opened them 48hrs before, since the Cam X wines are so young, but wasnāt possible this time.
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Charlie, if possible could you please elaborate on your impression of Lot 17 C.S.
Anyone else who has tasted Lot 17 to date, please also weigh in with your feedback.
Given Lot 17 has had very little coverage to date, I believe the wider group would also appreciate any feedback. Especially at sale time. TIA.
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It got 4 last place votes, I put it 2nd to last, and my sister put it 2nd overall. (Her favorite was 23, so consolidated rankings arenāt very useful for everyone.)
As I recall there was a green/stemmy/ herbal note people were not liking. As I recall it was dark fruit, which is how cam described it.
I described it as something like a ārich, interesting, complex wine that I really am not enjoying,ā which I meant cheekily but there was a lot going on and it wasnāt coming together for me. But I donāt think itās crazy to think it all mellows out and comes together in a couple of years.
If thereās some left, Iāll retaste, might show better on day 3.
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Also, for lot 17, we tasted it 6th, between Lot 5 and Lot 27, the two meritages people loved. So who knows how the order effects played out, but might be some.
People did retaste, but mostly (I think) with a focus on the top end, not the bottom.
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Interesting. Thank you. To date, in my spreadsheet I have had noted āTry in Summer 2027ā - I might not change this however, my curiosity will get the better of me before then no doubt.
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Lot 17: after 3 days, still very closed on the nose, but definitely seems more integrated on day 3. I gave it to my brother and brother in law that ranked it last. I said what do you think of this, and they both said this is pretty good (not amazing) but imminently drinkable. And they were both surprised it was the one they hated.
My theory is that itās got that kinda green oak note that is more integrated after 3 days.
I had a bit of lot 12 and would still rank that over 17 on day 3, but both are better today IMO.
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Re: Lot 17. Split a case of this with my brother. Opened bottle #1 last night. Poured a glass for my wife and tried an ounce. Seemed like there was some quality there but came off as overwhelmingly tart.
24 hours later, the tartness has faded, lots of raisined fruit, coffee, long bitter finish. Itāsā¦fine? Interesting?
This wine was very inexpensive. Overperforms its $12 ish price point but not a wine Iād buy again. Evolution potential unknown.
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5 has been great today
12 pnp great as well
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One thing Iāve noticed with almost every single CamX bottle Iāve opened is all of them have a lot of tartness right upon opening. I always give them a little taste as I pour them into the decanter but this tasting note I havenāt noticed in other brands of ā23 wines Iāve opened. The tartness tends to go away with time but I wish it wasnāt there to begin with.
Not being experienced in bottling practices at all, is this tartness something that is due to the method of bottling and things used in that process? With most all these wines coming from different producers we know itās not the style of wine making so my only thoughts are maybe itās something in the bottling process that is leading to these tart notes across the board on all these bottles at opening.