2023 LOT 3 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Bottle 3/6.
Decanted for 3 hours but remained fairly closed. A bit better on day 2. Blackberries, cherries, cocoa. A good value at $16/bottle but I do have to say this is probably last on my rankings. WB guess is Bell Wine Cellars, 89/90 pts.
Cheers!
Tasted my last two untried Cam lots ā 7 and 25 ā tonight while enduring winter storm-induced cabin fever
Lot 7: Deep ruby color with glacial tears
Nose is complex and inviting. Rich, youthful aromas of plum, mocha, dark chocolate and a hint of cinnamon
Palate is dry, med bodied and moderately acidic. Flavors are intense, led by plum and blackberry, followed by a mid palate of mocha and dark chocolate, and finishing strong w/ lots of black fruit, mint and oak. Big tannins present at the end but donāt dominate any element of the flavor profiles before then
Really nicely integrated and more ready to drink now than other Cam Xās. Great bang for buck. However, I did notice that the mocha features really dominated more as the wine opened up. It has good complexity, but the mocha and tannins run the show mid-palate and finish
Overall, though, a solid wine thatās readier to drink now than other Cam Cabernets. 92 pts
Lot 25: Deep ruby in the glass w stained, thin tears
Nose is slightly receded but gives off some oak, maple syrup, juicy blackberry and a trace of red fruit
Palate is dry and full bodied. Complex flavors of plum, dark chocolate, cedar, a hint of mint and a rush of intense, sticky, mouth coating tannins. Strong, long finish of oak and tannins with med+ acid gushing out at the end
Really young but showing great complexity and potential. Tannins should settle down after several years
93 points
Having had all the Cam X Cabernets, I still think 27 and 24 are the best Iāve enjoyed, but 25 is a respectable third, followed by 7 and 12.
Popped open lot 1 tonight, still not a fan of it. Iāve had quite a few 23ā Napa cabs at this point and so far they have all been easily drinkable yet almost none of these CamX wines have been super enjoyable at opening. Hopefully they improve with time but Iām not holding my breath.
lot 27 is my favorite so far, have lot 5 but havenāt tasted it yet. These wines are better than grocery store $10 wine but definitely not bottles Iām reaching for easily in the cellar.
Lot 1 works really well for mulled wine and cooking stew/sauce.
Arenāt these Cam X reds in bottle shock now? Iāve put mine away for a year or 2 and will be drinking my '18 and '19 dNs until then.
I tried lot 1 as soon as I got it and it was very good then.
I appreciate all the early looks and notes but I am with you. I am not opening any for at least 2/3 years.
I donāt know how long you can say the bottles are in bottle shock and use that excuse for them. Friday I had both Aperture soil specific reds, the 2023 Bordeaux blend and the 2023 Cab and both were drinking fantastic right at pop and pour without a decant. We just popped them open and put them on the table for everyone to enjoy.
Agree. I think if you donāt like these wines they arenāt gonna change massivelyā¦however, some may have been bottled a bit later than a typical commercial release. But still, give them up to three days open. Except for the 16 syrah, further time probably wonāt make a huge difference.
Iāve had 8 of the Cab lots and havenāt had an issue.
This is contrary to my experience with most red wines, including the DN cabs, but I prefer older wines.
David,
What about the 16 Syrah?
The structure on that wine is massive. So far, itās different than any of the others by an order of magnitude. It was honestly challenging to taste the elements of that wine because it was so āwound upā. Took 3-5 days just to give up the usual syrah characteristics of olive, cured meats. Before that it just tasted like darkness. Not in a bad way, just super tight on that note. Iām not judging anyone elseās opinion, just saying my own is that the other wines are already giving up their signature to a degree.
Ive personally tasted way better acidity overall and balance in these early CamX wines than I did in most of the denegoce that I purchased.
Iām a huge Syrah drinker and can easily see this lot 16 taking 3-4 years to come into its own. I have no idea how Suckling gave it a 92 right now. Like, there is nothing to taste but a massive wall of oak and tannin, IMO. I think it will be a good wine, but take years to reach that potential.
Totally. I think there are different palates out there. I definitely feel as though I can taste and really enjoy most of these wines even young with the exception of 16. And itās not that I donāt like 16, itās just hard to taste the flavor elements because of just how much structure is present. That isnāt true with any of the other wines Iāve tasted. If you only like old wines, youāll be waiting a while on your CamX collection in general.
I agree completely with David and Johnās analysis of Lot 16. It tastes like ābig red wineā right now, with essentially no varietal characteristics. Frankly, for current drinking it would be hard for me to go over an 87. More support for the idea Suckling just makes up scores in the range of 90-93. Despite it being mostly negative feedback, I do find it somewhat encouraging (for my own palate) to have so much agreement on Lot 16, as several of the other lots, Iāve had somewhat diverging opinions with the āconsensusā here. For example, I have really liked Lot 1, which I think has gotten mixed reviews from others, and been disappointed by 28 (the gewurz, not enough acid) and lot 22 malbec (just not much going on, kinda AFWE wine), both of which get mostly praise.
Ah, at last a deep and personal perspective on the wine itself! Thank you, David.
I am only with Cam x embarking on the journey of following a wine through time, rather than a bottle of this or that here or there. I greatly appreciate your guidance and perceptions, experience.
Acidity and balance.
And time.
Completely agree with everyone on lot 16. Hoping it comes around in a few years. On the other hand, just drank a dn74 walla walla syrah this weekend and dang I wish I would have bought more of that one. Still have 2 75ās waiting and with this weather, may not be around much longer.
Agreed on 28, beautiful on the nose, but so flabby on the palate!
Many thanks for your seasoned and nuanced view of the wine. Very helpful to me!
Thank you for sharing.
Varying perspectives is part of the wine fascination, eh?
I have already set 16 aside for years based on the consensus here.