I 100% agree. But keep in mind 1 in 5 US adults invested in cryptocurrency as of this year, and more than 300 million adults globally. Clearly not all of them made money, but many millions likely did, and when the secondary market sellers of Rolexes, Pateks, and such started advertising “we accept crypto” you know something is going on with at least some wide scale.
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How many new projects at this price point are current going on in Napa? Existing wineries, sure, but brand new ones?
And even so, to be fair, someone offering wines today for the first time at that price started their project at least two years ago.
I’m not disputing there may be an oversupply/demand/ price thingy in Napa. I’m just curious how many “new” projects in Napa like this there are.
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I can’t tell them apart and neither can my wine-drinking friends. I bought them for years (starting with Grace Family in the 1980’s thru all of the Cults (as defined by Parker: Screagle, Grace Family, Araujo, Bryant, Harlan, Maya, Colgin, and Abreu) through the ‘00’s
Drink them truly blind and get back to me.
Here’s my epiphany story:
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This says more about your palate than it does about the wine.
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Maybe. But I doubt it. I’ve been drinking California Cabs and Bordeaux since the 70’s. The new style, polished, high abv, (over) ripe fruit, (over) new-oaked Cabs are pretty indistinguishable from each other. Chocolate milk is not a Cabernet taste, it is an oak taste… Try drinking a dozen blind from any vintage of your choosing. Before criticizing my palate, test yours the same way.
Before this turns into a pissing match between those who like these wines and those who don’t, my original comment was that a primary reason that these wines aren’t selling like they did is that they are very homogeneous and not that special from each other.
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So you’re telling me if I present you, let’s say, 6 blind flights of wine and design each flight such that one wine is repeated in each flight (alternating between Bordeaux and Napa), you’ll do a better job telling me which wine is repeated in the Bordeaux flights than the Napa flights?
I have my doubts…
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Sigh. I’m not talking about Bordeaux. I dislike modern Bordeaux for the same reason.
Put 12 Cult Cabs that you know well from the same vintage in a blind tasting and you will likely see my point. Or not. If you like them, drink them, but don’t tell me that they are distinctly different from each other.
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Almost all of this is related to people looking for “hidden” explanations for the increase in wine prices besides supply and demand. Crypto, speculation, money laundering, etc etc.
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I guess what I’m saying is that I think what you’re talking about is a characteristic of cabernet, not a product of Napa winemaking or terroir. I’d offer the same challenge with Chilean or Aussie cab.
I’ve been at a number of (single) blind tastings with 6 or more people tasting 6 or more “Cult” Cali Cabs. The two tasters who are real cali cab enthusiasts (and maybe more experienced and knowledgeable) were consistently correct in picking which wines came from which producers. Not 100% of the time but 75-80%. The rest of the group noticed clear differences but weren’t very successful with their guesses.
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+1
Seems like several people are looking to ‘blame’ crypto/other random things they don’t like with little to no actual proof.
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I don’t think we are talking about the same thing. I avoid modern Cabernet/Bordeaux for two reasons: 1. Modern winemaking obscures the elements that I like and 2. I’ve consumed an ocean of the stuff and its homogeneity is boring.
Which are reasons why I think Cult California wines aren’t selling like they did.
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I don’t actually think we disagree much. I don’t drink young cabernet much anymore because I find it boring for basically the same reasons. I’ve also divested of quite a bit of Napa wines from an era of winemaking (~late 90s to mid 10s with specifics depending on producer) that I don’t especially care for. But in any case, the differences and interesting aspects of cabernet based wines - to me - appear with age.
That’s all beside the point that I think there’s a lot of haterade consumed here by people who wear their Napa-specific hate as a badge of honor/superiority as a taster. I don’t particularly care for that.
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I’m not criticizing you or your palate, but rather I’m simply calling out that your inability to discern objective differences in various wines has more to do with your palate, biases, etc, than it does with the wine itself. Sorry if that offends you.
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It doesn’t offend me because it is inaccurate.
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There was that $300 Petit Verdot one. Related to Martin Estate but presented as a standalone.
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I 1000% agree with this. Blanket statements about all ‘high-end’ Napa wines are completely ridiculous and very out of touch. Pop a Kinsman Eades or numerous other current cab producers and tell me you still feel the same.
I’m not a Burgundy drinker and you dont hear me (or others) bashing those that routinely post about how they ONLY drink Burgundy. It’s interesting that much of that hate seems to come from old-world-only palates.
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Ironic that Jeb Dunnuck posts his 21’ Napa cab report just now and without copying and pasting his report he questions who will continue to buy cab and bordeaux blends from Napa for over $200.
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To your palate they are homogeneous, indistinguishable and not that special from one another. I’ve heard that from a number of my wine drinking friends and I accept that. That is your opinion not a statement of fact. I, among others, would disagree and can discern the differences. There’s no right or wrong.
A few that come to mind are Cathiard Estate, Seven Apart (we’ve all seen the ads), and Neotempo (posted in the bottle size thread). There’s two others that I know of but haven’t been announced yet so I will refrain from letting the cat out of the bag.
I haven’t tried those wines so I can’t say whether their price point is warranted. Muddying the waters is essentially identical scores from critics.
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