04 Chappellet Signature Cab Sav is a wine I have had twice before and likely in a 1/2 dozen or so other vintages. I have always liked Chappellet wines and will continue to in the future.
Tonight the wine had a fairly typical aroma upon opening, with maybe a nod towards too much purple sweetness, but the taste was frankly bad with very forward, expressive EtOH/heat. A while later our son Sol knocked over the bottle and maybe 100 cc spilled on the table and it smelled like faint vinegar.
I’d sure go along with VA/EA. Unfortunately, I link that strongly with Chappellet.
Some people respond positively to the aromatics, including at least two well known critics.
VA, if it is above a certain threshold, will be noticed as a sharpness at the back of the mouth/start of the throat, from what I have noticed. If it is bad, it can really grab you there.
Some wines will have EA and aldehyde together. Could be that too.