Had the new Cabot sparklers last night, served bliind. John Cabot is onto something here. Note–I wrote the identical note for both 2014 and 2016. If you read the entire note below, I comment on both.
@brigcampbell @Steve_Nordhoff @Chris_Seiber
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2014 Cabot Vineyards Blanc de Blanc Brut Zero Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (2/24/2023)
First note! Honored to do it, John. I've heard about John's sparkling project for some time and last night, I got blinded on both the 2014 and 2016. Given our tasting group, I assumed that we had some Champagne in front of us, both because of how our group usually rolls with Champagne, but more importantly, how both vintages tasted. The flight has just these two wines, and no hints. It was only after we had guessed the varietal that Brig told us that we were guessing the wrong country. What was remarkable about these two wines for me, especially the 2014, was the similarity in energy and build to something low/sans dose out of Champagne. I was straight fooled on the 2014, pegging it as something out of the Aube. The 2014, a zero dose Chard from Anderson Valley, initially showed me thyme and mineral on first taste. I kept tasting, and then I found a core of grapefruit with some lemon oil. With more air, sour apple, tangerine zest and what I really thought was dried cherry/raspberry. Man, I enjoyed the 2014 and it really fooled me. As for the 2016, also zero dose from Anderson Valley, more characteristic of green apple with a distinct salinity/salt on first taste. Then, some toastiness appeared, followed by some lemon and the same green apple. Good concentration here and bit more rocky than the 2014. These are terrific sparkling wines, and that 2014 is the best US sparkler I have tasted. I do want to retaste them both, especially the 2016, to get another experience with them but as a first try, John has done some terrific work here.
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