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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94.7 pts. and median of 95 pts. in 27 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by sfwinelover1 on 2/25/2024 & rated 96 points: One off a couple of months ago ($200) from Napa cellerage #1. On the nose and palate, bright notes of mixed red and dark berries, black currants, red cherries and a slight note of pomegranate, dark florals, baking and forest spice, red licorice, tobacco, dark chocolate and earthy minerality. Deep ruby red, medium to full bodied, thick legs. Intense acidity integrating with air, medium tannins, a touch of heat also integrating with air. Great complexity, intensity and persistence. My first red Cardinale (I had the SB several years ago) after several Mt. Braves and La Jotas and having bought but not popped a couple of other vintages of this and a Lokoya Spring Mountain. This came out of the bottle a bit unbalanced, a bit too high toned and slightly boozy, but after 45 minutes-hour, it was just singing. Fulsome but weightless (in this regard, if not in quality, not unlike the Lafleur, Harlan and Prom), juicy but trued by a solid backbone, this hit a beautiful, energetic glide on the first night, with the wonderful New World Old World mix that’s catnip to sfwl, a wine in full seemingly early in its drinking window (97-98). On night 2, the wine darkened in all aspects, with the dark fruit coming more to the fore, including a plummy note, still a great quaff but more balanced, mature and with a bit less lift, presenting as further along in its evolution (95-96+). For some, this may actually be more appealing, and while I still found it excellent, the feel was less singular than on night 1. Great both on its own and with pizza. If I had more—which could happen, although with a ‘09 and 2 ‘15s, it won’t be my first premium option—I’d probably drink in the next couple-few years with an eye on aeration, but I think that this will be a really strong wine for years to come for those more geared to a darker, more tertiary profile. Great stuff here. 96+ (545 views) | | | Tasted by Merengue on 1/11/2022 & rated 96 points: This is a superb wine. Upon popping the cork the nose was super expressive combining red fruit and mature oak. Decanted it for 45 mins and first sips were heavy on the oak. 30 mins later and the second glass was a combination of sour cherries, sweet cocoa, plums, cedar, leather, tobacco with medium acidity and very little tannins. The wine balanced beautifully and by the third glass it was a melange of integrated seamless flavors that reminded me of aged first growth bordeaux. (1645 views) | | | Tasted by 007cellar on 11/14/2021: WIndow 18-2030 (1322 views) | | | Tasted by 007cellar on 11/14/2021: Window 13-33 (1362 views) | | | Tasted by mdvillaverde on 10/10/2021 & rated 95 points: Consistent with my past note. (1349 views) | | | Tasted by mdvillaverde on 12/13/2020 & rated 95 points: I let it breathe for 2 hours before tasting. A low acidity polished cab with sour cherry notes. Not overly concentrated. Medium bodied. Sort of like a concentrated pinot. Quite good. (1991 views) | | | Tasted by msuwine on 11/30/2020 & rated 98 points: This wine has improved in the two and a half years since I tasted it last (2/18 - 97 points), with more polish and nuance, with just as much depth and power. I thought the wine might be reaching its peak a few years ago, but I was clearly wrong (not the first time!). This wine still has plenty of energy and structure, and it should last for many more years.
Cherry red in color and medium in body, the wine offers more earthy aromas of sour cherry, trail dust, and cardamon. The flavors walk a remarkable balance between generous red fruit (e.g., fresh strawberry, raspberry) and savory undertone (e.g., gravel, eucalyptus, cocoa bean), with an elegant finish that just never quits. Decant at least an hour. Blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot. Vineyard sources are 95% mountain (40% Howell, 37% Veeder, 9% Diamond, 9% Spring) and 5% To Kalon. 14.5% alcohol. (2833 views) | | | Tasted by Markzittman on 8/3/2020 & rated 95 points: Really liked. Like to buy more (1160 views) | | | Tasted by msuwine on 2/16/2018 & rated 97 points: This rich and integrated Cabernet is drinking beautifully right now - my first Cardinale, it shocks me to see all that I've been missing. Ruby red in color, medium in body, nose of plum, black cherry, and cedar. Layer upon layer of fruit - boysenberry, blueberry, even strawberry - paired with a lovely foundation of crushed rock, graphite. dark chocolate, cedar, and baking spices. The finish, especially after a few hours, is pure silk, with just the right amount of depth, lift, and length that can make a wine sit in your memory even a few days later. 14.5% alcohol. Blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot. Vineyard sources are 95% mountain sites (40% Howell, 37% Veeder, 9% Diamond, and 9% Spring), along with 5% from To Kalon.
I need to love another high-end CA Cabernet as much as I need a hole in my head, but - my goodness - this is a great bottle of wine. It has the richness and polish you expect from a top-tier Napa Cabernet, but it also has an earthiness and elegance that are beguiling. Some wines this ripe would have collapsed by now, but this is still going strong. Drink in next few years, if you must wait, but it tastes like a wine near its peak right now. Just beautiful. (4464 views) | | | Tasted by vancouvermatt on 7/17/2017 & rated 96 points: Purchased at winery and cellared since release.
Decanted for an hour.... fantastic aromatics, very silky mouthfeel, with fully integrated tannins. Drinking at or near its peak. Beautifully balanced and approachable now. (3551 views) | | | Tasted by khoney on 6/10/2017 & rated 95 points: The wine looks purple colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like black currant (cassis) and blackberry. It tastes like blackberry and black currant (cassis). The body is medium. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has low acidity. (3231 views) | | | Tasted by Concordlexington on 4/17/2016: Noble (4300 views) | | | Tasted by Vino Me on 7/7/2015: 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot with 95% coming from mountain fruit (Keyes, Vedeer Peak, Andrew Geoffrey and Spring Mountain vineyards) and the other 5% from the To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. A little over 1000 cases made. Aged in 100% new French oak. (4872 views) | | | Tasted by andrewdodd86 on 4/24/2015 & rated 92 points: Remember liking the wines, they were more lean and elegant, would cellar well. Thought they were insanely overpriced.
Spire Collection Dinner
Wednesday March 14, 2012
No specific notes taken, all from memory (3093 views) | | | Tasted by Berevino on 8/24/2014 & rated 95 points: Balanced. Oak comes through late but not overpowering. Paired perfectly with filet and blackberry reduction sauce. (3350 views) | | | Tasted by Tim Heaton on 9/28/2013: Opened Friday, re-corked, served blind on Saturday. Let me just say this is a wow wine, and I mean that in the best possible sense. Seamless layers of black licorice, spicy toffee bits, and black currants. Impressively feminine at first, but continued to build layers of complexity and depth all the way through day 3. Simply stunning, and very approachable now. Polished tannins, fully resolved etOh, and a finish that exceeds a minute. 14,5% abv, drink thru 2026. Hauntingly good. very highly recommended (4739 views) | | | Tasted by thetong on 9/26/2013 & rated 94 points: 1.5L. Eminently approachable now, particularly compared to the beefier 2010. Silky tannins, core of dark fruit, nose had a bit of earth and loads of complexity (fruit, tobacco, some earthiness). Super long finish. Quite excellent (liked it more than 2 of the 3 Lokoya offerings at dinner, so that represents value, I guess?). (3076 views) | | | Tasted by zoeldar on 1/16/2012 & rated 98 points: Fabulous new vintage tasted at winery...aromatics blew the others away (which is saying something!)....utterly delicious on the palate, perhaps the finest young Cardinale ever...wowsir! (4507 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Cardinale Producer WebsiteCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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