| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.5 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 139 notes) - hiding notes with no text |
| | Tasted by clutj on 12/24/2023 & rated 90 points: Nicely developed, integrated tannins, still lively fruit (238 views) |
| | Tasted by WineLover*** on 8/4/2023: Gave as gift to David Gaul on 8/3/23 (377 views) |
| | Tasted by WineLover*** on 3/10/2023: Gave as a gift (470 views) |
| | Tasted by houstonjeff@hotmail.com on 8/27/2022 & rated 87 points: Although this isnt a great word, I felt the wine was a little astringent. Still showed dark fruit aromas but I felt it was past its prime. (662 views) |
| | Tasted by houstonjeff@hotmail.com on 7/16/2022 & rated 91 points: Very enjoyable and still drinking well. (738 views) |
| | Tasted by williamswhine on 3/17/2022 & rated 94 points: Very nice nose. Dark intense purple hue. Popped and poured. Smooth, wonderful finish and smooth tasting. Excellent showing and consistent with my last bottle. This bottle was worth the wait-- wish I had more. (756 views) |
| | Tasted by houstonjeff@hotmail.com on 9/3/2021 & rated 94 points: Rich and complex aromas. This was is drinking as good as it gets right now. I know that CT indicates this wine is past it's prime but that's not true. Enjoyable sipping wine for a quiet Friday night at home. (790 views) |
| | Tasted by jaumealaska on 10/18/2020 & rated 89 points: I agree with prior notes. This did not really evolve to the better since my 2017 tasting. Similar notes of dark plummy notes with spice and soft tannins. I think the lack of acidity detracted from its ultimate balance. But still a decent bottle. I would drink what you have soon. (1164 views) |
| | Tasted by dsimmons on 5/16/2020 & rated 88 points: My last bottle of this and it is time to drink these up. Wine was drunk with grilled sirloin steaks. This wine is getting tired. Plenty of fruit upon opening but faded in a few hours. (1372 views) |
| | Tasted by ChinonRouge on 2/14/2019 & rated 91 points: Not a lot on the nose, but very nice mouth feel. Beautiful mid palate. Not much lingering on the finish. A good wine but not superlative. At this point, the wine is 10 years old, and I am not sure it has any more development in it. Enjoy! (1877 views) |
| | Tasted by JCaress on 12/24/2018 & rated 89 points: A bit thin, but got better after 1.5 hours of being open. A reasonable California cab and good with food. (1712 views) |
| | Tasted by clutj on 4/8/2018 flawed bottle: Flawed. Couldn’t drink. (2241 views) |
| | Tasted by ChinonRouge on 1/28/2018 & rated 91 points: Nice leather and chocolate on the nose with a hint of vanilla. Dark in color. A bit muddy on the palate. Smooth mouthfeel with nice tannins. Medium length to finish. Overall, very nice wine. Not stellar, but very good wine. (2036 views) |
| | Tasted by jaumealaska on 8/5/2017 & rated 92 points: I definitely liked this better with time. Earlier bottles seemed unbalanced with plush fruit and less structure. Still deep purple with chocolate and spice and cassis in the nose with the acid and tannins in balance with dark fruits and coffee notes in the body. Good finish. May give my last bottle a few years more just to see. (2104 views) |
| | Tasted by clayh55 on 11/27/2016 & rated 91 points: Very solid California Cab. Still some youthful black fruit, but yielding now to some secondary notes - briar, maybe some eucalyptus (??). Medium finish - maybe 10-15 seconds. Acidity is balanced nicely with the remaining tannins. Nothing wrong with this wine at all. (2273 views) |
| | Tasted by bluedog on 11/25/2016 & rated 92 points: Underrated and a fantastic value. (2160 views) |
| | Tasted by jasonkle on 5/15/2016 & rated 93 points: Drinking very well right now (2307 views) |
| | Tasted by Parrothead72 on 4/3/2016 & rated 91 points: Liked it very much. Even sampled a bottle with Coravin for a night and did not want to uncork just looking for a glass. Liked it enough to to polish it off the next night. (2242 views) |
| | Tasted by dave.hickox on 3/27/2016 & rated 89 points: Dry, bland, heavy merlot and very little structure - strong tanin (1763 views) |
| | Tasted by Parrothead72 on 2/15/2016 & rated 92 points: I'm not the most sophisticated of palettes but I enjoyed this very much. If it's past its prime then it must have been one hell of a wine during its prime. (1538 views) |
| | Tasted by iamandyc on 1/30/2016 & rated 90 points: Pleasant seemingly mature wine without tons of excitement. OK value at $30 but nothing special. Some chocolate on the finish. Mulled plum and cherry pie. Tannins completely missing. Some acidity. (1552 views) |
| | Tasted by bjr11 on 1/18/2016: Past its prime (1204 views) |
| | Tasted by bluedog on 9/26/2015 & rated 92 points: Loved this. (1415 views) |
| | Tasted by JSPuskar on 7/31/2015 & rated 90 points: Big wine. Lots of dark fruit on the palate, with a bit of chocolate. I drank this over about 3 days, and it smoothed out noticeably over that time. Delicious, long finish. (1458 views) |
| | Tasted by jshufelt on 6/20/2015 & rated 87 points: Compared to past bottles, this one was unbalanced; leaning towards the alcoholic fruit bomb part of the spectrum. (1517 views) |
| | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Double Diamond (Schrader) 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 |
