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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.2 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 39 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Geaux Tigers on 5/5/2024 & rated 92 points: 375 ml. Served at the end of a long evening of many bottles, this was a PnP and showed well, Rutherford dust and red cherries. Nice oak and tannin integration even at this young age. (537 views) | | | Tasted by whitmanlholt on 5/5/2024 & rated 91 points: Popped and poured from split. This is a deep red wine. On the expressive nose, I get blueberry, plum, wet stones, tobacco leaf, and spearmint. In the mouth, the wine is fresh and midweight; it shows a nice mix of blue and red fruits. The finish is smooth, with more blue fruit and a faint touch of bell pepper. Overall, this is a very solid and graceful Cab. The wine is fully ready now but will easily last for 10-20 more years. This producer is such a tremendous bargain for the price relative to other options in Napa Cabs (I bought some 375 ml bottles at $22 per, which almost feels like stealing), and the wines are (deliberately) never overdone. This was yet another fine experience from an authentic producer that has never disappointed. 91 points. (626 views) | | | Tasted by Zuperdaave on 4/21/2024 & rated 85 points: Very good. Dark purple in color with minimal legs. Subtle cherry on the nose. After being open for awhile, developed heavy alcohol. At opening, was nice…but not spectacular for the price. A good wine to be sure, but not sure of the value. (799 views) | | | Tasted by gow4lif3 on 4/20/2024: Wife no like, the end. (707 views) | | | Tasted by srwatters on 3/24/2024 & rated 91 points: One of my favorite Rutherford wineries that bucks the typical Napa fruit bomb profile Cabernet. Still a baby, but I enjoy these throughout their lifecycle. Mouthwatering acidity with polished fine grain tannin, and deep dark fruit. Still completely primary aroma and palate with that famous Rutherford dust and restrained 13.9% alcohol. If you can acquire it under $60, it’s a great QPR. (1021 views) | | | Tasted by Ben Christiansen on 12/4/2023: Gorgeous as always, but can go so much farther it would be better to wait! (2021 views) | | | Tasted by Pefor on 10/28/2023 & rated 91 points: Needs time to open up .
Oaky, liquorice tones (1606 views) | | | Tasted by domestic_primate on 8/12/2023 & rated 91 points: Thought this was drinking very well given its youth. (1963 views) | | | Tasted by Teaky on 7/6/2023: From a 375, didn’t take notes, drank over 2 days this was excellent best on the 2nd day, didn’t take notes but lovely blackberry and cassis, didn’t notice any oak influence, long finish with enveloping mouthfeel, excellent! (2103 views) | | | Tasted by winejnky on 6/21/2023 & rated 88 points: We found this to be on the young side still, showing deep black fruit, with a robust profile and some still sharp edges that have yet to fully integrate. 88 tonight but I think this could improve with more bottle age. (2058 views) | | | Tasted by LEEJV123 on 4/15/2023 & rated 88 points: Medium body, feminine, subtle, short. (2057 views) | | | Tasted by sid_loves_wine on 12/18/2022 & rated 92 points: I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to pyrazines (that green/bitter tone) and rarely enjoy them unless they're uncommonly well-integrated. Thankfully, although this wine was absolutely bursting with green tones, it was one of those examples that (mostly) worked really well, just an earthy expression of Cab Sauv rather than a super harsh/austere one.
Not so green as to evoke bell pepper- just coffee grounds, tobacco, etc, supported by some gentle black fruit that was difficult to identify but really nice. Smelled like a fatter, blacker-fruited loire valley cab franc. Which was cool. Maybe not my absolute favorite style of Napa, but I get the appeal, especially if you really prefer bordeaux/loire styled cabernet. Absolutely no oak was present at all.
Although the nose was pretty "classic" the palate felt surprisingly modern to me, very soft and easy, with superfine tannin and somewhat low acidity- I know this winery is known for their "higher-acid" expression of napa, but here it felt like a tiny little pop of sour cherry, almost like a sangiovese, before fading really quickly. Not flabby or anything, just that the acid didn't really feel like part of the full picture. That said, the darkish fruit came back on the finish and lingered for some time, really nice and delicious.
In the end it added up to something really enjoyable for me, but never felt like more than the sum of its parts. (2909 views) | | | Tasted by davidandrose on 12/8/2022 & rated 91 points: Coravin'd 2-3 times over six weeks before pulling the cork on the remaining half bottle tonight. Depth has degraded a bit vs recollection from earlier pours, but there's still plenty of espresso, dark, chocolate nibs, and a smooth Tanic polish rounding out the finish. (2422 views) | | | Tasted by ben7210 on 5/29/2022 & rated 92 points: Deep ruby. Dark red fruit and cinnamon on the nose. On the palate medium acidity, medium alcohol, pronounced black cherries and vanilla with some nutmeg on the long finish. Needs a short decant but drinking very well now. Outstanding. (3403 views) | | | Tasted by Snoot Doggie Dogg on 2/12/2022 & rated 90 points: Master of Wine Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan mentioned this wine in one of her Great Courses lectures, so I thought I would give it a try. The winery gets its name due to the fact that, at the turn of the 20th century, the property was used for raising frogs to be sold to French restaurants for their legs. The owners also wanted to poke at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars by using a similar name. With its 230 acres of vineyards, the winery produces about 60,000 cases per year, 30% of which is Sauvignon Blanc, with the rest being divided between a variety of other grapes to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Chardonnay among others. The winery style tends to focus on wines with a good amount of acidity, which sets them apart from many Napa wines. Being from Rutherford, which is sandwiched in between St. Helena and Oakville, the vineyards are situated pretty far inland on the valley floor, giving them plenty of sun and warmth, making them ideal for growing warm-weather grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon.
Medium-dark ruby with an inky black core, this wine is moderately aromatic, offering notes of dark fruits, green bell pepper, forest floor (dry leaves), cedar and a slight hint of tobacco leaf. I even caught a slight whiff of red raspberry at one point, which was surprising. Upon sipping, one is met with a medium-full bodied wine with high tannins and a tingling acidity. The attack is largely overshadowed by the tannins and acid, but the midpalate offers plenty of tart cherry with blackcurrant, black plum, and green bell pepper and an accompaniment of oaky vanilla and some underlying tobacco leaf. The finish is rather long, offering quite a bit of black plum and an acidic tartness that lingers for some time.
A bit tarter than a typical Napa cab, though I suppose that is to be expected from a winery that places a premium on high acidity. I could see this improving with age; right now it’s a bit young, as the tannins and acidity are like a kick in the face, so this would be better if that calms down a little courtesy of a few years in bottle. Buy some now and lay down for a bit. Anyway, I enjoyed this with some aged gouda (Old Amsterdam, to be specific). Not a bad pairing! One needs a powerful cheese to stand up to these tannins and acid. (4335 views) | | | Tasted by Ben Christiansen on 2/10/2022: Rather pure and beautiful Napa fruit to the nose. And palate has allot of gumption and power to it. That's pretty darn good Napa Cabernet. (3949 views) | | | Tasted by NDawley on 12/11/2021 & rated 89 points: Mellow, smooth, enjoyable (3562 views) | | | Tasted by davidandrose on 12/9/2021: As Geaux Tigers noted this really benefitted from a little air. This was flat right out of the bottle but splash decanting between 2 glasses and 30 mins of air opened this up.
Only had 2 glasses tonite and look forward to seeing how the balance of this fares over the weekend. (3393 views) | | | Tasted by Teaky on 11/24/2021: Drank out of 375 over 2 hours, this has very nice blackberry aromas, flavors of blackberry and raspberry a bit brambly with blackberry being dominant flavor. Mild tannins, low to moderate acid. This is a very nice Napa cab not overly fruit forward but very much identifiable as California. Addendum-> at the end became tannic (kept at room temperature so unsure whether this is from oxygen or temperature) still pleasurable, lovely nose. (1696 views) | | | Tasted by lox bovenizer on 11/24/2021 & rated 92 points: Had last night with family. Had good fruit and finish but still too young. (2431 views) | | | Tasted by Geaux Tigers on 9/16/2021 & rated 92 points: From a 375ml, PNP and into the decanter. On open much like a young Bordeaux somewhat thin with simple and linear red cherry notes and the hint of the old barnyard. After 30 minutes, on the nose, some funky earth, red and black fruit, forest floor— simply lovely. The palate remained fairly simple, chalky tannins held back a simple red and black fruit profile with cherry lip balm, not bad, but not great. I’ve had a number of Frogs Leap cabs since 2003 and this is by far the most structured of them all. Interesting to see how these 375s age. Try again in 2025. Too young to score fairly, but 92 seems right for now, excited about the future for this (2724 views) | | | Tasted by brettlaurvick on 6/17/2021: Tannin still prevalent. Hold (1717 views) | | | Tasted by JCGuthrie on 12/26/2020 & rated 91 points: Out of 375. Decanted for about an hour. Tried next to the '18 merlot, my preference at this point was for the merlot, which showed redder fruit and more dusty stone notes. I thought the cab showed better on day two, as the fruit notes receded a bit and the minerality emerged. Noticeable tannins, really needs some more time to show its best, but I like where this is headed. (1903 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Frog's Leap 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)Rutherford Rutherford,
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