Blind CA Cult Cab Tasting

Snohomish, WA
Tasted Saturday, February 26, 2011 by last chance with 1,330 views

Introduction

12 of us got together on an early Saturday evening for a big tasting of California Cult Cabernets. The focus for this tasting was on CA Cabs that were no older than 10 years old, and mainly on the lower production side. There was the possibility of a few ringers sliding in here, but we were not going to be told if or when they would be in the lineup.

Flight 1 - Starter White (1 Note)

We got started with a fantastic white wine from Linne Calodo. I am really getting into Viognier/Roussanne blends!

  • 2009 Linne Calodo The Contrarian 93 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    Tasted blind. The nose had aromas of sweet citrus fruit as well as some minerals and floral notes. The palate had flavors of peaches, limes and tropical fruits. The mouthfeel of this wine was fantastic. Very unctuous, and that oily, slipperiness that always makes me think of Rousanne. But the tropical fruit notes made me think of Viognier. Several of us were thinking this was a blend, and I said Viorous at one point while we were still blind. Not Kongsgaard - but Viognier and Roussane were 80% of the blend. This was my favorite of the whites we tasted.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 2 - 2001 & 2002 Cabs (3 Notes)

Our first flight of the reds. The 01 Abreu ended up being one of my co-WOTN. I ended up ranking this flight: Abreu, Hourglass then Pride. Bob Foley called us after the flight had been revealed and discussed both the Pride Reserve and the Hourglass. That was great to get to talk to him while drinking 2 of his wines, as well as hear him use some of the exact same descriptors that I had during the tasting.

  • 2002 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. (Group's #1 (my #2)) – 5 first place votes, 6 second place votes, 1 third place vote – The nose of this wine had eucalyptus, plum and caramel aromas. The palate had flavors of rich red fruits with notes of mint, leather and mocha. I was very surprised to see that this was an 02 Pride Reserve when it was revealed, as this showing was so different from the bottle that was in the blind cab tasting last year. I think that this bottle was decanted longer than the one I had last April, and it sure seemed to benefit the wine.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2002 Hourglass Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. (Group's #2 (my #3)) – 4 first place votes, 6 second place votes, 2 third place votes – The nose had aromas of dark fruits with notes of mint, toasted coconut and violets. The palate had currant, licorice and mint flavors. This wine was more subtle and elegant than the other 2 wines in this flight (Pride and Abreu), but it did have a nice, long finish. I was also surprised when this was revealed as an Hourglass, as this seemed quite different from the 06 Hourglass that we had tasted recently.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2001 Abreu Madrona Ranch 97 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. (Group's #3 (my #1)) – 3 first place votes, 0 second place votes, 9 third place votes – The nose of this wine seemed very young as was full of cherry, chocolate and anise aromas. The palate had huge flavors that were consistent with the nose, but they were even more massive than the nose had suggested, and the finish lingered for a very long time. This was my first tasting of an Abreu, and this was a really fantastic wine to have in the first flight. This wine ended up being my co-WOTN.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 3 - Our 2nd white (1 Note)

We needed to keep on schedule since we had arranged for some winemakers to call us, so to make sure that we would be drinking the right wines when the calls came, we gave up the starter white flight, and just drank them one at a time between the flights of the reds. While that did make it hard to compare them, they did become more of a palate cleanser, and it was a nice way to keep the tasting moving along.

Flight 4 - 2002 & 2003 Cabs (3 Notes)

Our 2nd flight of the reds. This time it was the Colgin that really caught my attention, and also ended up being my other co-WOTN. I ended up ranking this flight: Colgin, Sloan then Shafer HSS.

  • 2003 Colgin IX Estate 97 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. (Group's #3 (my #1)) – 3 first place votes, 2 second place votes, 7 third place votes – The nose had aromas of blue/black fruits, espresso and eucalyptus with a perfume-like note. The palate had flavors of black fruits with dark chocolate, eucalyptus and bell pepper. This was my favorite of the flight, but when I revisited it at the end of the tasting, I enjoyed it even more than I did at first. I ended up calling this my co-WOTN along with the Abreu.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

    Tasted blind. (Group's #1 (my #3)) – 4 first place votes, 7 second place votes, 1 third place vote – The nose had aromas of blue/red fruits with some cedar notes. The palate had flavors of currant, cherry, cedar and peppery spice. It was a little less full bodied than the other wines in the flight, but still a very nice wine with a long finish.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2002 Sloan 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    Tasted blind. (Group's #2 (my #2)) – 5 first place votes, 3 second place votes, 4 third place votes – The nose had aromas of red and black fruits with notes of espresso and spices. The palate had slightly medicinal red fruit flavors with nuances of espresso, licorice, earth and tobacco. This had a nice mouthfeel and a long finish. I've previously had the 2000 and 2001 Sloans, but I enjoyed the 2002 much more than either of the earlier vintages that I have had.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 5 - Our 3rd white (1 Note)

The final white wine of our tasting. We actually waited to reveal the 2nd white wine until we were ready to reveal this one. That kept it more interesting for those who knew what the white wines were.

Flight 6 - 2005 & 2006 Cabs (3 Notes)

Our 3rd flight of the reds. This flight was very different than the prior two. This was where the Bell pepper notes finally started showing up. I ended up ranking this flight: Sheridan, Seven Stones then Hundred Acre. Though when I revisited the Hundred Acre, I realized that I probably under-rated it during the initial tasting.

  • 2006 Sheridan Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 94 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

    Tasted blind. (Group's #2 (my #1)) – 3 first place votes, 2 second place votes, 7 third place votes – The nose had aromas of dark fruits, eucalyptus, and green bell peppers. The palate had flavors of cherries and blackberries with nuances of bell peppers, mocha and eucalyptus. This wine had a good length finish. This flight was a different style than the previous two, and the wines all had some similar attributes. It was really interesting how similar many aspects of the Sheridan Reserve and the Seven Stones were while we were tasting blind. Several tasters in the group commented about that.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon The Ark Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind (sort of)... The gold rim on the top of the bottle was sticking out of the bottle bag, so it was impossible not to know this was a Hundred Acre bottle if you knew about the gold rings. (Group's #1 (my #3)) – 7 first place votes, 1 second place vote, 4 third place votes – This wine seemed a bit closed to me when we got to it. The nose initially had some slightly medicinal red fruit aromas, but that was about all I could get out of it. The palate had nice cherry and chocolate flavors, and had a good length finish. This wine also seemed to change more during the course of the tasting than any of the other wines - I couldn't even attribute that to seeing the label, because I always knew this was a Hundred Acre bottle... When I revisited this at the end of the tasting, I enjoyed it a lot more. The wine had developed a smoother mouthfeel and had some anise and floral aromas coming through that weren't showing earlier. I had initially scored this as a 92, but revised it upward to a 94 after tasting it again. That would have meant that I would have ranked this ahead of the Seven Stones at the end of the tasting, but probably not ahead of the Sheridan.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Seven Stones Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

    Tasted blind. (Group's #3 (my #2)) – 3 first place votes, 3 second place votes, 6 third place votes – The nose had aromas of red/black fruits and bell pepper. The palate had cherry, currant and chocolate flavors with earth and bell pepper notes. This wine had a slightly different mouthfeel than the other 2 wines in this flight, and I thought this might be a ringer from WA. Turned out that my favorite of the flight was the ringer from WA - not this one... It's interesting that both times that I have tasted this wine blind in a CA Cab tasting, I have thought it was a WA ringer. When we revisited the wines at the end of the tasting, I found that the Hundred Acre we tasted this next to had opened up quite a bit. I ended up thinking that I would have ranked the Hundred Acre ahead of the Seven Stones - but wasn't thinking that at the time of the voting.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 7 - 2005 & 2006 Cabs continued (3 Notes)

Our 4th flight of the reds. This flight also marked another turning point in the tasting. The wines were really starting to get bigger, with both more alcohol and more tannins. I ended up ranking this flight: Schrader, Futo then Insignia.

  • 2006 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 96 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Tasted blind. (Group's #2 (my #1)) – 3 first place votes, 2 second place votes, 5 third place votes, 2 tasters dropped out for this flight – The nose had aromas of cassis, cherry and chocolate. The palate had very rich blackberry flavors with notes of toast and sweet oak. This was slightly different than the other Schraders that I have tasted to date, but it was still a beautiful bottle of Cabernet. I did find it interesting that all 3 of the 1st place votes came from the guys at the tasting that are already on the Schrader list...

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Joseph Phelps Insignia 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. (Group's #3 (my #3)) – 2 first place votes, 4 second place votes, 4 third place votes, 2 tasters dropped out for this flight – The nose had aromas of blackberry and cherry with notes of vanilla, coconut and a little heat. The palate had plum, cherry and earth flavors. I thought that this may be another Foley wine sneaking into the lineup before it was revealed as an Insignia. This did seem a bit hot, but not so much that it was very distracting.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2006 Futo Oakville 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Tasted blind. (Group's #1 (my #2)) – 5 first place votes, 4 second place votes, 1 third place vote, 2 tasters dropped out for this flight – The nose had aromas of dark cherries, currant and cedar. The palate was consistent with the nose, but added some spicy plum notes as well. The tannins in this wine were not as punishing as they have been the two previous times that I have tasted this wine. I think that this wine has begun to become approachable in the past year - there's no doubt that it will last for a very long time, but it's much more fun to drink now than it has been.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 8 - 2006 & 2007 Cabs (3 Notes)

Our 5th flight of the reds. Our final flight, and the wines were all very different in this flight. I ended up ranking this flight: Kapcsandy, Cayuse then TOR. Again, when I was revisitng the wines after the group vote, I realized that I wasn't enjoying the Cayuse as much as I was earlier, and that I probably under rated the TOR. Jeff Ames called us at the end of this flight, and we talked about not only TOR but Rudius as well. We kept Jeff on the phone for a very long time with questions about To Kalon, George III, Alder Springs and Panek vineyards. That was a lot of fun and a great way to wrap up our last flight of the reds.

  • 2006 Kapcsándy Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon State Lane Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Yountville

    Tasted blind. (Group's #3 (my #1)) – 3 first place votes, 3 second place votes, 6 third place votes – The nose had aromas of blackberry, plum, anise, and caramel. The palate had flavors of cassis, currant, licorice, chocolate and dark roasted coffee. This had a very smooth mouthfeel and a long finish. Even though this ranked as the groups #3 wine - I think that is mainly a function of having a Cayuse Widowmaker included in the lineup of this flight... There are a lot of Cayuse fans in this group, and that wine is easily picked out by both the bottle shape and weight and the Cayuse funk on the nose and palate.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2007 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Tasted blind. (Group's #2 (my #3)) – 3 first place votes, 4 second place votes, 5 third place votes – The nose had aromas of mixed berries and grape jelly. The palate had primary flavors and really came across as grapey. It was still a very delicious bottle of wine, but it was surprising how simple this was in comparison to the wines that we had been tasting during the evening. I was very surprised to see it revealed as a To Kalon wine. I'm not sure if this just needs some time in the bottle still (Parker's drinking window starts in 2013), or maybe this only seemed very primary because it was being tasted next to a Cayuse Widowmaker. The Widowmaker was a very funky and complex Cab and was altogether different from everything else we had tasted this evening. After the voting was done, I really considered changing the TOR to #2 and moving the Cayuse to #3.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2007 Cayuse Cabernet Sauvignon The Widowmaker En Chamberlin Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    Tasted blind (sort of). (Group's #1 (my #2)) – 6 first place votes, 5 second place votes, 1 third place vote – The nose had very briny aromas and all the usual suspects in the Cayuse funk. This was easily identified not only as a ringer, but as a Cayuse Widowmaker. If the bottle doesn't give it away (super big and heavy), surely the nose or at least the palate will. As this was the last wine in the last flight of the tasting, there was definitely some palate fatigue beginning to creep in around the room. I think that having this Cayuse in the last flight made some of the other wines seem simpler and far less complex than they actually were. While I recognize that this is a well made wine, it's hard for me to drink very much of it, especially at the end of a big CA Cabernet tasting. I did call this #2 in the group voting, but after more thought, I think that I probably should have scored this lower and ranked the TOR higher than I did. I love the Cayuse funk in Syrahs, but I think that I really want to enjoy a much cleaner Cabernet than the Widowmaker style. I've enjoyed prior vintages of the Widowmaker like the 02 & 04 where the funk isn't the dominant aroma/flavor, or it's even just absent.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 9 - Sauternes for dessert (1 Note)

A nice bottle of Sauternes to end the tasting.

  • 2006 Château Climens 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    The nose had aromas of mango, peach, honey and apricot. The palate had a lot of honeyed tropical fruit flavors with a note of vanilla cream. This was a fantastic pairing with some wheat crackers and blue cheese. Some were eating apple pie with it, but I needed to stick to pairings on the savory side at the end of this fantastic tasting. A really nice wine to finish up the tasting!

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Closing

This was a lot of fun, and another very educational tasting!

×
×