1995 California Cabernet Horizontal (Mercy, mercy, mercy.)

It was a dark and stormy night when ten wine lovers gathered at Ruth's Chris for a horizontal of 1995 California Cabernets. The vintage was much heralded, even on the heels of the outstanding 1994 vintage. Indeed, at the time I greatly enjoyed many '95 Cabernets on release, though soon after, say around '98ish, my palate shifted and I no longer appreciated the big fruit and wood profile exhibited by many California Cabernets and shifted my personal drinking focus to France. 1995 was to be the last vintage of California Cabernet I bought in quantity.

In many ways I preferred the '95 vintage to '94 on release because I felt of the wines I tried, most had about the same levels of fruit as their '94 counterparts, but to my tastes, had much better structure which led me to believe that these would be better candidates for aging. With this in mind and having not consumed any '95's in awhile, I thought a horizontal at almost age 12 would provide some valuable insight. It did, but, unfortunately, backed up a conclusion I formed about the ageability of these wines I formed after my palate changed. That is, many of the Cabernets made from say '92-'93 on, are not going to age well. At least not to my palate. As with everything, mileage varies, different strokes, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.

Given my general outspokenness, some may think I came into this tasting pre-judging the wines. That really isn't the case. I really wanted these wines to show well and though I certainly wasn't overly optimistic, there was a hint of doubt in my mind as to the outcome. But, it was not to be. Most of the wines showed disappointingly with oak and alcohol dominating what fruit remained at the core. Additionally, the comment was raised that there was no bouquet in the room. Frequently, at themed dinners focusing on say Burgundy, Rhone, Rioja, Alsace, etc., you really get aromas billowing out of the glass. Not tonight. Most of the wines were either muted or showed oak/alcohol aromas.

So, what happened? What caused this? I'd say a number of factors, though I'm certainly painting with a broad and overly simplistic brush. First and foremost, I'd say a switch in winemaking style that started in my mind around '92-'93 with a move toward riper fruit at harvest leading to dramatic growth in alcohol levels, higher extracts and a much heavier hand with oak. Additionally, one has to remember that at the time, Phylloxera had run amok and really affected a number of wineries, if not directly on an estate, than certainly through sourced fruit. That period of time was also a boom time in the valley with new wineries being formed almost weekly or existing wineries deciding to stop selling their fruit and making their own wine, fueled by growing demand and interest thanks to the dot-com bubble and new found wealth. What do wine newbies flock to? Big fruity wines as they're easier to understand to someone that's used to drinking soft drinks or beer than an earthy wine from Europe that's full of piss and vinegar and needs some time to sort itself out. Wineries simply started making wines in a style that both critics and many consumers seem to love.

So, what does it all mean? Judging by this tasting and a controversial '94 horizontal a few years ago, Cabs from this era are not aging gracefully (of course there are exceptions, there always are) and wines that continue to be made in this fashion are best enjoyed within a few years after release to enjoy the fruit before the wood and alcohol takes over. At least that's what I plan to do. I still do like a good cab with a steak from time to time.

Is there hope on the horizon? Well, some would argue things are just fine now. But for those that are skeptical of the way many of the most popular Cabernets are being made today, I say patience. For all intents and purposes, the wine industry is still in its relative infancy in California. Folks are still figuring out what works best where. Yet there is a much better understanding of this today than there was ten years ago. There's a much better understanding of what works and doesn't work in the cellar, in canopy management, in oak use. Many wineries are no longer talking the talk about organic/biodynamique wine making, but are walking the walk. Some are dry farming. Some are deciding to make wines in styles they like and not (gasp!) in styles that many critics like. Some have always made wines in that style and keep trucking along just fine.

So, what does it all mean? Though I may not drink as much Cab as I used to and don't believe most of the Cabs from after '91 are aging particularly well, it is pretty exciting to see what's going on out there these days and it's keeping me interested, open-minded and hopeful.

Enough with the rant. On to the notes, which are in the order I tasted them in, though I do want to mention the really great group of people we had at the dinner. In attendance were Steven Wolfe, Richard Mavricos, Chris Kravitz, Gary Vaynerchuk, Nano Pedraza, Josh Raynolds, Bill Lawrence, Wilfred Van Gorp, Paul Jaouen and yours truly. Even though the wines didn't show particularly well, we had a blast.

One more thing, for those that might suggest poor storage was the culprit, I really don't believe that was an issue. The poor results were too uniform and though I can't speak for everyone there, I get the feeling that not too many of the wines were sourced recently. I brought the Insignia and the Etude and I bought them when I worked retail within a day or two of our getting them into the shop and have had them stored in a cellar since that time. Fills/capsules just fine. Plus, those wines that showed poorly showed similarly to the way the wines showed poorly at that '94 Cal cab tasting. Imo, it's clearly an indication of how wines from this era and style crack up, not an indication of poor storage.

• 1995 Behrens & Hitchcock Cabernet Sauvignon "Ink Grade"

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I approached with hesitation. I've never been a fan of these wines, even on release as I find them completely unbalanced and hot. While youth has never been kind to these wines, imo, age is worse. There's a searing blast of alcohol on the nose, followed by an extraordinary rendition of a bottle of bourbon (and not a good one) on the palate. All alcohol and wood. A DNPIM (Do Not Put In Mouth) wine.

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• 1995 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I enjoyed a lot of Beringer when I was getting into wine in the mid-'90's. I drank a lot of '91-'94 Knight's Valley and greatly enjoyed the '91 & '92 PR on release before I started finding their wines too oaky for my tastes. A bottle of the '85 Private Reserve I had in '99 or so was lovely. How's the '95 at age 12? Not good. While there's a little more fruit showing than the B & H, which really had none, once again the wood and alcohol dominate and there simply isn't enough material around for any sort of positive evolution. The wine really seems tired. Er, dead tired. C-/C.

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• 1995 Peter Michael Les Pavots

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

  A blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc.
  Another winery I used to enjoy in my wine youth and that I used to purchase. The '95, however, was always a problem child. Not sure what happened at the winery during this vintage, but my experience has been it's been a little problematic from the get go. This bottle showed extremely poorly with a chemical/paint aroma and canned asparagus both on the nose and palate. Underneath all that, there actually is some red fruit, but it tastes almost muddy and gets lost in the waves of shrill and spiky acidity that lashes the tongue. D+.

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• 1995 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  After an inauspicious start to the tasting, finally a wine that smells and tastes good. Quite fragrant out of the glass with bing cherry, dusty earth and cola notes. Certainly the best and most interesting wine of the night so far, though it's not without it's faults. There's a nice core of dark fruit present that hasn't been obliterated by oak, along with dustiness and spicy cedar. However, there is a coarseness to the wine and it picks up a little heat on the finish. Quite nice and voted wine of the night, but I have a theory that it received a lot of votes because it was the first solid wine after some very poor ones and was followed by a number of poor showings. Solid B+.

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• 1995 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Trailside Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  Lots of American oak with its requisite mintiness, a feature that has never enamored me to this winery. That said, even though the oak is omnipresent, it doesn't have the blowtorch effect some other wines are showing tonight. Indeed, there's some decent red fruit to be found. But, let's not get carried away. It offers some pleasure, but is hardly inspiring. B-.

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• 1995 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Not much going on aromatically other than a faint hint of mocha. On the palate, another wine that's given up the ghost. There's a little upfront dark cherry fruit, but there's no real mid-palate and the finish is short, woody and hot. The '94 has turned out to be the better ager, when on release I thought the '95 would be. C.

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• 1995 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Shows a pleasant and interesting nose of red fruit, nutmeg and herbal notes. Pretty good on the palate, though it lacks excitement and much of a personality. There's enough fruit right now to bring a smile, enjoy with a steak and just stand up to the slightly green wood, but I wouldn't hold onto it much longer as the finish is short and starting to dry out. B+/B.

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• 1995 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Perhaps the most fruit-forward wine of the night. There really is a good amount of sweet black cherry fruit. Along with it, of course, is a heck of a lot of oak. Depending on one's tastes, they either marry well, or it's too over the top. I have to admit, given my sensitivity to oaky wines, I always fear that these wines are going to be too much of a shock to the system for me. Let's not beat around the bush. The style is big fruit and big oak. Yet, while there usually is too much oak for me to truly love it, they really do get an awful lot of fruit in each bottle. Enough so that I actually have to grin and tip my hat and marvel at how they snookered an avowed oak-a-phobe yet again. This Napa bottling, btw, showed more fruit and better balance than the following Special Selection. B+.

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• 1995 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Doesn't show the depth of fruit or the openness of the Napa bottling and is a bit oakier and coarser. Solid, but there really wasn't much memorable here. B.

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• 1995 Ridge Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot 10% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc
  On paper I thought this was going to be one of my favorite wines of the tasting and it was. It's elegance in a sea of excess this evening. There's bright cherry fruit, dust, light herb and spicy cedary oak on the nose and palate. Along with the Spottswoode, it seems to be aging the most gracefully in the group. Enoyable now, though decanting would help as it's a little closed up, but there's good potential here for future development. A-/B+.

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• 1995 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Quite fragrant with plenty of black fruit, eucalyptus and spicy oak aromas. A similar flavor profile with perhaps the best mouthfeel of all the wines in the lineup. Nicely silky with the oak pretty well integrated. There's a good amount of fruit here, but I don't think the wine will get any better, so I'd drink up. A-/B+.

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• 1995 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Consistently among my favorite California wineries, if not my favorite, I was looking forward to trying this wine to see where it's gone since I last had it at a Montelena vertical I put together four years ago. Hibernation, is the answer. This was about as closed a wine as I've had. You could tell there are good things there, but I kept hearing De Niro as Capone saying "You got nuttin, ya hear? Nuttin." in my head. Patience should be rewarded. They have a great track record for longevity and previous bottles have merited an A-. NR.

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• 1995 Joseph Phelps Insignia

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3 % Petit Verdot.
  I liked the '95 Insignia a smidge more than the '94 on release, but find that the '94 shows a little better today. Shows the thickest and richest mouthfeel of the evening with good levels of fruit and creamy oak that lacks the severe bite of many of the wines tonight. That said, it finishes with a touch too much of an alcohol burn, so I'd drink now. No real complexity, but there's a dearth of that tonight. Enjoy it for the fruit it has now. A-/B+.

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• 1995 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Along with the Araujo, this was my favorite '95 on release and one of my favorite California Cabernets of all time. It's been a number of years since I last tried it, so when Bill said he was bringing it, I was psyched. There is a good amount of black cherry fruit to the wine, with some spicy cedar, but the intensity that I liked so much about the wine was gone. Additionally, the oak levels are higher than I now prefer. This was pretty much like thinking of an old flame that over the years you've built up in your head, or perhaps remember more fondly than the actual relationship merited, meeting her again and her not living up to what you had remembered or expected. A good wine, but perhaps a bit of a letdown from steep expectations. A-/B+.

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• 1995 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Saved the best for last as this was my wine of the night. The wine showed the best balance and integration of the tasting, imo. There's a good core of fruit, the oak is just an integrated component, not a full symphony and the wine has started to take on more mature notes of leather, earthiness and dried herbs. Could still use further aging, but it's showing very nicely with air now. A-.

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Wines of the night: 3 pts awarded for a 1st place vote, 2 pts for 2nd, 1 for 3rd.

Arrowood- Reserve Speciale, 21 points, 5 x 1st, 2 x 2nd , 2 x 3rd
Shafer- Hillside 15 points, 4 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd
Dalle Valle 5 points, 2 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd
Ridge- Monte Bello, 4 points, 1 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd
Spottswoode, 3 points, 1 x 1st
Montelena, 3 points, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd
Caymus- Napa Valley, 2 points, 2 x 3rd
Dominus, 2 points, 1 x 2nd
Heitz, 2 points, 1 x 2nd
Joseph Phelps- Insignia, 1 point, 1 x 3rd