San Antonio Wine Geeks - Double Blind Cali Cabs

Home of Steve T.
Tasted Saturday, December 3, 2011 by Nutty08 with 738 views

Introduction

Another fantastic tasting and the best Cali cab based tasting we’ve ever put together. Most of the wine's were double blind, which was quite humbling. The hospitality of Steve and karen T. Can't be overstated. Ever after hosting multiple times, broken glass and bottles and all, they continue to offer their home to us. Hopefully I can repay the favor one day when I'm not living in a 850sq ft apt....

Flight 1 (16 Notes)

  • 2008 Continuum Proprietary Red 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Decanted 4hrs prior to tasting. Reserved but complex nose of black currants, spice, tar and roasted coffee. Palate is forward and almost brutishly acidic with fine very polished tannins that become more prominent on the long finish. Good concentration with cassis and black currants while avoiding any "liquor-like" quality of some of its peers. Prominent oak treatment that is not yet integrated, but adds layers of complexity and spice, with a cinnimon edge. Very long fruits and cedar and cigar box finish. While drinkable now it's a little edgy and almost harsh (lacking elegance) but should be fantastic in 5+ years as it settles down. Great potential to improve.

    Later in the night with was really hiding behind the oak, with a strong lush vanilla flavor profile hiding the fruit. Really not ready. This did not show as well as the competition. 94 is mostly for potential. At the tasting lineup (6-8hrs of air) more like 92 for consistency.

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  • 2008 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 91 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Beautiful expressive nose of dark fruits, and pipe tobacco leaf. Palate with currants with prominent acidity almost turning it tart. Slightly hollow mid-palate, but the finish kicks in the chalky tannins, spice, cedar, and mocha. Crisp and refreshing compared to a Napa cab, somewhere in the middle between a Napa cab and an old world cab. Needs a few years to integrate the oak and acidity, but still very tasty now.
    Some commented this seemed 'grapey" and I know what they mean. I think it was a another way to explain the high acidity, tartness, and rather hollow mid-palate. This still held it's own with many wine 3-5x it's cost.

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  • 1992 Ridge Monte Bello 94 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    ’92 MB– Sensational wine to start the evening. Slow o’d and only half the bottle remaining on arrival. Fantastic flamboyant inviting nose with tell-tale Montebello character—green pepper, tobacco leaf, mint/eucalyptus. Fleshy, lively mouthfeel, with great depth and complexity adding a long mocha finish. This is really just starting to come into it’s own. On par with the ’90 and still a step behind the ’94 though the oak was more tactful this year.

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  • 1997 Ridge Monte Bello 89 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    served double blind – 6hr decant. I thought this was a large producing Napa cab that was maturing quickly—maybe ’00. No Santa Cruz Mtn character at all for me. Almost a petrol/VA nose, with leather and cedar. Pleasant, soft palate of ripe currants and cassis, with a dried berry finish with some dry tannins. Lacking in verve and complexity(for this producer), and if anything seemed slightly over the hill. Very disappointing upon reveal. Over decanted or slightly off bottle? No obvious flaw.

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  • 1995 Château Latour Grand Vin 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Served double blind and slow O’ed for 18hrs. I should have nailed this but could only guess ’95 and wasn’t even considering bdx despite a tannin level and mouthfeel I’ve never experienced in a Cali cab >10yrs old. This is the humbling nature of blind tastings.

    Minty complex nose with leather and tobacco. Palate seemed thin and austere, some darker red fruits, fine acidity and rather coarse prominent tannins. Long finish though, with the mint character recurring and adding cedar spice. This was retasted after knowing the identity and only confirmed my original note. After finding the identity I can confidently conclude this is just shut down, but blind I didn’t think much of it. Miles behind the incredible ’96 and a recently tasted ’95 Haut-Brion. Needs 10+ yrs. 92

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  • 1997 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    Ripe currants on the nose—almost overdone—with sweet pipe tobacco. Had a sweet hint on the palate with ripe fruits and an herbal leaf quality adding complexity, though leads into a slightly bitter finish. Quite good, though at peak and not expected to improve. I enjoyed this quite a bit. Guessed as a stag’s leap AVA.

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  • 1992 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Popped and poured. Much more closed and youthful that a recent previous bottle from a different source. Funky nose, quite herbal, with a distinct minty/eucalyptus character. Tight palate with fine tannins, mature subdued pure fruit. Similar flavor profile but much less accessible and expressive that a recent blockbuster bottle, though retains that distinct minty character that was so impressive. This bottle needed time. medium finish, great minty character adding complexity to mocha and earth. 93-94

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  • 1992 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Served double blind. Initially with rather rubbery plastic nose that blew off after a couple of hours. Later was leafy and herbal, with a pipe tobacco character. Palate was ripe, but matures with a red fruit profile. Drying tannins on the backend. Seemed a little tired and drying out compared to the Dominus. Decent complexity and balanced wine with a distinct profile.

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  • 1991 Ridge Monte Bello 93 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Served double blind. Slight funk on the nose, quite complex with a leafy herbal character and touch of green pepper. Dark, black currant palate, fine tannins, and lengthy complex coffee and green pepper finish. Remind me of a ripe St Estephe which always makes me think Santa Cruz Mtns, though I was dumbfounded this was a ’91 as it came across as quite youthful. Slightly edged out by the ’92 MB for WOTN for me, though this could use a few more years. 92-94

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  • 1999 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 88 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Ripe blackcurrants and pipe tobacco flavors. Rather fruit forward, and simple with an integrated palate. Came across as fully mature. Almost a hint of VA on the nose. This was very disappointing given it’s lack of depth and complexity. Surprisingly poor showing in this lineup. Off bottle? 87-89

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  • 1994 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Served double blind. Very ripe nose with a sweet plum character. Black currants on the palate, round and soft and completely integrated. Not a lot of acidity left. Medium finish, with cedar spice. Tasty in a fruit forward opulent style, though lacks the complexity of many of the other wines. Drink up. 89-91

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  • 1999 Becker Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 91 Points

    USA, Texas, Texas Hill Country

    Served double blind. Came across as quite youthful and vibrant. Showing a lot of oak along with cassis and currants, but the fruit is nice underneath. There is substantial tannin, slightly chewy and dry on a medium finish with vanilla and a slight bitterness. After finding out this was another one of T’s Texas wines I restated, but confirmed my impressions. I wish there was less oak, but the fruit is nice. Who knew a Texas wine would last this long and still have life ahead of it? 90-91

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  • 2008 Bevan Cellars Ontogeny 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    HUGE wine in comparison to the others (really HUGE). I’d like to see this compared to Maybach. Ripe nose that’s just full of layers of fruit flavors—tons of crème de cassis, dark currants, and loads of vanilla cream. Smooth refined super concentrated palate without any perceptible structure to me. Really hard to assess as it just didn’t seem to be accessible and while the finish was long, it was dominated by sweet vanilla cream. Fine for the style, but I just couldn’t get excited with it. Re-tasted multiple times. 90-92

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  • 2001 Quintessa 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    Served double blind. Shy nsoe, with a touch of currants and cherry. Fine almost sweet palate, more currants than cherry here, with a lafy herbal tobacco leaf character that carries through on a light but complex and lengthy finish. Almost a hair too ripe on the fruit, but this has absorbed its oak treatment well. Nice wine. 91-93

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  • 2006 Arkenstone Obsidian 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

    Served double blind - This was young and full throttle, still showing a harsh oak treatment on the palate and finish that covered the quite ripe red fruit. Long vanilla cream finish. While the fruit was big enough with the heavy oak, seemed disjointed and overdone in this lineup. Revisit in 5yrs unless you aren’t shy of oak. The Continuum was much more polished and balanced. 87-89

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  • 2005 Constant Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain Vineyard 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain

    Last wine tasted and admittedly my palate was rather fatigued as I missed this on first pass. Toasty nose with some black currant character. Quite tannic on the palate, but seemingly polished, though finished with slightly dry harsh tannins. I like the fruit underneath the tannins and with a little time this may come together nicely, as it doesn’t seem over oaked or over ripe. Score is how it's currently drinking. 88-90

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Closing

A truly remarkable evening and a stunning lineup of wines showing the generosity of this group. Blind tastings are truly humbling and a few things to note:
1) Did I score a Texas wine and a Latour within a point? Yep. The '95 latour was quite disappointing (shut down and austere) and way behind the sensational '96
2) Monte Bello is awesome and maybe my favorite Cali Cab blend
3) Many of the overly ripe Cali cabs didn't show well when aged
4) Cali Mountain fruit creates some tannic monsters that need considerable time, and are about as unpleasant to drink young as Bdx (Continuum, Arkenstone, Constant). Future is bright for these, however.
5) I have trouble drinking overly ripe wines without strong acidity (Personal opinion)
6) I'm going to miss this group when I leave San Antonio as I think their generosity and enthusiasm for wine is unmatched anywhere.
7) As a Bdx drinker, missing a first growth in a lineup of Cali cabs is rather embarrassing. The flavor profile might be similar but the texture and character of the tannins is not. I was asking myself, "why is this so tannic? Seems like a '95, but sooo tannic". Oh well...need to drink more I guess.

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