WCC 2004 California Cab Blind Tasting

My Albany-area group (the Wine Collectors Club) got together to taste 2004 Cali Cabs blind at the Fort Orange Club in Albany. Dinner began around 7:30pm and ended around 10pm.

More details and photos can be found on my website:

http://www.finewinegeek.com/tn/2014-04-17_WCC_CaliCab2004_FtOrange/

• 2004 Bell Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 6 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  Huge, ripe, alcoholic nose of licorice and ripe red berries. Ripe fruit and tannin on the palate, but not as thick as I expected from the nose.

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• 2004 Joseph Carr Ancienne Cuveé Meritage 86 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Smokey nose with no fruit. Dry tannic. Not very appealing, but drinkable. Maybe over the hill already?

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• 2004 Dominus Estate 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Heady complex nose of browning beef and black fruit. Still very young, tart and tannic up front, but waves of ripe fruit on the long finish. Better in 8-10 years. 93-96 points.

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• 2004 Robert Foley Claret

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Muted nose of ripe cherries. Hot, medicinal, burns the tongue. VA? Not rated but me, but WOTN for the group. Go figure.

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• 2004 Gabrielle Collection Cabernet Sauvignon Equilateral Cask 321 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Huge, ripe appealing nose of fruit and spices. A yummy wine. Young, but drinking well tonight.

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• 2004 Marston Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  Big smokey nose. Complex, smooth, with great balanced. Best wine so far to drink tonight. I think I really like these every time I have one.

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• 2004 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

  [Double decanted for 2 hours.] Wonderful complex nose. Big ripe tannic. Very young. Could have used a lot more air. A great future in 8-15 years. 93-96 points.
  Open 48 hours: Stunning, great balance, classic Napa Cab.

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• 2004 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Huge tannic, a massive, almost port-like wine that needs a lot more air or a lot more years.
  Open 48 hours: Showing beautifully now. Archetypal Napa Cab with waves of brooding black fruit. Hold for 10 years, then maybe 96-98 points. If this had shown like this on Thursday, it would have been WOTN for me.

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• 2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Very ripe fruit nose with notes of beef and licorice. Sweet, juicy, young, but balanced and harmonious. Definitely one of the best wines to drink tonight.

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• 2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Super ripe and gorgeous nose. Similar to above, but more backward and tannic. Needs time, but should be great. 94-97 points.

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• 2004 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Big vanilla nose. Tart tannic sour. Unimpressive after all these other wines.

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• 2004 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  Massive, port-like, very ripe with just a hint of a green street.
  Open 48 hours: Really unimpressive. Ripe red fruit with a green vegetable streak in it. Amy poured her's out. Very disappointing.

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The majority of these wines are big and ripe and tasty and still quite young. Based on this tasting and others, I would say 2004 is a very good vintage for California Cabernet. This was a pretty good cross-section of (mostly Napa) Cabernet and with few exceptions, they all showed very well.

After considering many possible flight combinations, Bob just decided to put these in alphabetical order. It worked as well as anything.