Cali Cab Dinner with 10+ Years of Age - 02 HSS, 04 Levy, 01 Madronna and etc.

Charlie Palmer - Washington DC
Tasted Thursday, October 30, 2014 by dcwino with 565 views

Introduction

DCWINOS held a Cali Cab with minimum ten years of age dinner at Charlie Palmer.

Flight 1 - Krug MV (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Two 78 Cabs (2 Notes)

  • 1978 Conn Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 2 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Beautiful mature warm Cab nose, ripe jammy red fruits, plum, ash, a hint of oak, iron, interesting licorice note, cedar and a hint of brett. Excellent concentration, warm and round palate impression, jammy red fruits, noticeable acidity and fully integrated tannins. This is a nicely mature classic cal cab. A pleasant surprise and highly recommend. The is a hint of Brett but it is not terribly bothersome. My guess was the 85 napa cab.

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  • 1978 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello 91 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Noticeably green nose, lean black fruits, ash, lead pencil and bell pepper. Medium concentration, mineral, ash and a hint of tannins. Although extremely youthful, I found the wine to be a bit too lean for my palate. My guess was the 91 Philip Togni cab.

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Flight 3 - Abreu and Araujo (3 Notes)

  • 2001 Abreu Madrona Ranch 97 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Incredibly big nose, blue and black fruits, cassis, blueberry liquor, coffee, licorice, vanilla and dark caramel. Incredible concentration, intense sweet dark fruit driven palate impression, unctuous yet silky palate, noticeable but sweet tannins and long finish that ends with a hint of alcohol. This is a consistently impressive wine of massive scale. I could have easily impressed others as the heavy bottle and the shy red capsule were obvious.

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  • 1999 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 97 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Lovely classic Napa cab nose, cassis, plum, lead pencil, licorice and mineral. Good concentration, intense yet cool blue fruit driven palate impression, exceptional balance and harmony, nicely integrated tannins and seamless long finish. Still quite youthful. All elements are in perfect balance, sort of wine that you can enjoy all day. Highly recommend.

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  • 2002 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 98 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

    The last bottle that I had in last May was certainly was impressive but was a bit overwhelming. Intense crushed blackberries, crème de cassis, lead pencil, dark milk chocolate, vanilla and mineral. Incredible concentration, intense jammy black fruit driven palate impression, unctuous yet silky palate and masked tannins due to the incredible fruit concentration. Wow wine. IMO, Shafer HSS is one of the greatest Napa Cabs.

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Flight 4 - Three cabs (2 Notes)

  • 2004 Levy & McClellan Red 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Extremely ripe fruit expression, sweet spices, anise, mineral and a hint of alcohol as the end note. Good concentration, a bit dry fruit driven palate impression, nicely integrated tannins and a bit of heat at the end. IMO, this is a controversial wine, YMMV significantly. In hindsight, I could have bought two bottles of the 01 Rousseau Chambertin.

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  • 2004 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 93 Points

    USA, California, North Coast, Napa / Sonoma

    Sort and warm nose, surprising red fruit expression, a hint of cassis and earth. Good concentration, warm and round palate and nicely integrated tannins. Surprisingly soft. Seems almost light compare to the HSS and Levy.

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Flight 5 - Climens (1 Note)

  • 1998 Château Climens 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    Really light style of Climen, grapefruit, honey and a hint of ginger. Although a bit light, it is really delicious. Perhaps like the 02 Sauternes but a bit better.

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Closing

A good time was had by all!

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