Important Update From the Founder

WCC 2004 California Cab Blind Tasting

Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY

Tasted April 17, 2014 by kenv with 583 views

Introduction

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/

Flight 1 - Flight 1 (4 notes)

Red

2004 Bell Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 6 USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

93 points

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.

Comment

Red

2004 Joseph Carr Ancienne Cuveé Meritage USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

86 points

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

Comment

Red

2004 Dominus Estate USA, California, Napa Valley

94 points

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.

Comment

Red

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.

Comment

Flight 2 - Flight 2 (4 notes)

Red

2004 Gabrielle Collection Cabernet Sauvignon Equilateral Cask 321 USA, California, Napa Valley

94 points

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

Comment

Red

2004 Marston Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

95 points

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.

Comment

Red

2004 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

94 points

[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.

1 person found this helpful Comment

Red

2004 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red USA, California, Napa Valley

94 points

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.

1 person found this helpful Comment

Flight 3 - Flight 3 (4 notes)

Red

2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

94 points

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.

Comment

Red

2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

94 points

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

Comment

Red

2004 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley USA, California, Napa Valley

88 points

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

Comment

Red

2004 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

87 points

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.

1 person found this helpful Comment

Closing

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.

WCC 2004 California Cab Blind Tasting

Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY

Introduction

Flight 1 - Flight 1 (4 notes)

Flight 2 - Flight 2 (4 notes)

Flight 3 - Flight 3 (4 notes)

Closing

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