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Q1 2019 Tasting - 1995 Napa
The Apt
Tasted March 2, 2019 by MC2 Wines with 270 views
Introduction
One of the more specific themes that we've done. It's based a bit on 'Aged Napa' which we did a few years ago and which was very popular. Fun to get more specific to the particular year. Lots of great wine. Same penny voting system as always - 5 pennies per person which can be be voted as five in one wine or one in five wines or anything in between. All wines served single blind for those you brought and double blind for the others.
Flight 1 - Main tasting - 1995 Napa (16 notes)
Red
1995 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine #1: From a magnum. I'll admit at first I was a bit scared of this wine. All of the old Spottswoodes we've had have always ended up corked. This was fully blind for me as someone poured my glass so although I'm sure I could have worked out the wine since it was only mag, didn't know it when tasting. Really quite nice. The fruit is still definitely there. More aged character. Some leather and almost a hint of balsamic or similar that I sometimes get in wines that are older. It's nice and not overdone. One of my favorites of the tasting.
(7 pennies)
(7 pennies)
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Red
1995 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Gravelly Meadow
Wine #2: I suspect that some of the lack of love here comes from the bottle and how it was stored. This came across as much more faded than either the wine before or the wine after. Fruit almost all gone. So much more of the tobacco and again that almost balsamic quality to it. Wine Bid purchase which generally doesn't bode as well as the location we got the first bottle. That being said, I still foudn it enjoyable. Just more secondary. So it goes. (0 pennies)
1 person found this helpful
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Red
1995 Pahlmeyer Merlot
Wine #3: A Pahlmeyer merlot has won our tasting group in the past and this was a bottle that I thought could do quite well (although didn't find any during our sourcing). I think I got the first pour and initially it was a touch disjointed. The acid was a bit overpowering and the fruit was more dominant. With a bit of time in the glass and some swirling that changed and it came into much more balance. Still those ripe juicy red fruits you'd expect of a Merlot. Touch more spice and woodlands. A clear favorite of the group (21 pennies)
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Red
1995 Harlan Estate The Maiden
Wine #4: This was a wine that I sortof tracked down as the big brother was one of the top wines from that vintage and so thought it would be fun to see how the junior did in the tasting. Probably about what you'd expect. Lots of much darker fruits. Fruit dominant, but some spice. Lower acid. It's more of a 'tasty' style of wine. Still going strong. (2 pennies)
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Red
1995 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine #5: Another younger brother of one of the big guns of Napa. this was drinking very well (ended up getting one of my pennies). It's in that nice point where the fruit is still there, but so are a lot of the other more secondary and tertiary notes. I get a lot of saddle oil here. It's pretty and tasty (2 pennies)
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Red
1995 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate
Wine #6: I used the word balanced quite a few times in my notes here (which was a theme for the tasting - 1995 is in a good spot to be drinking now). There's nice fruit, but it's balanced and not over-ripe or too intense. Just the right amount of spice. Hint of oak which I hadn't picked up on some of the other wines. Overall, good. (2 pennies)
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Red
1995 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection
Wine #7: Interesting - of all of the wines I think this one might have tasted the youngest. It was in some ways even a bit tight still. Not sure if that was how it was prepped (most of the wines had a decant at the least for sediment before being rebottled). Spice dominated, but lots of good fruit as well. Nice acidity too (interesting how the house style feels like it's changed over time. Can see why it was a popular wine in the 90's. (8 pennies)
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Red
1995 Cardinale
Wine #8: Just a nice well-aged Napa cab. There's still lots of fruit. Still some good balance and more of that tack room and old library notes. I got a bit more alcohol on this one than some of the others which surprised me. Still, found it interesting and enjoyable. (1 penny)
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Red
1995 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford
Wine #9: I was intrigued to try this wine. We are big fans of Lokoya but often because of the focus on mountain fruit. Had not tried this bottling in the past. Did not pick up on the Rutherford dust here, but I did get a lot of blueberry pie. That just very sweet and hints of baking spices and all of that. Tasty. (4 pennies)
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Red
1995 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine #10: Again a nice wine. Good age. Darker fruits still there. It was perhaps a bit less interesting than some of the others - I thought it came across as more one dimensional or at least evolved less on the palate. Similar to the Cardinale could pick up a bit on the alc. Still, a good wine. (2 pennies)
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Red
1995 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
Wine #11: Interesting to see my last note on this wine - suspect some variation between bottles. This was well aged. Lots of leather and balsamic/soy and maybe forest floor. A bit less fruit or at least fruit seemed to have faded. The oak was integrated at this point. It's well done and interesting. (2 pennies).
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Red
1995 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder
Wine #12: Generally a favorite wine of mine and so funny to see that it didn't at least have a few folks who voted for it. This had a bit more floral notes than most of the other wines. Created a bit of a 'pretty note' to it.
Still again the fruit (which was more dominant than some of the others, perhaps esp so on the back of the Dunn which felt a bit faded) and a bit of spice. It came across as on the younger side. (0 pennies)
Still again the fruit (which was more dominant than some of the others, perhaps esp so on the back of the Dunn which felt a bit faded) and a bit of spice. It came across as on the younger side. (0 pennies)
1 person found this helpful
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Red
1995 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate
Wine #13: This wine surprised me a bit. It was another WineBid purchase and to be honest it was more of an after thought. I expected the other bottles that we brought to do better. But this is one of the ones that I put a penny in. I think what I liked about it were the cinnamon notes which combined with the nice red fruits. Still very young and fresh tasting. Enjoyable. (7 pennies)
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Red
1995 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard
Wine # 14: The only Syrah in the mix which surprised me but a lot of people heard Napa and figured Cab. This was much more herbal and spicy than the other wines (I guess makes sense given the grape). Also a bit more alcoholic though and needed some time to settle in. Good fruit. It was a nice and tasty wine. (4 pennies)
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Red
1995 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine # 15: Apologies for the back to back notes, but surprisingly enough this was our only double in the tasting. Similar I think to the magnum. Lots of good fruit. Perhaps a bit more developed but still quite fresh. Lots of cranberry and some more bramble notes. Easy to like. (4 pennies)
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Red
1995 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Wine #16: Interesting to me how much younger this wine seemed than the Howell Mountain brother. It's lots of red fruits and very fresh but also tasting very much on the young side (I used the word no less than 3 times in my notes). It's drinking well though and was very enjoyable. (1 penny)
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Flight 2 - Bonus Bottles (2 notes)
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Henri Goutorbe Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé
Bonus bottle. Served after all of the wines were tried as a nice palate cleanser before I went back to try to sort out where to vote. Enjoyable. Lots of red fruits and perhaps a touch heavier of a champagne than some. Seemed to fit with Napa where it was a bit more intense perhaps. But still a good break and an easy drinker. I think the bottle went quite fast.
3 people found this helpful
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Red
1995 Mount Veeder Winery Zinfandel
Bonus bottle. Opened and decanted for sediment and then rebottled. Thought about putting it in the main event as I didn't expect us to get many Zins but at the end of the day didn't seem in the same league as some of the other wines we had. This was very enjoyable though. Lots of fruit and more spicy notes and actually didn't feel like a drop off from the main wines. Would continue to keep an eye out for these. A very good value.
1 person found this helpful
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Closing
Here were the final results:
21 pennies (one of the most dominant wins we've had)
Wine #3: 1995 Pahlmeyer Merlot
8 pennies
Wine #7: 1995 Caymus Special Selection
7 pennies
Wine #1: 1995 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine #13: 1995 Vineyard 29 Cabernet
4 pennies
Wine #9: 1995 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford
Wine #14: 1995 Araujo Eisele Syrah
Wine #15: 1995 Spottswoode Cabernet Estate
2 pennies
Wine #4: 1995 Harlan The Maiden
Wine #5: 1995 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine #6: 1995 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet
Wine #10: 1995 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine #11: 1995 Dunn Howell Mountain
1 penny
Wine #8: 1995 Cardinale
Wine #16: 1995 Dunn Napa Valley
0 pennies
Wine #2: 1995 Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow
Wine #12: 1995 Lokoya Mt Veeder