2012 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Community Tasting Note

sfwinelover1 wrote:

91 Points

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - First of 3 from an auction lot purchased a few months ago (abt$70@). Decanted for about an hour. Muted nose of cherry with a bit of earthy minerality and spices. Small first taste, whoa! Like being hit over the head by a 2'x4'. Very hot and big, rough tannins. About another hour and a half later, the integration had started. Medium dark color, medium to full bodied, strong legs. The tannins are still powerful and very present, but have rounded. Moderate acidity. A very present and not unpleasing note on the backend of scorched earth (could also be described as gravel or asphalt; my taste buds aren't so refined so as to distinguish). At this point, not a lot of the secondary notes I often like in cabs such as licorice, chocolate, coffee or mint/eucalyptus, but perhaps they will develop over the time and the fruit may become more vibrant. The wine has in impressive minerality, and the elements are certainly there for a mid 90s wine. I think that this wine, even after a lengthy decant, is still probably 2-5 years away from full potential, and could hold that for many more, so I'll leave my other 2 bottles for a couple of years. Good complement to rack of lamb.

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8 comments have been posted

Comment posted by SMHalps:

6/26/2019 6:47:00 AM - Nice note, and great price! I'm holding a few bottles of this vintage, and actually wrote the winery 2 days ago for some advice on a drinking window. They recommended waiting a few more years.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

6/26/2019 7:12:00 AM - Thanks! I love CT but have found people to be all over the place both on when a wine is ready and its "latest" date. Particularly on the bigger, more fruit-driven cabs, I find many are more inclined to drink them very early, well before I would. So many people said that this was ready and it was almost 7 years after all, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's still very nice if you give it a long-ish decant, but I suspect it will have more to give in a few years and for quite some time thereafter. Cheers!
Comment posted by michigan dogs:

7/10/2019 1:29:00 PM - sfwine lover, which auction site do you use, thanks
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

7/10/2019 4:17:00 PM - Hi MD,

At the risk of giving myself more competition and giving out free advertising, I use K&L. I'm not sure if I'd be as loyal otherwise, but I'm ordering semi-regularly and they're based in SF (as well as Redwood City & Hollywood) where I am, so I can pick up & avoid shipping charges. You can get some good deals, but there is a 5% buyer's premium.
Comment posted by michigan dogs:

7/11/2019 6:33:00 AM - SFwinelover, no worry, living in Mi. it is very expensive to ship wine from California so I won't be any competition. It does look like you get some pretty attractive prices though.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

7/11/2019 8:05:00 AM - Lol. I probably bid on 20 lots for each I buy, and with the time I spend looking at reviews, it can be a real time suck, but I do find it enjoyable. For what it's worth, I think that with K&L, there is an option to ship in bulk, so you can buy multiple lots and ship together, which would be some aggregate savings. Not sure if you can do that with Winebid or some of the others. Cheers!
Comment posted by michigan dogs:

7/11/2019 8:48:00 AM - sfwinelover, they do not ship to Mi. They have 2 bottles of 2013 Dana onda for sale at a price of $225, pretty attractive price and I recently drank one with a friend 96pts.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

7/11/2019 8:58:00 AM - Thanks for the note! I've never had any of Dana's wines and am curious. It's difficult, in theory, to spend more than $100@ for a "second" wine from a winery, but Onda is on my list. One of the frustrating things with auction sites viz price is that where things start up is often nowhere near where they end up. Can't tell you how many lots I've missed out on in the last minute due to frenzied bidding. I'll check out your tasting notes for other recommendations.