Black currant and maybe a little of brett showing off as well. Also graphite and mineral and very unique - earthy and black, coffee grounds. '16 is the goldlocks year of no drought and no fire and just easy wine making. This one she would decant right now. And she also says its got brett hence the savory notes and things of that nature.
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I foolishly opened another of these 2016s. However it was a bit less monolithic than my last experience, already showing promising balance and traces of a savory, almost exotic character. Retasting six weeks later from Boston round, and this has only slightly moved. However it now shows a clear familial resemblance to the 2008 we're drinking alongside, just slightly inkier. Both have a unique warm, spicy personality with lower acidity and a unique texture.
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Really good. Very earthy and already has barnyard funk very Bordeaux like but with riper fruit. I expect this gets better 5-10 years from now. Oak dominates the nose at this stage. Alcohol a bit of a distraction at this juncture.
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Med/deep ruby with purplish tinge. Pronounced intensity, forest floor, earth, clove, plum, black cherry, red cherry, currant, blackberry, kirsch, herbs, thyme, black currant leaf, tomato leaf, persimmon, licorice, leather, dark chocolate. High acid, full body, dry (sweet tannins), high alcohol, med tannins, long finish.
This is definitely my style of wine! Balanced, structured, composed, elegant, and complex. Drinks exceptionally smooth which almost made it too easy to drink. The wine doesn’t exude power, but is rather feminine with its refinement. Not in the same bold aggressive styling as other Napa cabs like Joseph Phelps. Great fruit flavors and the right amount of earthiness. For the QPR, I am very pleased! This 2016 is also in an exceptional drinking spot, with it also getting better over the 3 hours of drinking. Has the structure to hold longer, but I loved it as it was. 94-95 pts
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Tasted at a restaurant after decanting with an aerator I had not seen before over about 2 hours. There is no doubt in my mind that it is “wine infanticide” to drink this wine at this stage. This seems like it is a wine made to age more like the Cali Cabs of decades past than more modern style ones. PnP will not be a good experience with this. It has a lovely floral, black berry and spice nose that is captivating and nice vibrant natural acidity along with the tannic structure to age. There is nice complexity and depth but it is still very tightly wound. I think this will be gorgeous from its 12th birthday and beyond. It was much better with food especially the various flatbreads with cheese and meats we shared. I do love the 2016 vintage of Cali Cabs….
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My first Cain wine, and from what I'm reading this is typically close to half cabernet sauvignon, roughly a fifth each merlot and cabernet franc, with the remainder malbec and petit verdot. In this vintage: 57% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, 14% cabernet franc, 9% malbec, 5% petit verdot. I initially found this to be rather big and blocky, with heavy ripe dark fruit and not much else. It had a hint of something wild that suggested this was not a typical Napa wine, but it did not bring me pleasure upon opening. After 2-3 sips I threw in the towel and bottled it up in the fridge, hoping for better things later. On day 2 there's an interesting and unique lifted aromatic. The palate is much juicier and almost lively -- this somehow shed that overbearing heaviness overnight. There's a strongly saline element to the palate and I actually enjoy this now. The fruit is more black than red yet doesn't show a clear fingerprint of any particular grape. In terms of non-fruit elements, I'm not getting a clear Bordeaux blend signature and blind I'd be lost. Overall this is a powerful, monolithic wine at this stage that feels like it needs at least ten more years; it's far too early to be pulling corks. And speaking of corks this was closed with one of those long, dense, manly and expensive ones..
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11/9/2022 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Black currant and maybe a little of brett showing off as well. Also graphite and mineral and very unique - earthy and black, coffee grounds. '16 is the goldlocks year of no drought and no fire and just easy wine making. This one she would decant right now. And she also says its got brett hence the savory notes and things of that nature.
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11/4/2022 - 5laton wrote:
I foolishly opened another of these 2016s. However it was a bit less monolithic than my last experience, already showing promising balance and traces of a savory, almost exotic character.
Retasting six weeks later from Boston round, and this has only slightly moved. However it now shows a clear familial resemblance to the 2008 we're drinking alongside, just slightly inkier. Both have a unique warm, spicy personality with lower acidity and a unique texture.
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6/30/2022 - greedy wrote: 96 Points
Really good. Very earthy and already has barnyard funk very Bordeaux like but with riper fruit. I expect this gets better 5-10 years from now. Oak dominates the nose at this stage. Alcohol a bit of a distraction at this juncture.
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6/9/2022 - Michael Hung Likes this wine: 95 Points
Med/deep ruby with purplish tinge. Pronounced intensity, forest floor, earth, clove, plum, black cherry, red cherry, currant, blackberry, kirsch, herbs, thyme, black currant leaf, tomato leaf, persimmon, licorice, leather, dark chocolate. High acid, full body, dry (sweet tannins), high alcohol, med tannins, long finish.
This is definitely my style of wine! Balanced, structured, composed, elegant, and complex. Drinks exceptionally smooth which almost made it too easy to drink. The wine doesn’t exude power, but is rather feminine with its refinement. Not in the same bold aggressive styling as other Napa cabs like Joseph Phelps. Great fruit flavors and the right amount of earthiness. For the QPR, I am very pleased! This 2016 is also in an exceptional drinking spot, with it also getting better over the 3 hours of drinking. Has the structure to hold longer, but I loved it as it was. 94-95 pts
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4/9/2022 - oldwines Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted at a restaurant after decanting with an aerator I had not seen before over about 2 hours. There is no doubt in my mind that it is “wine infanticide” to drink this wine at this stage. This seems like it is a wine made to age more like the Cali Cabs of decades past than more modern style ones. PnP will not be a good experience with this. It has a lovely floral, black berry and spice nose that is captivating and nice vibrant natural acidity along with the tannic structure to age. There is nice complexity and depth but it is still very tightly wound. I think this will be gorgeous from its 12th birthday and beyond. It was much better with food especially the various flatbreads with cheese and meats we shared. I do love the 2016 vintage of Cali Cabs….
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4/7/2022 - 5laton wrote:
My first Cain wine, and from what I'm reading this is typically close to half cabernet sauvignon, roughly a fifth each merlot and cabernet franc, with the remainder malbec and petit verdot. In this vintage: 57% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, 14% cabernet franc, 9% malbec, 5% petit verdot.
I initially found this to be rather big and blocky, with heavy ripe dark fruit and not much else. It had a hint of something wild that suggested this was not a typical Napa wine, but it did not bring me pleasure upon opening. After 2-3 sips I threw in the towel and bottled it up in the fridge, hoping for better things later.
On day 2 there's an interesting and unique lifted aromatic. The palate is much juicier and almost lively -- this somehow shed that overbearing heaviness overnight. There's a strongly saline element to the palate and I actually enjoy this now. The fruit is more black than red yet doesn't show a clear fingerprint of any particular grape. In terms of non-fruit elements, I'm not getting a clear Bordeaux blend signature and blind I'd be lost.
Overall this is a powerful, monolithic wine at this stage that feels like it needs at least ten more years; it's far too early to be pulling corks. And speaking of corks this was closed with one of those long, dense, manly and expensive ones..
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11/19/2021 - cdp1276 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fruit forward and big tannic structure. Hints of vegetal tomato leaf amongst tobacco leather and slate.
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7/30/2021 - ocfriday Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nice fruit and acid - opened this in error, can go 10 more gracefully.
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10/26/2020 - Montesquieu wrote: 89 Points
PnP at a restaurant. Hard time rationalizing the price.
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