14.5% abv. Recent auction purchase. Synthetic(?) cork. I was kind of expecting a heavily oak-chipped, sweet fruit bomb with this, like many/most Napa Cabernet in this price range. However, this was not that - the opposite actually. This was acid driven, no new oak that I could discern, with lower-ripeness (not green at all), structured, and good purity of Cabernet fruit. Sneaky depth as well. It was actually pretty hard-edged and closed on the pop 'n pour, so we vacuum sealed it and saved it for the next evening, which worked well to open it up. I like this quite a bit, but thought it could use a touch more oak (not something I say very often). Still this was very good and went well with grilled prime NY strips, as the high-ish acidity worked very well with it. Not going to wow anyone, but I appreciated the honest winemaking style. If this had a cork closure, I would say that this may very well improve for 10 or 15 more years, but these synthetic closures are pretty iffy for aging.
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Drank well with steak and mushrooms. Dark berries and cola flavor. Fairly average and serviceable cab and it did what it was supposed to do. Wine seemed to be lacking depth - plan to drink remaining bottles sooner than later.
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2/11/2023 - PIntag wrote: 90 Points
14.5% abv. Recent auction purchase. Synthetic(?) cork.
I was kind of expecting a heavily oak-chipped, sweet fruit bomb with this, like many/most Napa Cabernet in this price range. However, this was not that - the opposite actually. This was acid driven, no new oak that I could discern, with lower-ripeness (not green at all), structured, and good purity of Cabernet fruit. Sneaky depth as well. It was actually pretty hard-edged and closed on the pop 'n pour, so we vacuum sealed it and saved it for the next evening, which worked well to open it up. I like this quite a bit, but thought it could use a touch more oak (not something I say very often). Still this was very good and went well with grilled prime NY strips, as the high-ish acidity worked very well with it. Not going to wow anyone, but I appreciated the honest winemaking style. If this had a cork closure, I would say that this may very well improve for 10 or 15 more years, but these synthetic closures are pretty iffy for aging.
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3/12/2020 - kvswine wrote: 89 Points
good effort , but a tart finish keeps it from getting a higher score.
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7/7/2019 - idonotlikeliver Likes this wine: 87 Points
Drank well with steak and mushrooms. Dark berries and cola flavor. Fairly average and serviceable cab and it did what it was supposed to do. Wine seemed to be lacking depth - plan to drink remaining bottles sooner than later.
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6/9/2019 - esw423 wrote: 88 Points
Pretty average cab.
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3/27/2017 - zack.wygant Likes this wine: 88 Points
It was just average, maybe needs more time?
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