2013 Cornell Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 94.2 points

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  11/23/2022 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Thanksgiving Eve pair off between 2013 Cornell and 2013 Kinsella Jersey Boys.
  
  I had been trying to hold off trying this wine for a few more years (still have one left), but the opportunity to compare Francois with TRB, with some bottle age, and both from different parts of Sonoma, was too great of an experiment to hold off!
  
  I have been recovering from Covid very recently, so I will caveat with the standard smell/taste not being back to 100% (although it is close).
  
  Overall, my fiance preferred Cornell, I preferred Kinsella. I thought the velvety, voluptuous Kinsella offered more upfront dark fruit that I loved. The Cornell was a bit more austere, feminine, a bit more red fruited. It continued to open up as we drank it, indicating it has a lot of life left.
  
  Also decant the Kinsella if drinking now!

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  3/4/2022 - rkww Likes this wine: 94 Points

  In the year since my last tasting, the 2013 Cornell has developed along the lines of pandemic life. Like most of us, it's put on considerable weight: the plentiful tannins have softened, creating a rich mouthfeel and revealing the wine's inner sweetness. And for better or worse, this wine (like much of the world) is open for business. The nose hit hard after a mere half hour decant, offering up strong aromas of blackberry, bramble, and oak spices. For drinkers who enjoy the likes of Carter, Morlet, Tor, TRB wines, etc., feel free to open this now and over the next few years. If you crave flavor complexity and a more balanced palate experience, I’m certain they’re in there, but you’ll want to wait another 5+ years for the fruit to calm down and some of the plump tannin to drop out. Everybody wins?

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  8/20/2021 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 95 Points

  2013 Cornell vs 2013 Sodhani
  
  I recently got both of these wines in after my May napa trip, and wanted to put match them together to battle it out (in the name of science, or my taste buds). Decanted for 6 hours before tasting. The nose on both of these were incredible. The Sodhani - more blueberry, complex swirl of fruits. The Cornell - more refined, mountain air, clean fruit.
  
  Paired with a NY strip and ribeye, salad, roasted potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms. Good meal after a long week.
  
  The Cornell wine on its own was more feminine, more subtle, more elegant - dark fruited, blackberry, plums, all spice, mountain fruit. A beauty
  
  The Sodhani was more brash - in your face, purple to the core, blueberry toned fruit. It was no surprise the Sodhani was the better wine to hold up to the steak, but both wines did well drinking on their own.
  
  The gf and I both agreed the Sodhani edged the Cornell by a hair, but I think with both the meal and the long week - we wanted something a little more blunt, racy, and energetic to drink. Both of these wines are in no rush to consume, and I am glad I have 2 more of each to follow over the next 5-10 years.

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  5/11/2021 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Napa 2021 Trip; 5/10/2021-5/13/2021 (Napa Valley, CA): 93% CS, 7% PV, 525 cases of the inaugural vintage.
  
  Almost dusty tannins at the 8 year mark, this wine (like the others) had been opened for a few hours prior to our morning tasting. It continued to evolve throughout the tasting, and went back to this one several times. Excellent wine. Picked up a 3 pack without hesitation.

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  2/20/2021 - rkww Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Cornell Fountain Grove Estate Tasting: Cornell's inaugural release, the 2013 Cabernet hints at great things to come. As of early 2021, it was very closed on initial decant—a wall of foreboding tannin. An hour later, it opened to beautiful black fruits, leather, and coffee while retaining its firm structure. Though (currently) less complex and refined than the '17, we were surprised by how much this wine transformed with just a little air and felt way more enthusiastic about its future than the critics did upon initial release. We'll drink another bottle in a few years and hold on to the rest for verticals. There's something really exciting happening at this estate. Cornell, Peschon, Tangney, and team are killing it!

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