2017 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon

Community Tasting Notes (9) Avg Score: 91.4 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Timmyhage's profile
  • Report Issue

  7/16/2023 - Timmyhage Likes this wine:

  Beautiful wine but it needs air to really shine at this youthful stage. Caraffed for 1.5 hours prior to drinking and it was still so intense on the first sip. It showed best at 4.5 hours when we finished the wine. At that point, the mix of fruit, spices and a touch of leather were coming into focus.
  
  For my taste, this hasn’t quite hit its drinking window but with enough air, you can coax out a beautiful wine. I’ll wait another 2 years before revisiting.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View ABECellar's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/28/2023 - ABECellar Likes this wine: 92 Points

  First bottle of this vintage. Decanted 1.5hrs then back into bottle for serving. Drank over 2 days. My impression is that the wine is in an early drinking window but has a few more years to go before reaching peak. Day 2 was better than day 1. Will wait a year before revisiting.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Grand12's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/26/2023 - Grand12 Likes this wine: 89 Points

  This probably needs more time in the bottle. It has the typical rafanelli fruit, maybe a touch of citrus notes. The body/ tannins are good, but the fruit flavors are not quite what I expect from a monster cab. Maybe in a few years it will be better, but my experience with rafanelli cab suggests this is the way it is normally.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View thesternowl's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/25/2023 - thesternowl wrote: 93 Points

  Brought from my cellar to a friends house and paired with our dinner of burgers and bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin. Popped and poured; consumed within about 90 minutes. The 2017 Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon pours a deep ruby color with a translucent, but near opaque core and only a small sign of sediment. Viscosity is medium+ and there is moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is intense: expressive of cassis, black and red bramble fruit, tobacco, green pepper, baking spices, espresso, and dry earth. On the palate, the wine is dry and there is pretty significant structure, which I would place at medium+. The fruits and non-fruits are confirmed. Finish is long and comforting; like a warm blanket on a cool night. To my palate, the 2017 Cabernet is just entering its early drinking window. It's showing really well on the pop and pour with everything in deft balance. It's worth noting that this was consumed after enjoying a bottle of Christopher Tynan's "L'Enclume de Velours" and while that is a very nice wine in its own right, the Rafanelli really showed its pedigree. These should drink well over the next 10-15 years.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Sonoma Duck's profile
  • Report Issue

  6/4/2021 - Sonoma Duck Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Tried one tonight from a 375ml. Big nose, big wine, will be excellent but needs another 3+ years in the bottle.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 9 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.