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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.3 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 76 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by oldcabman on 10/18/2022 & rated 90 points: So finely made and elegant - bouquet out of the bottle was superb, but the mid palate and finish were a bit short. Balanced and great with food, but not a "wow" wine at this stage. (414 views) | | | Tasted by bobadopolis on 1/22/2022 & rated 95 points: Decanted 3 hours. Superb. (571 views) | | | Tasted by Gibbman on 10/30/2021 & rated 92 points: Drinking beautifully right now. Smooth rich dark fruits with oak and vanilla in background. Should do a few more years. (628 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 8/28/2021 & rated 91 points: 4th Saturday Brown Bagger (EBCC): Double blind, opening with a smoky barbeque-like note, followed by black fruit. Excellent mouthfeel- velvety and rich- with flavors of black fruit and wood spice. 91-92 pts. (T&L) (880 views) | | | Tasted by travelme on 12/24/2020 & rated 92 points: A nice bottle based on dark fruits with a soft Bordeaux tannin structure. Purple color with blackberry and a hint of plum. Oak and vanilla flavors emanating from the barrel added some length to the finish. I really enjoyed the bottle and still have one more that I may open in another 2-3 years based on this one tonight. (967 views) | | | Tasted by streethawk on 11/18/2020 & rated 94 points: Nose of pure cassis, hazelnuts, licorice. Terrific velvety texture on the palate, with round ripe tannins and a lovely finish. Restrained and elegant in style, more classical in structure. Excellent. (758 views) | | | Tasted by yipen on 9/10/2020: Very nice, not too strong tannin. Brodeaux blend (657 views) | | | Tasted by Kopperl on 6/18/2020 & rated 93 points: Very nice. (827 views) | | | Tasted by tunaguy on 5/16/2020: a tough wine for me the give a point value to as this not my style but this was thick with sweet dark fruits, bell pepper, and vanilla. a decent wine if you are into big Napa valley floor wines (830 views) | | | Tasted by The Real SVB on 5/11/2020 & rated 92 points: St. Supery ELU is the quintessential Meritage. I've had ELU from every year going back to 2001. It's a fabulous never fail glass of wine. Slight sweet berry notes, short on the legs, but very easy on the palate. (648 views) | | | Tasted by The Real SVB on 4/11/2020 & rated 92 points: As most always, a highly enjoyable, subtle yet surprising wine. (579 views) | | | Tasted by Birddog29 on 11/5/2019 & rated 93 points: A great “California Bordeaux”. Lots of space and a hint of licorice. Tannins were not as strong as I would have assumed, perhaps a nod here to the wine maker who extracted the best of all the varietals in this one. Decanted and the nose and finish suggested the time out of the bottle was time well spent. (887 views) | | | Tasted by jcampano on 6/25/2019 & rated 93 points: Medium to Full-bodied, this dark purple Cabernet Sauvignon was more complex than anticipated, likely due to the merlot, malbec, and small percentages of cab franc and petit Verdot. I expected a good wine, but this was full of juicy black fruit and notes of licorice that developed nicely with more time in the glass. For $65, “mi piace molto”! (965 views) | | | Tasted by Tahlequahdave1972 on 2/17/2019 & rated 91 points: Wonderful wine that was consumed over a period of three hours. Balanced, refined and elegant with a slightly sweet cherry element that was engaging and never off-putting. Rich, smooth texture. Red licorice, cherry cream, milk chocolate, coffee and vanilla. Not overly complex but always kept my interest. Medium length finish. Ready to drink. Yum! (1049 views) | | | Tasted by brouigu1 on 1/5/2019 & rated 90 points: Another nice bottle, but also my last.
Nice fruit, spice and vanilla flavors. Not real complex but then again I didn't buy this for its complexity, its a great pizza wine! (1149 views) | | | Tasted by jcampano on 12/31/2018 & rated 93 points: Aromas of dark fruit (plum, blackberries) followed by complex flavors of licorice, currant, oak and cherry fruit. This is a Bordeaux with California Cabernet fruit. The Malbec is very noticeable and adds layers of different flavors of fruit. For the price, this is a huge bargain. (1016 views) | | | Tasted by danielbleier on 8/25/2018 & rated 91 points: Smooth, polished and rich - with plenty of dark fruit and licorice. (1166 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 7/1/2018 & rated 89 points: Pleasant, fruity, but at the same time rather plain and one dimensional.
A nice drinker, just nothing monumental about it. (1995 views) | | | Tasted by clayh55 on 5/9/2018: very good structured cab blend. (1179 views) | | | Tasted by HueBreCellars on 4/15/2018 & rated 89 points: Very nice treat once again - and reminded me of the strong value this wine represents.
Black berries, some currant and pepper, with a tiny hint of dirty licorice and green beans/peas/veggies.
This will probably stop being a wine we collect just because we have been so lucky to expand our palette beyond Napa, but I will store a few bottles for the mid 2020s. (1420 views) | | | Tasted by willie_p74 on 3/10/2018 & rated 95 points: Looks fantastic in the wine glass, deep dark purple, all inky. Nose is very inviting, smells like blackberry and baked cherry. Tastes very sweet, there is an abundance of dark fruits, some hints of baking spice and a dry finish. This is mostly a Cabernet but the Merlot and Malbec blended in boost up the big fruit notes the blend works perfectly. Would go well with some red meat off the grill, might be a little sugary for anything else. (1166 views) | | | Tasted by stags22 on 11/25/2017: Holy sediment Batman. Wow. It was like a giant beet was skinned alive inside the bottle. Scary. The wine itself was fine, rough QPR for the price...serviceable for $20, but not worth the price point. But I couldn’t get passed the sediment skin in the bottom of the glass. Stomach churning. (1330 views) | | | Tasted by HueBreCellars on 4/30/2017 & rated 91 points: Delicious once again. Much brighter green than other blends with a hit of berries in the middle, high tannins and a long finish.
Incredible value for this wine, lots of power after it opens up - but this was consumed too early. 2-3 years from now we should really feel the green and red integrate to add a lot more complexity and depth to the flavours. (2011 views) | | | Tasted by HueBreCellars on 11/5/2016 & rated 93 points: The wine looks garnet colored. The legs are slow. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, orange, strawberry jam, apple, apricot, plum, mineral and tobacco. It tastes like strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, fig, strawberry jam, prune, plum, forest floor, mushroom, espresso, bark, black pepper, tobacco and molasses. The body is medium. The wine has leathery texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity. (2214 views) | | | Tasted by Coachron13 on 8/7/2016 & rated 92 points: We are big Élu fans, and this vintage is right up there. Still very young, we opened two hours early and then aerated into glass, which it needed. CT drinking window thru 2021 seems conservative, should go further than that. (2326 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| St. Supéry Producer web site2012 St. Supéry Élu MeritageAppellation Napa Valley
Vineyard Rutherford Estate Vineyard, Dollarhide Estate Vineyard
Variety/Blend 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Oak Maturation 100% French oak (55% new French oak) for 19 months
pH 3.85
T. Acidity 5.8 g/L
Residual Sugar <0.2%
Alcohol 14.5%
Harvest Dates October 6 - 21, 2012
Bottling Date July 15, 2014
Case Production 2,901 cases
Suggested Retail Price $75.00
Winemaker’s Notes:
This opulent blend presents with deep shades of reds and purples. Aromas of dark fruit, blackberry and black plum combine
with elements of espresso, vanillin and molasses, as well as notes of smoky oak and dusty terroir. Flavors of dark plum
and cassis follow with anise and toasted barrel attributes. This red blend offers a finely textured silky structure with density
and a graceful appeal.
Growing Season:
The season of 2012 commenced with a very dry and cold winter. The lack of water was concerning as this dry spell in Napa
Valley persisted through the end of February, while the Sierras had minimal snowfall. March eased the burden with nine
inches of rain, replenishing groundwater reserves. A warm spring and a moderate to hot June, July and August followed.
This provided excellent ripening weather through the summer, which was then followed by a warm September, allowing
a good, even and progressive harvest. October kicked off with a hot start followed by even, warm conditions. All in all, 2012
provided an excellent growing season.
Winemaking:
The fruit was hand harvested in the cool morning hours and brought to the winery in half ton bins. At the winery, the
clusters were sorted using a double sorting system. First, the clusters were sorted by hand. The fruit then ran through a
small destemmer that removed stems from the grapes prior to the individual berries being sorted to ensure that the most
ideal grapes were chosen. These berries were delivered to a fermenter where there was a period of resting on skins. Warm
fermentation temperatures were encouraged along with gentle cap maceration to achieve the desired color and structure for
the wine before an extended maceration time on skins prior to final pressing. The wine was transferred directly to barrel for
19 months of maturation.Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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