Flagship Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting at Tre Posti

A couple of ok wines. Some reeeeeaaaallly questionable wines as well...

• 2014 Hayfork Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling Ranch 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Red and purple core fruit, plum, red currant, tobacco leaf, and cedar. An unfortunately weak delivery of flavors, with a mid-palate that was fairly flat and plum-ridden. Absolutely no finish whatsoever. Thin and watery with a weak back end. Clearly the least impressive of the three Hayfork wines tasted.

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• 2015 Hayfork Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling Ranch 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  A much better animal than its 2014 sibling, this 2015 Hayfork displayed much more drive and concentration than older brother (though be forewarned, this is far from a "concentrated" wine in my book). Notes of plum, red and black currant, blackberry, cedar, and Christmas spice. Decent cut and grip, with a medium-bodied core that satisfies the mid-palate in terms of overall flavor delivery and weight. For me personally, a little too light on its feet considering all of what Napa is pumping out with the 2015 vintage, but a nice pedestrian Cabernet. Paired well with hard cheeses. 90-91 points for now. Hold for another two years in hopes it fattens up a bit.

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• 2015 Hayfork Cabernet Sauvignon Field Select Lewelling Ranch 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  I actually preferred the Lewelling Ranch version to the Field Select ("Reserve"), as this wine was showing plummy and alkaline aftertastes that muddled the core fruit flavors. Bigger than the Lewelling Ranch, but rounder and a little sloppier, the Field Select came off like the fat kid in the cafeteria who downs too many Ho-Hos in one sitting. 87? points. Not sure what time will do for this wine. Seems to be a bit of a lost soul at this juncture.

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• 2014 III Rows Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Blackberry, black currant, cedar, and a hefty dose of spice. This started off seemingly full on the initial attack, but almost instantly became round and overly plush as it hit the mid-palate. A bit bitter on the back end. Once it it the back end, it had little-to-no stride; the flavors became a bit muddled.

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• 2015 III Rows Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  A slight improvement from the 2014 version, this 2015 displayed notes of plum, blackberry, red and black currant, and singed eucalyptus. Fruity and plummy, with a fairly vapid attack; flat and lacking depth mid-palate. The herbal note added fleeting interest, but it wasn't enough to compete with the seemingly flabby core fruit.

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• 2016 III Rows Sauvignon Blanc 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

  A wonderful nose of tropical fruit and grass. Yet, once this hit the palate, its delivery of flavors was mostly deadpan. Light lemon, pear flesh, alkaline, and dry grass. Expressionless for the most part, with a linear walk across the palate. Frail and timid, with a battery acid and tin flavored aftertaste.

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• 2014 III Rows Sauvignon Blanc 86 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

  Perhaps a slight improvement from the 2016 version of this SB, the 2014 exhibited more of a prairie grass note that added some lift...."some" lift. The main issue here was that the core fruit didn't need lift, it needed an injection of actual concentrated fruit. The attack was flat, thin, and timid. Watery, light yellow citrus, pear, and grass. Like the 2016, this 2014 also had an alkaline tinge to it that attempted to mimic minerality, but simply came off as a distracting 9-volt battery aftertaste.

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• 2017 Boeschen Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Estate 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  A somewhat more compelling SB than the III Rows SBs served before this Boeschen. Yellow citrus, honeydew, light grass, orange membrane, and gray pebbles. Simple, but with a decent amount of energy behind it to push the flavors broadly across the palate. Lighter overall, but pleasantly racy.

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• 2013 Boeschen Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 84 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Plum, red and black currant, and some cedar. The plum component of this wine randomly vacillated between overtly plummy and muddled (almost stewed), to bitter and flat. Not all that pleasant all the way around unfortunately.

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• 2015 Boeschen Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  A would-be improvement from the 2013 version of this wine, except that the 2015 suffered from similar idiosyncrasies associated with an overt plummy aftertaste that muddled any real pleasurable aspect of consumption. Plum, cedar, plum, cedar, plum, cedar...and plum...
  
  ...and plum...

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• 2016 Two Old Dogs Rosé 75 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Pretty much a, "Why even bother?!" type of Rose. Grapefruit water.
  
  Paired well with oxygen...

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• 2011 Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL 50 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Ok, so I seriously have to call out any used car salesman who tells me there is anything even remotely redeemable here beyond a rancid, broken soul of a core in this wine. Huge, inflammatory blasts of green and rotten red bell pepper, poblano chili, and dirt. And don't feed me some hoodwinkery about how this is simply "an expression of the 2011 vintage." That skulduggerous line has been used time and time again since this challenging year reared its ugly head. It's not because I'm a 2011 hater; there are some beautiful, finessed wines that have come from that vintage...from craftsman who really knew what they were doing. But dear lord, how houses can peddle these wines simply to offload them onto the seemingly naive general public is beyond me. At what point do you just call your insurance company, tell them your wine is flawed (or you don't know how to make wine), and hope for a partial claim to save what's left of your integrity as a company. If I as a customer know that you have no problem serving this to me, then all that tells me is you care very little about the quality of product you actually push onto your people.
  
  I have nothing personally bad to say about this outfit in terms of the people running it. They all seem very nice. But stop with this nonsense. Your other wines are sometimes, kinda, pretty ok. So, bury this particular wine in the desert and never look back... Crazy town I tell ya.

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• 2014 Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Medium-bodied and agreeable notes of black and dark red core fruit; some earth, spice, and dark chocolate to add a mediocre amount of interest. Otherwise, another fairly basic and pedestrian version of a round and plush 2014 Napa Cabernet. 90-91 points. Drink now.

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• 2014 Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL Reserve 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I'm not entirely sure why you would make a Reserve version of this wine in 2014, but ok. An ever-so-slight improvement from the original version in terms of depth, but otherwise this is the same wine as the 2014 HL. Black (and maybe some blue?) core fruit; black currant, cedar, and some spice help to add a little interest. A medium-bodied, walk-through-the-park kind of wine. 91-92? points. Drink now.

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• 2013 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 86 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Black cherry, plum, red and black currant, alcohol, and cedar. Basic and somewhat muddled. Best forgotten.

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• 2013 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Eternity 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Even more confusing than the standard Estate Cabernet, this Eternity ping-ponged from muddled and grapey, to bitter and astringent (especially on the back end). Some red and black currant, alcohol, plum, and cedar. A flabby mid-palate that offered no delineation of flavor. A pudgy finger, clumsy grip that enabled the fruit to slop around the palate. No bueno.

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• 2014 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Eternity 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  In theory, this was better than the 2013 version of this wine. The 2014 Eternity hit the palate with deep, dark black and red fruit. Blackberry, red raspberry, red licorice, plum, and SMOKE. The initial attack seemed ever-so promising, but then a huge hit of smoke and burnt bacon BBQ sauce came screaming up like the Headless Horseman and pummeled the palate with a fireplace impression that almost totally overtook the core fruit flavors. 85-87? generous points here. Were it not for the smoke element, this might have actually been a halfway decent showing. Not sure what the heck happened here... Back off on the heavy+ toasted barrels folks!

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• 1999 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 78 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Just cuz ya have it, doesn't mean you should serve it. Over the hill and dingy. Red currant, old leather, and dirt. Bitter and astringent throughout the attack. A dead wine at this point.

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• 2001 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 80 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Less dead than the 1999 version of this wine, the 2001 exhibits similar notes of red and black currant, cedar, dirt, and leather. Some tobacco leaf seeped up through the core as well. In the end, this is still 5+ years over the hill. I'm not sure how others are actually getting any semblance of flavor out of these older wines from Clark-Claudon. An "old school" palate is one thing, but just plain "old" is another. Just cuz it's old doesn't make it an antique.

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• 2005 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 81 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Less old than the 2001, which was less old than the 1999, these wines (even with this 2005 at a little more than a decade old) are just plain old. Based on the stewed, plummy exhibitions of the most recent offerings, I'm thinking these wines are not built to age at all. There is no true core or concentration, no formidable acidic grip, no depth. This 2005 showed typical red and black currant, tobacco leaf, leather chair, and brick notes. More than just a style preference here; this seems to be lacking any sort of stuffing to really develop (or to have developed) into anything worth talking about. In the end, this is what many basic, entry-level Napa Cabernets start to taste like after about a decade+ of aging.

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