Napa Cabs Blind Tasting

Blind wine tasting with my school friends. Held on my roof deck. Served with charcuterie, cheese, and some other food. Weather was beautiful and settled in nicely around 70 degrees as the sun went down.

The theme was Napa Cabs between $30-50, although it was expanded to included other areas of CA as well. Everyone brought two bottles of the same wine, with the winner taking home all the extra bottles.

• 2016 Chappellet Mountain Cuvée 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 1st of 9
  Group: 2 of 9
  Me: 6 of 9
  
  Overall, this was a big, young wine to start out the tasting with. I wasn't that fond of it. More of a blend than the straight Cabs I was expecting off the bat. Oaky, I noted possible Sonoma fruit? Had this been served later or with some air I think I would have rated this higher.
  
  51% C.S., 24% Merlot, 13% Malbec, 9% Petit Verdot, & 3% C.F.

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• 2015 Amici Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 2nd of 9
  Group: 4 of 9
  Me: 3 of 9
  
  Very nice wine, my 3rd overall. I've seen this wine a bunch when shopping at Total Wine but never pulled the trigger to buy, so was glad I got a chance to taste.
  
  83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, 1% Merlot

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• 2014 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 3rd of 9
  Group: 7 of 9
  Me: 7 of 9
  
  OK wine, nothing special, as both me and the group of tasters found, although at least 1 person ranked this the highest, and two ranked the worst, so definitely some high standard deviation from the group!
  
  93% Cabernet, 3.5% Merlot and 3.5% Cabernet Franc.

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• 2016 Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon 85 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Napa County

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 4th of 9
  Group: 8 of 9
  Me: 9 of 9
  
  This was my least favorite, just all fruit, but nothing else. Tasted manufactured. Will not try again
  
  Not entirely sure of the blend, but it's a Napa County wine with a bit of other red varietals, but primarily cab.

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• 2014 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Domaine Eden 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 5th of 9
  Group: 1 of 9
  Me: 2 of 9
  
  Very nice wine, my 2nd overall only to the Palmeri. This one got consistently high scores from the group and ran away as the winner. No one ranked it less than their 4th favorite, with 4 1st place votes. Great value. Very happy the winners graciously shared their winning bottle of this with me as a thanks for hosting.
  
  75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec

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• 2015 Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 6th of 9
  Group: 9 of 9
  Me: 8 of 9
  
  Not sure what went wrong here! This was my contribution to the blind tasting, even going a bit over on the price range. This consistently scored low among the group, including myself. Maybe an off bottle? I had opened about 2 hrs prior to tasting to help it get a bit more air than the other bottles but it just came off as disjointed, alcoholic. Maybe my palate was tired? Anyway, not entirely sad to give away my last remaining bottle as the prize. I will give Myriad another try given the reputation for 2016.
  
  Edit: Primarily CS, with some Merlot and PV

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• 2015 Palmeri Cabernet Sauvignon Sweetwater Saddle 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 7th of 9
  Group: 5 of 9
  Me: 1 of 9
  
  I unfortunately don't have any formal notes on this, but remember this was my favorite, and kept going back to the extra in the bottle to re-taste. Very nice Dry Creek cab!
  
  Believe 100% CS but didn't take notes on the bottle.

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• 2014 Jordan Vineyard & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 91 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 8th of 9
  Group: 6 of 9
  Me: 5 of 9
  
  I remember liking this one as well, but maybe not enough for my scorecard to show... Clearly later in the night where my palate was more fatigued. Lower alcohol, more finesse.
  
  79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.7% Merlot, 5.8% Petit Verdot, 1.2% Malbec, 0.3% Cabernet Franc

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• 2015 Fortune 1621 Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Napa (and other CA) cabs blind tasting
  Wine served: 9th of 9
  Group: 3 of 9
  Me: 4 of 9
  
  I enjoyed this bottle - served last so as the night wore on, it was more and more challenging to remember the rankings. This was an interesting one, despite finishing 3rd overall, one person did rank as their least favorite. I had never heard of this one so I would definitely be willing to try it again.
  
  83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot

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What a great party idea and was certainly a surprise to see where everyone ended up. I was very disappointed with the Myriad's showing, especially since I cheated a bit and went up on price. Perhaps a bad bottle? It was completely disjointed, alcoholic, and never open for business. The Domaine Eden was remarkable, and luckily the winners of the blind tasting gave me the 2nd bottle as a gift for hosting. Will look forward to many more of these blind tastings: next up, Italy!