A (Way-Too-Early) TRB 2016 Trio

I found myself with several newly-arrived TRB 2016 wines: Maybach Materium, Maybach Amoenus, and Revana Estate. The most efficient way to sample them all was to open them at the same time (efficiency being the goal, mind you). So below are a few general thoughts, then the tasting notes for each.

With the caveat that this is all incredibly early, here are two general observations: First, the Maybach wines were more extracted and concentrated than the Revana. Even blind, it was obvious that the Revana had more tartness and less chocolate, with a mouthfeel that was more silky, less bruising. Second, the Materium was, hands-down, the best of the three. The Revana and Amoenus were neck-and-neck, with the Revana winning the first night and the Amoenus dominating the second night (alas, the Maybach did not survive to see the second night; it is basically irresistible). To state the obvious I think all of these wines could use some time.

Without further ado, here are the wines from lightest to heaviest (and, yes, for fans of Goldilocks or Aristotle, the best is in the middle):

• 2016 Revana Cabernet Sauvignon Revana Estate Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Dark purple in color; medium in body; nose of black cherry, graphite, and fresh flowers. Tastes of blueberry, ripe raspberry, cocoa powder, and herbs, with a bright and lingering finish that has grainy tannins and a hint of tartness. 14.7% alcohol. This doesn’t have the intensity or nuance of the 2015 (or the 2013), but my experience with a lot of these 2016s is that they come on juicy in the early going.
  
  As noted above, this has the most lift (i.e., acidity on the finish) of the three, with less ripeness and power - but it's also the easiest drinking at the moment (i.e., the one you'd serve to someone who likes wine but doesn't obsess about it). On the second day, this became a bit more tart and linear, and it more clearly needed time in bottle to put on a little weight. 94+ for now, with upside in 2020 or later.

  Read 4 Comments / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2016 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium 97 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  This is a show-stopper: the one that makes you happy to pay $165 for a half bottle of wine (really, in what lucky sliver of the world is that normal?). A little more red in color than the Revana, the Materium is more full-bodied. It offers aromas of blackberry, mocha, fresh herbs, baking spices, and mulberry, with a hint of cinnamon. Incredible tastes of cherry pie, cocoa powder, anise, and licorice. The combination of power and grace here is impossible not to love. 14.8% alcohol. 97 for now, with upside in a year or two. (Note to self: I do not think the half bottles will last that long. I could drink this kind of wine for, um, forever.)

  Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / 6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2016 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Amoenus 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

  Drinking this wine is a tale of two days. The first was somewhat boozy and boisterous; the second was integrated and beautiful. So, the lesson: wait (preferably); decant (seriously); but have hope (and patience).
  
  - First Day (93): Dark purple in color and full in body, the Amoenus is the heavy-weight of the three - and in a late-era George Foreman, not a peak-moment Mike Tyson, kind of way. The aromas are heady - plum, red licorice, newly-opened candy bar - and there is an obviousness here that, more than the other two, screams youthful, not-yet-realized potential (think Nirvana’s first album). Somewhat brutish tastes of stewed blueberry, milk chocolate, cough syrup, and Cherry Coke Zero, with an almost saccharine finish. 14.6% alcohol. Followed for three hours. A third to the Revana in the TRB trio.
  
  - Second Day (95): Holy integration, Batman! This wine turns down the volume on the second day, and this is decidedly a good thing (at least for me). The aromas are less strong, which here allows for more freshness and nuance (as opposed to the candy-bar experience of the first day). The taste profile has the blueberry a little more fresh (though still ripe), and the chocolate less creamy. Maybe it's the absence of the Maybach, but this is a lot better on the second day; to me, this edges out the Revana, which seemed more tart and linear on the second day.

  Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Marginal differences should never obscure fundamental similarities, so I want to underline the obvious in drinking these three wines at the same time: they each come from TRB, with ripe fruit, silky mouthfeel, and real polish (some more realized than others, but it is oh so early). They are modern; they are unique; and they are delicious.

The lack of obvious tannins for all three of these wines is particularly striking. Despite their youth, none of these wines are chalky, grainy, bitter, or biting - nothin’ but blue skies here (and the Ella Fitzgerald reference is intended - sometimes I wonder if TRB is operating in a similar zone, where the silkiness, power, and flat-out execution are just expected, yet not fully appreciated). Anyway, these wines will each be better next year, but they are awfully good now (especially the Materium; the .375 has never been so good...).