Seattle Tasting Group does 1994 California Cabernet

Bellevue, WA
Tasted Friday, May 6, 2005 by Eric with 2,363 views

Introduction

On Friday evening Michael and Claire Gordon graciously hosted the STG (Seattle Tasting Group) at their house for a tasting of 1994 California Cabernet. All 12 of the Cabernets were tasted blind, although Michael did provide us with a list of 25 wines of which our 12 were a subset. (We had a contest which Dave Browning won by identifying 5 of the 12 wines, wow!)

Despite the fact that my tastes have been shifting more and more to French wines, I was eager for what I hoped would be a fantastic tasting. It was a fun evening, and there were a few standout wines. However, on the whole I was left scratching my head based on several extremely disappointing showings. The tasting made me want to come home and start drinking up my 2001 and 2002 Pride Reserves, as frankly I was left wondering what 10 years had done for these cabs. Anyway, I hate generalizations, but it was a bit troubling and shook my confidence in aging California Cabernet.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

We started off with some delightful cheese as well as a lovely flight of vintage champagne.

  • 1990 Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    The nose is very sherried. The palate is mellow, lush and smooth, very round. The bubbles fade off pretty quickly here, but this is a pleasant, mature Champagne.

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  • 1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon

    France, Champagne

    Darker color than the 1996 Dom tasted alongside. Reticent aromatics with hints of yeast. The palate greets you with a rich wave of mineral. Somewhat clipped on the finish, again relative to the gargantuan 1996. Still, this is a gorgeous Champagne.

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  • 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon

    France, Champagne

    This is my seventh taste of this wine and the tightest example yet. The nose shows very obvious notes of smokey minerality and fairly overt wood aromatics as well. The palate is massively structured yet 'sleeping', holding back tons of fruit, just loads of minerals, very tight. If this bottle is any indication, I think it's time to let these sleep for about 6 years.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

Next we broke into our first flight of reds, a promising start with a BIG surprise!

  • 1994 Cornerstone Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beatty Ranch 87 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

    The nose shows a slightly burned note with cedar and cinnamon. The palate is tannic, bordering on astringent. The grip is actually pretty nice with tart fruits, cranberry, black cherry and a hint of licorice.

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  • 1994 Gallo Family Vineyards / Gallo of Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Northern Sonoma 96 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Northern Sonoma

    Sneaky, sneaky Roy... This was my highest-rated wine of the night and received an average rating of greater than 94 points from the group. (Many people were convinced this was an Abreu.) The color in the glass was cloudy with lots of loose sediment, but apart from that this wine was exploding. Mint, rootbeer, flowers and notes of vanilla burst from the glass. The palate is rich and extracted with more rootbeer and loads of black fruit. This is long and delicious with loads of bittersweet notes and hints of coffee. What a stunning surprise!

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  • 1994 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

    Smoky and meaty on the nose with peat moss, sun-dried tomato, and a rotten/overripe element. With more air this gets more and more vegetal, and that should have been my hint. The nose is both wacky and intriguing. Mmm, the palate is fantastic, round and rich with loads of cassis and great mouthfeel.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

The next flight was a bit disappointing with relatively poor showings for the Dominus and Mondavi Reserve, two wines which I have tasted before and been wowed by.

  • 1994 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This was a solid yet disappointing showing for a legendary wine. Everyone liked it with 7 of 8 tasters rating it between 90 and 92 points. However, no one thought it had the fireworks of a truly great wine. The reticent nose shows horse and graphite. The palate shows licorice, black olive, and leather, a really, really nice old-world twist clearly reminiscent of Dominus. However, this was a little simple on the attack, lightly candied and just somewhat underwhelming. The wine did receive significant decanting, perhaps over-decanting?

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  • 1994 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 84 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Another extremely disappointing showing. Too much decanting? The nose shows rich cassis with a hint of grape jelly. The palate shows sweet plums but seems somewhat simple and monolithic and starts to fall apart in the glass.

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  • 1994 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Ahh, the REAL deal and in hindsight probably the best wine of the night albeit far less ready than the stunning Gallo. The nose shows mint, cranberry and tar. The palate is massively tannic, tight, gripping and dense, wound up, loaded with rich fruit and bright acid, a slight impression of cranberry. The structure here is remarkable, what a fantastic style of Cabernet!

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

At this point we took a break while Michael grilled up some fantastic, rare ribeyes. I wish I could get a steak this good at a steakhouse in town!

Alas, this next flight was even more disappointing with disastrous showings for the Montelena and Pahlmeyer, although the Monty seemed to be a flawed bottle.

  • 1994 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Something was wrong here. The nose is very dusty and chalky with charcoal, ash and cardboard. There is nothing musty here to indicate TCA, but the cardboard (more like dry cardboard) was very distinct. The palate is somewhat bitter and unforgiving with cranberry, tart and astringent. Is this damaged? At the time I awarded it 84 points, but in hindsight I am shifting to NR.

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  • 1994 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale 93 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    The nose shows balsamic and horse. The palate is rich, loaded with chocolate and loam. This is somewhat spicy and vegetal on the finish. With rare ribeye this was just heaven!

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  • 1994 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red 82 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    What happened here? I just had a 1995 the other day which I loved. This one showed soy and leather on the nose with vegetal elements showing up with more time in the glass. The palate shows powdered sugar and is just way too sweet, gag me with a spoon sweet. Something is very, very wrong here, but I don't think the wine is flawed.

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

We finished up with two heavyweights and a ringer.

  • 1994 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This was clearly the Abreu. Raspberry, violet and hints of mint. The palate is tannic and dense with vanilla and bitter chocolate, impeccable balance. A gorgeous 60-second finish keeps your attention. This is very, very young but impressive for its structure and giving a fair amount of love.

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  • 1994 Harlan Estate 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Many thanks to Justin for the extraordinary gesture of bringing this wine. This was my third taste in the past 5 months, and the most disappointing of the three. The nose is high-pitched with soaring notes of violet and inky intensity, just a hint of VA. However, I struggled with some very overt notes of alcohol that just kept nailing me every time I sniffed this. The palate is doused in notes of cola, black fruit, searing tannins, powerful, massive. I briefly mused that this had the intensity of a "Big H" but didn't think this was one. Maybe this was served a bit warm or decanted a bit heavily, but it just wasn't the otherworldy experience that twice before has convinced me that this vintage of Harlan is easily one of the best American wines ever created.

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  • 2000 Château Malescasse 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

    Green, leathery and funky with loads of dill and green tobacco on the nose. There is nice structure on the palate, but it is buried beneath a load of wood and harsh, woody tannins. In hindsight, once I saw what this was, I think that this needs some years to open back up. This is a difficult time to dip into the 2000's.

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Flight 6 (4 Notes)

With a delicious fruit tart, we rolled out a few interesting dessert wines.

Closing

Thanks again to Michael and Claire for a wonderful tasting and for so generously opening their home.

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