24 Napa Reds
Tasted Wednesday, October 14, 2020 by Cailles with 572 views
Introduction
Napa Clash - Competition between the BoD and the staff from a Napa Restaurant in Zurich, with 23 participants as judges. All wines tasted double blind and scored before revealed.
2009 Dominus Estate 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. One of the winners of the tasting. The highlights are the elegance, finesse and the cool, fresh profile. As always, Dominus delivers with a touch of old world wine magic paired with the right amount of Napa sexiness. Ripe but not too ripe blackberries, lots of violets, traces of minerality. Nice intensity, very high precision but with a complexity still a bit hidden behind the more dominating fruit. Super fine tannins, perfectly integrated high acidity, a very soft texture and good length. The complete package worth 96/97 points.
Group score (23 participants): 93.1
Group rank: 21 out of 24 wines
(This was the first wine that was served. I guess the palates of many tasters were not yet ready.)
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2007 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This was a disappointment. While the structure and texture are very fine, without any excess weight, the wine showed one-noted and I got the impression even a bit tired, but maybe this was just an awkward bottle or the wine is just not ready yet. Slightly stinky nose, lots of green bell pepper, dark fruit. Very soft texture on the palate but not entirely harmonious. The picture is not as refined and clean as with the Dominus before. Some dark fruit, lots of herbs. Rather low complexity, medium- precision, medium length.
Group score (23 participants): 94.3
Group rank: 13 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2011 Pulido-Walker Cabernet Sauvignon Melanson Vineyard 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. What an amazing 2011! Wines of this vintage can be green, rather light, short and without complexity. This Pulido Walker took all that challenges of the vintage and translated it into strengths. Yes, it is not the most complex wine but the green aromas were just perfect. No harshness or underripe part but very fine black olives and stems aromas with a strong mineralic backbone and dark fruits to complement it. Very expressive on the nose and palate and all delivered with very high precision. The lightness is the perfect complement to the intense aromas and makes drinking this wine a lot of fun, especially if you are an Old World wine lover (I thought it to be a Napa Syrah, btw).
Group score (23 participants): 92.9
Group rank: 23 out of 24 wines
(Controversial wine, with 6 tasters scoring it 96 points and higher, incl. 100 points, whereas a lot of traditional (sweet) Napa wine lovers didn’t like the wine)
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Checkerboard Vineyards 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This wine didn’t show well that evening. Medium expressive nose and palate full of quite ripe, slightly fat dark fruit, then lots of minerality, citursy acidity on the palate which made the whole wine rather a bit astringent. Maybe a lot more air would have helped here (not possible to decant the wine for a long time in this larger tasting). You could sense that this must have a bit more in store but this glass was not overly harmonious. If you open a bottle of this wine, I would give it a long decant.
Group score (23 participants): 93.8
Group rank: 16 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Rudd Cabernet Sauvignon Samantha's Oakville Estate 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. I didn’t found this wine overly pleasurable. The highlight was the expressiveness and intensity of the nose with lots of dark berries and baking spices. The ripeness was a bit on a too high level and the alcohol was slightly detectable - on the nose and palate. Not overly harmonious, a bit simple on the palate. I’ve done a mini vertical of Rudd’s Samantha’s in 2019 and the wines (2011, 2013-2016) showed well (91-93 points) and convinced with their cool, fresh profile. This Samantha’s was not on that level and didn’t come across cool and fresh. However, later in the tasting we had the 2012 Rudd Estate (rated 95) which was every bit as good as the wines at that vertical a year ago.
Group score (23 participants): 92.9
Group rank: 22 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2013 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Solari 87 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This was one of the weakest wines of the evening. The theme of the evening was a competition of two groups about bringing “Napa wines which are in a very good drinking spot right now” with us blind tasters as jury. As there were a lot of wines, prolonged decanting was not an option. I was really surprised that somebody would bring a 2013 to such a tasting as I hardly ever had a 2013 which is remotely open and ready (confirmed with 4 out of the 24 wines being from 2013 and none of them being really ready). Very unfortunate choice, this Solari was muted, astringent and not harmonious. You could sense that there is a lot of substance but this wine is begging for more patience.
Group score (23 participants): 88.4
Group rank: 24 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Arrow & Branch Cabernet Sauvignon Dr. Crane Vineyard Premier Napa Valley 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. It’s always a special privilege to taste a special PNV bottling. This wine easily outshined the other wines (Rudd Samantha’s 2012, Larkmead Solari 2013, 7&8 Estate 2012) in the flight thanks to a beautifully expressive and layered fruit expression, with the Dr. Crane lushness well in-check by a high but well-integrated acidity. Actually the super soft and airy texture was one of the highlights of this wine. At this youthful stage, it’s not the most complex wine but you can sense the substance. With more age, thanks to a good balance and a very good precision, this wine can certainly gain one or the other point.
Group score (23 participants): 95.0
Group rank: 4 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2013 Melka Métisse Jumping Goat 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. The tasting was a competition of two groups about bringing “Napa wines which are in a very good drinking spot right now” with us blind tasters as jury. As there were a lot of wines, prolonged decanting was not an option. I was really surprised that somebody would bring a 2013 to such a tasting as I hardly ever had a 2013 which is remotely open and ready (confirmed with 4 out of the 24 wines being from 2013 and none of them being really ready). This Jumping Goat was one of the more expressive 2013s which showed dark fruit, minerality and some earthy tone on the nose and palate. Very good freshness but also here still some slightly edgy tannins and overall still muted. The potential is there but this needs more time. If you open a bottle today, give it at least 5 hours in the decanter.
Group score (23 participants): 93.4
Group rank: 20 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This wine is marked by a bold, ripe, sweet fruit core on the one hand and by a lot of herbal, green notes on the other hand. In the flight before we had a similar flavor profile which turned out to be a fabulous 2011 from Pulido Walker, hence I thought to have another 2011 wine in my glass, just with a tad more ripeness and boldness. When revealed it all make sense with the 2012 vintage which produced bolder and denser wines and riper fruit than the 2011 vintage, but with 50% Cabernet Franc in the blend, which explains all the herbal and green flavors. While this works is a beautiful mix and should work quite well, the precision and length were not up there with the best wines that night. Still, this is a good wine.
Group score (23 participants): 95.1
Group rank: 3 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Rudd Oakville Estate Proprietary Red 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. One of my favorite wines that night, which is no surprise as Rudd Estate’s Proprietary Red is among my favorite Napa wines (7 vintages tasted, consistently scored between 94 and 96 points). Hardly ever early charmes, these wines shine with their noble restrained, the strong minerality and rather cool fruit profile. These are not the most polished Napa wines but come with a lot of character and, in my opinion, with the promise to age well. The 2012 displayed probably the best nose of the evening with a dark fruit core, crushed rocks and a wonderful Latour-like nuttiness. Same aromas on the palate with a tad riper and denser fruits than would have been ideal and an additional layer of herbal aromas. This 2012 is younger and a tad bolder than other vintages but has all the substance and traits to gracefully develop from here and improve further. If you open a bottle today, give it a solid 4+ hours in the decanter. Easily 95 points.
Group score (23 participants): 94.9
Group rank: 5 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Futo OV/SL 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This is quite nice with a variety of dark and dark red fruits, minerality, violets on the nose and palate. Fairly soft structural frame with lots of round tannins and an elevated but well integrated freshness. Today it has not the complexity, precision and weightlessness of the best wine but I guess in a setting where you can follow this wine over a few hours it would score one or the other point higher than the 92 points.
Group score (23 participants): 93.6
Group rank: 18 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2013 Au Sommet Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Atlas Peak
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. The tasting was a competition of two groups about bringing “Napa wines which are in a very good drinking spot right now” with us blind tasters as jury. As there were a lot of wines, prolonged decanting was not an option. I was really surprised that somebody would bring a 2013 to such a tasting as I hardly ever had a 2013 which is remotely open and ready (confirmed with 4 out of the 24 wines being from 2013 and none of them being really ready). Relatively muted nose with mainly minerality peaking through but everything else hardly showing. Beautiful sweetness and freshness on the palate but not much else showing. Tannins are ripe but still noticeable. This would have been much better and more expressive with a solid 5+ hours decant.
Group score (23 participants): 93.8
Group rank: 17 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2015 Barbour Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This is my first time tasting Barbour. We had the 2014 and 2015 side by side and both wines were among the very best wines we had that evening. Both wines are very well made and show impressive concentration, complexity and precision with dark fruits, chocolate, herbs and earthy notes; with a very superbly creamy texture paired with a very good freshness. The 2014 shows more finesse and a wonderful nutty aroma, while the 2015, from this hot and exuberant vintage, is more bold but still on the elegant side of things – especially compared to most other 2015s. To reach the infamous 97+ point category, the 2014 would have to have a bit higher complexity and the 2015 would need to flesh out more. Nothing more bottle age cannot achieve. Both are truly great wines – definitely a winery to follow!
Group score (23 participants): 94.6
Group rank: 8 out of 24 wines (shared with PerUs Armaan 2016)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2014 Barbour Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This is my first time tasting Barbour. We had the 2014 and 2015 side by side and both wines were among the very best wines we had that evening. Both wines are very well made and show impressive concentration, complexity and precision with dark fruits, chocolate, herbs and earthy notes; with a very superbly creamy texture paired with a very good freshness. The 2014 shows more finesse and a wonderful nutty aroma, while the 2015, from this hot and exuberant vintage, is more bold but still on the elegant side of things – especially compared to most other 2015s. To reach the infamous 97+ point category, the 2014 would have to have a bit higher complexity and the 2015 would need to flesh out more. Nothing more bottle age cannot achieve. Both are truly great wines – definitely a winery to follow!
Group score (23 participants): 94.8
Group rank: 6 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2014 Greer Cabernet Sauvignon Greer Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. My first encounter with a wine of this winery. Medium- expressive nose an palate with relatively fresh dark and dark red berries, lots of minerality and slightly earthy notes. The soft and airy structure is a highlight here but I didn’t found it as complex and harmonious as the best wines. All in all, certainly a good wine.
Group score (23 participants): 94.5
Group rank: 10 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Nine Suns 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. One of the best wines that evening. Like a lot of 2012s, this wine is in such a perfect spot. High intensity, high concentration, creamy yet super airy and elegant texture, a not overbearing ripeness and fruit allowing for much more aromatic nuances to shine. Sexy sweet black and blue forest berries, ripe but very fresh and pure, green bell pepper, olives, stems, earthy notes, leather and tobacco and herbal notes. As described above, a superb structure and texture and a very good length. The complete package and my best bottle of this 2012 yet. This wine has really come a long way. Impressive, I guess my rating would be in the 97-98 category if I could have followed the wine over an evening.
Group score (23 participants): 94.4
Group rank: 2 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2014 Sinegal Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. Expressive nose with fresh, ripe dark fruit. More layered on the palate with the touch Napa sexiness with sweet dark forest berries, well balanced by a strong minerality and high acidity. Very fine, round tannins. A perfect wine for a BBQ which gives you all the sweet sexy fruit and is bold enough (and not nuanced enough) to go well with a piece of red meat. To get to a higher score it would have needed a more weightless quality to it, a tad higher creamy texture, more complexity and a bit better length.
Group score (23 participants): 93.6
Group rank: 19 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Checkerboard Vineyards Kings Row 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This was one of the positive surprises and one of the best wines of the tasting. This is the entry level wine of Checkerboard but clearly outshined the Estate wine from 2012. In this lush vintage, the King’s Row has a beautiful balance of rioe dark fruit and lots of very fresh herbs, minty notes and hints of medicinal notes. I thought it could be a Heitz MV or a Shafer HS from a lesser but still good vintage. The freshness is impeccable, the tannins are soft, the intensity and precision are on very good levels. To get a higher score it would need more expression on the nose and an overall higher complexity.
Group score (23 participants): 94.7
Group rank: 7 out of 24 wines
Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Kelly Fleming Wines Cabernet Sauvignon The Bear and the Bees 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. To my surprise this was the groups #1 wine of the night. I don’t see it. While it’s certainly a good wine which shines with its fresh dark fruit, minerality and a very intriguing spiciness (the most spiciness of the evening), the nose wasn’t as expressive and layered as with other wines, the fruit was just a tad too ripe/sweet and it was not as creamy and weightless as the best wines, to be very picky. Nevertheless, it’s definitely a good wine which is overall quite nicely balanced.
Group score (23 participants): 95.4
Group rank: 1 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2013 Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. The tasting was a competition of two groups about bringing “Napa wines which are in a very good drinking spot right now” with us blind tasters as jury. As there were a lot of wines, prolonged decanting was not an option. I was really surprised that somebody would bring a 2013 to such a tasting as I hardly ever had a 2013 which is remotely open and ready (confirmed with 4 out of the 24 wines being from 2013 and none of them being really ready). This was the best of the 2013s yet still far below of what this wine from this vineyard can deliver. I would love to go back and decant the wine for several hours prior to consumption. Slightly stinky nose with dark fruit, some green notes, minerality. Not superbly clean but getting better by the minute. Much better on the palate with typical BTK sexiness with ripe but not too ripe dark and blue forest fruit, lots of violets and a balancing minerality. Round but still slightly noticeable tannins, superb freshness. 93 points, which with a better bouquet (and more decanting) would have certainly be higher.
Group score (23 participants): 94.4
Group rank: 11 out of 24 wines (shared with Lail J. Daniel Cuvee 2014)
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 PerUs Wine Co. Armaan 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This wine displays sweet dark fruit, green bell papper, stems, earthy notes on the harmonious nose and palate, all embedded in a fairly fine structure and with a good freshness. It is not weightless but still on the lighter and more elegant side of things. The group liked it more than I did. For me it was clearly far too sweet on the palate and the complexity was not on par with the best wines the evening. Both things which should improve with more bottle age.
Group score (23 participants): 94.6
Group rank: 8 out of 24 wines (shared with Barbour 2015)
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2014 Lail Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvée 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. Impressive concentration, ripe, sweet but pure and fresh fruit on the nose and palate. A layer of minerality which provides further to the balance and lends more freshness. Some hints of spices and herbs but this young, the fruit is still dominating but you can clearly sense that there are many more layers wrapped in this sweet dark and blue fruit potpourri. The highlight is clearly the purity of fruit and the freshness as well as the concentration. With more age it can certainly reach more than these 94 points it gets today.
Group score (23 participants): 94.4
Group rank: 11 out of 24 wines (shared with Realm BTK 2013)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Aloft Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This is not as harmonious as it should be but than again it was wine number 23 out of 24 Napa wines, probably my palate was just tired. I liked the complexity with green bell pepper, various black fruits and herbs as well as the soft tannin structure. The fruit is quite fresh, not too sweet, the precision and length are on good levels. Acidity, however, is pronounced and not perfectly integrated which makes it not that balanced. Solid but not something I would chase.
Group score (23 participants): 94.1
Group rank: 14 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. This is a good wine with a quite complex aromatic profile on the nose and palate with ripe dark berries, earthy notes, minerality, herbs and some very fresh minty notes. High intensity and good precision and all in all quite round and harmonious with fine tannins and a good, well-integrated acidity. I loved the pure black fruit expression but the wine gets some points deducted as it can’t mask the high alcohol levels perfectly.
Group score (23 participants): 94.0
Group rank: 15 out of 24 wines
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue