Napa and a lone Kiwi

Semi last minute tasting with @WineBurrowingWombat and @FermentedBeast. We had a few things we wanted to achieve here: Eisele redemption, try a Napa cult wine chard along with a 'grand cru' New Zealand SB, check in on some classic Napa producers and hype ourselves up for the Vice Versa '21 release.

Quite possibly the best whites from New Zealand and Napa in a square off!

• 2018 Dog Point Vineyard Section 94 94 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  What's not to love about NZ SBs? Price point is amazing and it checks all the boxes for a great QPR. Imagine going to a hawaiian food place, opening up their fridge and seeing the Hawaiian Sun Lilikoi Passion drink. Now imagine cracking the can open and smelling and drinking it. That is this wine. Topical notes for days, bright acidity and clean finish. As it warmed, this may even have a slight petrol on the nose? Slightly salty on the finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

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• 2018 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard 98 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Might easily be the best Napa chard I have ever had and I had my fair share of some good ones. Followed over a couple days. Day 1 was pineapple, peaches and a bit of that smell from a popcorn machine an hour after it popped some popcorn with butter. Viscous, oily creamy...it had it all. Lots of layers to this wine. Day 2, this wine didn't miss a beat. Still going strong. I picked up some lemon pie on Day 2. Some of its buttery qualities took a back seat on day 2. Excellent wine.

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Four classic cult Napa estate producers that have been around for a long time.

• 2016 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  This Napa cult cab fell on the red fruited spectrum for me. Much better on Day 2 as this is still a baby, even at 7 years from vintage. Very elegant, refined and balanced. Had a bit of that feminine quality to it. If you wanted this to come around, you needed to woo her and show her why you deserved her attention. Round, mouth coating tannins that most definitely needs food at this stage. I won't open the last bottle for a long time but I know she'll be waiting for me...or will I be waiting for her?

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• 1997 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Last bottle. Cork in great condition. Brick colored. No flaws. Classic old school Napa. Wet earth, moss and mushrooms with a bit of dried orange peel. Moving into its tertiary flavor profile. Drink now, but might hold up for a few more years.

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• 2019 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 98 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Slighty shy on the nose but with air, it came around to say hi. Lots of earth, blue fruits, lead pencil and red and blue concentrated berries. This builds incredibly well on the palate and leads to a very long finish. Slightly more garnet colored, this wine is full bodied and deeply complex. Better than when I had it at the estate. Excellent effort. Is it better than 18? At this stage no, but it is certainly nipping at its heels. I might seek out more. 98+ with upside

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• 2013 Dominus Estate 97 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  From 375mL. This might have lost a bit of appeal from two years ago when I last had it from a 375mL and scored it near perfect. Oh the first world problems.... Don't get me wrong, this is still a great wine, but maybe with the company this wine had today, it fell a bit short of expectations. Great fruit, balance and structure. Maybe fell short on the nose for me. It really feels like I'm nitpicking, but that is what you do when drinking wines of this caliber. Right now, it is not at the 100pt wine many critics claimed way back when, but now with only 750s in the cellar and patience, I am hoping the last bottles will reward my patience and I can catch it at the 'perfect' time.

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Re-visiting 19s for the 21 release.

• 2019 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Mysterons 96 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I've had this wine a number of times now and today was interesting. Lots of reduced fruit notes on the nose. Maybe even a bit of maple syrup or some syrupy component to the nose. I visited the Hershey's chocolate factory plant in PA and the smell and taste of freshly made chocolate is much different than when you buy it in the store. Well, if you took that fresh milk chocolate and laced it with some dark berries, that is what I was getting today. Still a bit tannic and maybe lacked a bit of that acidity that I was looking for. Again, the theme here is nitpicking these great wines. Still, a very good wine.

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• 2019 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard 99 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Might be WOTN, along with 19 Eisele and 19 VV Mag 7. There is just something about the Dr.C vineyard that is distinct and unique. Put this fruit in the hands of Patrice, Maayan and Melka and you have yourself a phenomenal wine that I imagine the average wine consumer would pick up, sniff and drink, only to come out of the experience with their mind absolutely blown. This is showing a lot of blue fruits, violets, and some wood notes. Deeply concentrated and balanced. Just a great Napa cab that doesn't go overboard in the ripeness department and still gives a sort of nod to year's past of how Napa cabernet was made.

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• 2019 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon The Magnificent Seven 99 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  On day 1, I was probably giving this a 98 again, but day 2 came along and smacked me in the face and brought me back to earth because how can one give nothing but a near perfect score for this wine? Well I am going to give this a 99, only because I think there might be more magic in this bottling in the near future when all the components really start to integrate and strut its stuff. Consisting of the best barrels from the Dr.C, BTK and Las Piedras vineyards, this wine has the elegance and fruit from Dr.C, the structure and power from BTK and the minerality and gravelly earth components from Las Piedras. This is truly a wonderful mix of the best features from these bombshell vineyards.

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These kinds of tastings are sometimes unbelievable. We are trying some of the best wines in the world and I am just thankful that I have friends to share these wines with and are also willing to share their wines with me. The overall theme of the night quickly materialized into a game of nitpicking to determine which was better. Nothing was under 94pts and nothing sucked. WOTN was the Aubert and the Dr. Crane with Eisele and M7 again, nipping at its heels.