Cali Cabs with the young turks (05 Foley Claret, 03 Pride Reserve Claret, 03 Rubicon, 03 Silver Oak AV Cab)

A good friend of mine that likes fine wines invited me to an informal wine tasting with younger wine aficionados that are just starting their wine journey. They want to know as much as they can, so they fired questions to me all night long. It was fun to see the enthusiasm these guys had. Reminded me of myself about 14 years ago.

As always, there were questions I couldn't answer, such as "is wine X worth the price tariff?", but the event was fun and informal.

Wines were tasted non blind in the order the TNs are set below.

• 2005 Robert Foley Claret 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This would be a good wine for those of you that have accused Bob Foley of only making slutty, uber ripe wines. This comes across shy on the nose, offering hints of very focused black fruits. In the palate, I am suprised to find this full to medium bodied and not heavy. Ellegant in the mouth, offering a lot of flavor but not in a slutty outfit. The tannins are tamed and very fine in texture. The finish is long and pleasing. What is not to like here? I think this would have much broader appeal than 2001 and 2002 Pride wines. This reminds me of the 2001 Lewelling Wight. This was voted No. 2 wine of the night by all except me, who liked it the best.

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• 2003 Pride Mountain Vineyards Reserve Claret 93 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Napa / Sonoma

  This was definitely riper than the 2005 Robert Foley Claret. Ultra ripe, indeed. Nose was dominates by the lactic aromas often associated with uber ripe fruit. Caramel and candied fruit dominate the nose of this hedonistic, pleasure wine. The palate is densely constructed, offering great coverage and obvious tannin. There is less finesse here than in the 2005 Foley. Very flavorful and obvious. It was voted WOTN by all except me. I preferred the Foley Claret.

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• 2003 Rubicon Estate Rubicon 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  This was brought by one of the young turks. This is definitely a different animal than the Foley wines. This does not exhbit the flavor intensity and meatier tannin than the mountain grown Pride and Foley wines that preceded it. Medium to full bodied, this is a pretty wine that has elegance, a cooler climate character as shown by the dash of acidity in the finish. I liked it quite a bit, but it will never win in a contest.

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• 2003 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 87 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  This was also brought by one of the young turks. This was the sole dissapointment of the night. The wine lacked a mid palate and it wasn't showing as much fruit as the others. Oak treatment seemed heavy.

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