Single-Blind Napa Valley Cult Wines

Tribeca Grill
Tasted Thursday, December 15, 2005 by Keith Levenberg with 962 views

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

  • 1982 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Grace Family Vineyard 80 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Soft chocolatey nose also showing some spearment and alcohol. Somewhat evolved on the palate, and while obviously the mellowest wine of the night, I'm not sure it aged entirely gracefully, as it were; it comes across dry and acidic with a metallic inflection as well as some "goutte de merde." The fruit was still surprisingly youthful given its age.

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  • 1988 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon 81 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

    Smells like cured meats. On the palate, it comes across rich but simple with a raisined Amarone-like personality. The finish is hot and tinged green but it carries enough lingering flavor not to ring hollow. Nobody guessed this was the 1988. Later in the evening, it tasted much smoother but still could have passed convincingly for a recent release.

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  • 1996 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 81 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Everyone agreed that this wine was the slut of the flight. Aromas were sweet and expansive, combining chocolate and fruit. Though supple and elegantly textured on the entry, it turned very oaky, showing heavy chocolate on the midpalate and raw wood on the finish.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 1994 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 74 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Not aging well. Aromas are nearly imperceptible but what is there is a very chemical perfume or hairspray note. On the entry, the wine is hollow and dominated by tannin. It's firm and bricky and similar to how a lackluster 1994 Bordeaux would show at this stage.

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  • 2001 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 70 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    At least a plurality thought this wine was a ringer, with its strong, pungent nose encompassing root beer and plump grapiness. Its youthful, bright magenta color departed wildly from everything else poured so far, and it was heavy and grapey to taste. My first thought was Sagrantino, but a few others guessed Australia, which seemed to make sense as the fruit flattened without losing any weight or breadth. There was also a touch of unclean sweatiness.

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  • 2000 Inama Cabernet Sauvignon Oracolo Veneto IGT 83 Points

    Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT

    The ringer. Explosive sweaty, funky nose. Comes across in distinct stages--first is the rich, prodigiously structured entry, then a sweet midpalate like pure chocolate, and finally a floral, violet finish. The definition is excellent, even as each stage is simple and dolled up. It probably spoke well of the California wines that the sluttiest wine of the night was the ringer, even though nobody guessed it.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 1999 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 87 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Overall this was probably one of the classier wines of the night. Nose is slight and mostly closed. Richness is apparent on the entry but the texture is supple in spite of the tannic finish. It starts out simple but acquires some more complexity with air, including some herbiness. With more air, it's less civilized, with more exuberant raspberry fruit.

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  • 1999 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch 75 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This is kind of a bruiser but also rather generic. Tannin builds with each taste, and the fruit is pure grape.

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  • 1997 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb 88 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This was a controversial wine, with a lot going for and against it. At first the nose is explosive and pungent, the flavors dense and nondescript. With air, the nose develops an interesting freshness with lavender and cucumber scents, but also an offputting hairspray/aerosol note.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 1997 Harlan Estate 76 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Extreme stink on the nose, combining the signature scents of the extreme California style (chocolate, creme brulee) with disgusting chemical flaws, including baind-aids, sulfur, and hairspray. Just yuk. On the palate, the wine was super-ripe, dense, and chocolatey, though unlike many of the others with these characteristics, this wine balanced it out with a fierce structure. With air, the rough tannin remains and some of the stink subsides, but not the aerosol and band-aid.

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