Community Tasting Note
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Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 95 points
March 29, 2023 - Macdonald is here to slay the 2020 dragon, and amazingly they pulled it off. Using only old vines, which are less compromised by smoke, they produced 150 cases. That means most list members will get a bottle or two in their allocation.
As we all know, this was a downright miserable vintage, even if you avoided smoke taint. So even with a tremendous effort, this isn't going to be a 16, 18, or 19 vintage. To my palate, it most resembles the 2017, which was another difficult vintage where MacDonald managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
To make things just a wee bit harder on Alex, we had this (CSIMM1161's place) next to a 19 Colgin Tychson Hill and a 12 Araujo Eisele. Nevertheless, the MacDonald held its own. The nose was gorgeous, showing creme de cassis, anise, white flowers, black olive and tilled soil. The palate is firm and rides a bit higher than previous vintages, while displaying some of the hallmark dark chocolate flavors, but errs on the earthy and mineral driven side. With a little less body than other vintages, the 2020 makes up for it with crisp acidity, excellent balance and refined tannins. Finishes medium length on a savory note. Quite an achievement and still the only 2020 Napa Cab I'm buying!5 people found this helpful 3,974 views
12 Comments
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MJP Hou TX commented:
4/4/23, 2:53 PM - 150 cases in not going to go very far. Hopefully I make the cut as I'd still like to have this vintage in the cellar. Did you happen to visit or try VHR?
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Franken Berry commented:
4/4/23, 2:59 PM - I have only sampled 2 or 3 ‘20 Napa cabs, and I swear I have detected a hint of smoke on all of them. Not sure if this is real or imagined. My hope would be that what wine was made was done in an immediate to drink manner, to minimize future agony on the buyers end, but I admit that I have little experience in this regard and it is largely an emotional response
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bsumoba commented:
4/4/23, 3:12 PM - Macdondald (assuming I get some) and VHR are the only two 20s I am buying.
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Cristal2000 commented:
4/4/23, 4:05 PM - MJP: I didn't get a chance to go to VHR on this trip.
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blarmston commented:
4/4/23, 6:41 PM - I last saw AMac back in Dec and he said he was optimistic about the ‘20. Sounds like they pulled it off.
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MJP Hou TX commented:
4/5/23, 4:22 AM - C2, I've got a three pack of VHR the way and plan to dive in after some given time to settle. If I recall correctly I believe Eisele made a 2020 as well.
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Cristal2000 commented:
4/5/23, 9:19 AM - MJP: Many of the top wineries decided to make a 2020. No chance I am spending $500+ for the vintage however, unless they have some crazy aftermarket like Screaming Eagle where you can unload it if necessary.
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MJP Hou TX commented:
4/5/23, 9:39 AM - TWI just scored both Promontory & Harlan 2020 100 Points. Eisele 96
Quella 92? "slightly smoky finish" -
Cristal2000 commented:
4/5/23, 9:42 AM - Lol. To each their own. I think AG gave Harlan 92-94 which may be right if they really had the fruit in before the most significant fires. I had the 2020 Promontory and to my palate, definitely not close to 100. But hey, no qualms with others thinking differently.
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NickRut commented:
4/5/23, 2:05 PM - Loved this as well - Def didn't drink like a big Napa cab but reminded me more of the 2011s and 2017s like you said. Great wine but just not what I was expecting. Will happily take advantage if I am offered some.
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Shay.Aldriedge commented:
8/25/23, 11:07 PM - Thanks for the review. I’ve been on the list for a few years and will buy anything Graeme and Alex are a part of. Is it my understanding that it’s likely previous 3-pack allocations will be reduced to 1-2/pack offerings for this vintage? We are a few weeks away from the typical allocation window, so I’m just curious. Cheers.
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Cristal2000 commented:
8/26/23, 8:30 AM - Hi Shay - yes, last I heard the plan was 1-2 bottle allocations. The production was very small. Cheers!