Community Tasting Note

• Mark1npt Likes this wine: 94 points

  June 25, 2023 - Brought to the table tonight by Gabriel and Linda. It's my first bottle of this WOTY by Wine Spectator. We can debate the merits of this designation for various reasons, but what is not debatable is this is a very good wine! Dark purple in the glass. Classic Napa cab nose. The palate is rich and fruity as you would expect. This is what I would describe as a 'safe' wine. Meaning, you can't go wrong with it. Maybe that's why WS made it their #1 wine of 2022? It's solid, consistent, balanced, smooth and very enjoyable. Just because it's the WOTY, doesn't mean it's a 100 pointer. Too many other factors at play here. Thank you Gabriel, for bringing this one. It was very, very nice and fit in quite well during our great evening of wine and friendship!
  
  ps....forgot to mention this was pnp'd into a decanter for about 1 hour before we started pouring into glasses and it was finished up about 2 hours later. No drop off in that time.

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7 Comments

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  6/25/23, 9:28 PM - Ironically (or maybe not), WS rated this wine a 94 too. Here is the information on the wine....quite interesting...
  https://top100.winespectator.com/2022/wine/no-1-schrader/

• Mark1npt commented:

  6/25/23, 9:52 PM - Jason, I did not know that! I think too many times people mistakenly take the #1 wines to be 100 pointers, and they're not. They're just plentiful in the marketplace and mostly 'decent' wines. That's what this one was. Nothing more, nothing less.

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  6/25/23, 10:19 PM - According to WS, they picked this wine because it is Schrader's "second" wine, but they think it is as good as many producer's 'first" wines. The wine is apparently made from younger grapes from the To Kalon vineyard that didn't make. it into their flagship wine....purportedly same style, but for earlier consumption. Of course, it is still made by Thomas Rivers Brown, and it is still To Kalon grapes, so it should be a very good wine!
  
  As a side note, I think because WS does several grand tastings where they need their top 10 wines to serve, smaller vineyards are almost automatically ruled out. Only criteria that I am aware of is the wine must score at least 90 points and be a good value. In fact, here is what WS said about picking this wine No. 1:
  
  "With the pedigree of a great vineyard under the hand of a great winemaker, a second wine should never be overlooked. For its compelling combination of quality and price in a category that is awash in expense-account bottlings, the Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Double Diamond 2019 is our Wine of the Year for 2022."

• Mark1npt commented:

  6/26/23, 6:09 AM - Thanks for adding that.

• gteran76 commented:

  6/26/23, 7:33 PM - WS also have another parameter in their selection for WOTY, they collect it “the X factor”.

• AGELVIS commented:

  6/27/23, 2:13 AM - I have a bunch of these. Super reliable. Schrader second label.

• Mark1npt commented:

  6/27/23, 5:55 AM - I hadn't had one in years, but this vintage is very nice. I think I have a couple of '21s coming in the fall.

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