Community Tasting Note

• csimm wrote: flawed

  April 13, 2017 - No pop sound or apparent release of pressure on PnP. Crystallized cork bottom. Some sediment. Immediate funk smell. Taste was overly Port-like and reduced. Stewed prune and fertilizer.
  
  Opened a second bottle; this bottle was pressurized but had a similar aroma. Taste seemed much better, but by then my palate was all screwy. I went with "Flawed" on the first bottle and called it a day. I corked the second bottle and put it in the cellar (54 degrees) for two days.
  
  Luckily, this second bottle showed quite a bit of promise. It was rich and still came off a bit extracted, but not stewed at all the way the first bottle was. Much more identifiable flavors (as in previous notes I have on this wine).
  
  I'm going to hold on opening remaining bottles until 2019/2020 if I can help it.

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4 Comments

• amauryc1 commented:

  4/15/17, 6:11 PM - Hey csimm, is this wine made by the old Merus wine maker?

• csimm commented:

  4/15/17, 9:42 PM - Yep. He's the same one. Merus was his (and his wife's label). After his divorce, he lost the rights to Merus. He has nothing to do with Merus now. He was doing a number of side projects, and has experimented with a bunch of other one-off varietals (I'm not a fan of most of them). But his "Mark Herold" namesake Cabernets are pretty good. They are massive wines. The 2013 Stagecoach Brown Label and the 2013 Coombsville Brown Label are good. There is a general "Brown Label" that is ok, but the specifically labeled "Coombsville" and "Stagecoach" wines from 2013 are the best. He also has a "White Label" Cabernet that is essentially what Merus was (the best barrels). The White Label is $200, and though it's very good, I think the others at $125 are pretty close in craftsmanship. The White Label is certainly crafted with more of a noticeable finesse, but the QPR is a little much considering the competition in that category. You can't find any of them except through his winery. He has two tasting rooms in Napa: One is for the goofy varietals. The second focuses on the aforementioned Cabernets. The second is worth checking out. The first (by Oxbow Market) is just kinda a joke. RP gave the 2013 Coombsville and Stagecoach 94 and 95 points, respectively. That's probably about right, though I'd personally inch both up a point or two higher. The wines do appear to be transitioning, so I'm going to leave mine alone for a couple of years.

• amauryc1 commented:

  4/17/17, 5:46 PM - Thanks for the info. I knew the name sounded familiar. I used to like Merus when he was the winemaker but after they were acquired the Merus winemaker is the same as Kuleto which is good but just not as good as it used to be.
  
  I did look at the Herold wine website and you are right about the white label; $200 a bottle is in a very exclusive bracket; not buying with out tasting it first. Maybe I'll try to visit them on my next trip.

• csimm commented:

  4/17/17, 6:28 PM - The "nicer" tasting room downtown (NOT the goofy one near Oxbow) is worth a visit. They used to pour the good Cabs at the goofy one for free, but now they moved to their "exclusive" tasting room and got a little uppity about it at first. That said, it's worth stopping by the nicer tasting room just to check out the Cabs.

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