Community Tasting Note

• #1Winelover Likes this wine: 96 points

  July 31, 2018 - I love old Cabernet Vines and these are 51 years old from the Moon Mountain AVA. This only saw 55% new French Oak because of the old vines and based on my tasting, it didn't need anymore!
  
  Black, purple and red with red berries and plum, coffee and chocolate notes. This is a rich, creamy and meaty full-flavored Cabernet. It needed a good 2+ hours decant. Lots of minerality throughout.
  
  Reminds me of the old Carmenet Moon Mountain Vineyards that was just awesome. So glad to see Moon Mountain recognized as an AVA.
  
  95-96 points. I will finish it up tonight and if anything changes, I will edit my comments. Changed my rating a point because it is still great!

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2 Comments

• yeti575rider commented:

  11/2/18, 9:17 PM - Realize your note is a bit old but I'm really on the fence on ordering some of the 2016 cabs from my first allocation. I'm a huge fan of Andy's cabs from his Larkmead days so was thinking of giving a few a go, but I'm not a huge fan of the prices. This is the cheapest and at $90 a pop for a sonoma bottling is pretty steep, and over a $100 for basic Napa puts it up there as well. Far from outrageous by Napa standards but still more than the likes of Myriad and Rivers Marie. Have you tried any other Dumol 15's or 16's to make any recommendations. Given I like Andy's winemaking style I'm pretty confident this is a low risk bet but appreciate any thoughts. The vineyard sources are quite a bit different than Calistoga valley floor.

• #1Winelover commented:

  11/3/18, 4:07 AM - Like your handle, BTW. I was were you were 1 year ago, but decided to take the plunge because like you, I really enjoyed Larkmead when Andy was there. I don't buy that label anymore.
  
  For Montecillo, you would have to like old vines. It's a different taste and on day 1, it was "meh." On day 2, it was a different story. It was really good. I only purchashed a bottle each of the Montecillo (but I did re-order), Meteor and Ballard and I haven't had them because the winery told me to wait. I did just buy the '16s as they told me that they are more open than the '15s. I am trying a couple of Syrahs and their Napa Valley which they said is the sleeper of their lineup and ready to go. They don't ship until early Dec so you won't see any notes until then. Basically, they didn't say this directly, but it seems their '16s are better than the '15s. Totally different style from Mike Smith wines but I would end up recommending them. They are very well made. Hope this helps!

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