Community Tasting Note

• msuwine wrote: 93 points

  March 20, 2020 - This is my second Hundred Acre Cabernet, and I must say... I don't get it. This is rich and polished, especially for such a big wine, but there are a lot of rich and polished wines in Napa, most of which don't price themselves into the $400+ territory. Despite my best efforts, I've enjoyed, even loved, wines in this price bracket (e.g., Harlan, Tusk, Absurd, Lokoya), but these wines seemed to offer something unique, in terms of class, depth, intensity, or site. At the risk of saying something unpopular, this wine is very expensive - but not very distinctive.
  
  Cherry red in color and medium in body (2% milk), the wine offers aromas of boysenberry, mulberry, gravel, and dried herbs. The flavors are well-balanced, with notes of blackberry, sour cherry, cocoa powder, and fresh leather, with a lingering and layered finish that has an appealing floral quality (read: light on its feet). 15.5% alcohol. Decant at least an hour.
  
  I enjoyed this wine, but not as much as I had hoped. Like some sort of mediocre Will Ferrel movie, I kept rooting for it to be better than it was - but the punchline was fumbled, and the payoff just wasn't there. I'm docking it a point for the price, but - real talk here - this wine would be destroyed by other 2014 wines that are cheaper... and better (e.g., Tynan, Moonracer, Carter OG, Futo OV). I welcome insights from more experienced followers of the winery - and I do get a kick out of the owner - but I'm a bit underwhelmed by this wine at this moment.

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8 Comments

• WineBurrowingWombat commented:

  3/20/20, 10:11 PM - Wow.. great note and I totally understand and agree with what you said about the price.. now I'm starting to think I might scored them a little too high for the price tag.

• Quiet Lion commented:

  3/21/20, 7:22 AM - I haven't popped a 2014 yet but to me it's the olive oil.

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  3/25/20, 6:17 PM - Great note, msu. Alas, I can't claim to be more experienced with this winery; it's above my pay grade. But I return the comment you made to me in regard to the Legacy chard, that the most useful TNs are often the ones which are a bit curmudgeonly, especially when reviewing $400+ wines. Better to get 2 bottles of the '12 Ovid!

• Quiet Lion commented:

  3/25/20, 8:35 PM - Ovid a better value for sure, but sometimes you just want to try things people are raving about. Sucks when it doesn't live up to your expectations though.

• msuwine commented:

  3/25/20, 9:56 PM - Thanks for the comments, guys. I sometimes have a hard time staying objective about these crazy expensive wines. On one hand, I want them to be great, to justify the price I paid (like, really, it's absurd) or the hype they received (I like to think winery reputations aren't random, even if they might be) or the thrill of opening a rare bottle (the hunt must have been worth it!).
  
  At the same time, I find it harder to forgive any shortcomings, even if whatever issue might be something entirely within my control (e.g., decant time, bottle age) or random (e.g., provenance, vintage) or a product of my irrationally high expectations (i.e., this was supposed to be perfect!). The price does - and should - raise expectations.
  
  Anyway, I can plainly see this being special for some people, and - when it comes to wine - I truly believe to each his own (within reason: bad and expensive wines do exist). Life is too short, and wine is too subjective, to decry what makes someone happy, especially when my only question is whether the wine is good or great. Tell the truth, as best as we can tell it, and enjoy the conversation along the way. Cheers!

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  3/26/20, 7:59 AM - Perfectly said, msu. As the main person in this thread who drinks cheap(er) wines on a semi-regular basis, I find it hard to not have price seep into my ratings. I have a hard enough time being able to pop the $200+ wines I buy, can't imagine how I'd do that for wines a time (or several) that; I'll have to live vicariously through your and csimm's reviews. Cheers, stay healthy, and keep the great reviews coming!

• nzinkgraf commented:

  10/25/21, 6:36 PM - Specifically, which Will Ferrell movie(s) does this wine evoke for you? Asking as someone who enjoys wine and music pairings as much as wine and food pairings.

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  10/25/21, 6:42 PM - I likened the '16 Venge Silencieux, at a much less exalted price point, to watching an Adam Sandler movie; something you looked forward until it actually started, and you realized that Adam Sandler isn't that funny anyway and wondered why you'd wanted it in the first place.

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