Community Tasting Note

• csimm1161 wrote: 95 points

  July 27, 2021 - Vice Versa weekend and dinner: Similar to my experience with this wine back in April, the Beatrix showed a healthy dollop of red berry, cassis, earth, dry flowers, and an almost-Grenache-garrigue element that provides an herbal tinge to the finish. A lot of zip and energy here. Ideally a wine to age for a handful of years before it is ready for prime time. For those who can’t help but sample the Beatrix early, be sure to give it a good deal of air. The back end shows a little blocky with some tannic angularity due to the perception of alcohol at first. However, strong swirling is the solution and allows for the wonderfully pure fruit to show its potential. 66% Cabernet Franc. 34% Cabernet Sauvignon. If you love a solid CF, this is a winner for sure!

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5 Comments

• JJYoyo commented:

  8/3/21, 9:13 AM - Your ringing endorsement of the VV lines makes me glad I managed to get on their mailing list. I think I will die of old age before my number comes up for SQN

• csimm1161 commented:

  8/3/21, 9:22 AM - For Napa Cabs I do find that Vice Versa generally hits a sweet spot for me in terms of ripe Napa fruit counterbalanced with mindfully placed elements of acidity, minerality, and frame. I'm not interested in the overtly oak-slathered sweet prune bombs that push Napa modernity over the line. I've been thinning my cellar of some of those wines that miss the mark on any expression of terroir simply because the purity of fruit has been processed-out of them. I still like a big wine now and then (a la SQN), and the VV wines are not wimpy by any means, but a little nuance can go a long way among the sea of otherwise heavy hitters from the Valley. Hopefully you get some love from SQN at some point.

• JJYoyo commented:

  8/3/21, 9:27 AM - Ditto for me - I expect big wines from CA cabs; I do not want grotesque wines. I don’t want wines that “kick it up a notch” unless we understand… a notch of what, exactly? I do not want Guy Fieri making my wines. SQN can be over the top, but in my opinion with a point and a purpose, quite different from a lot of metaphorical hand waving to disguise that a wine has been supersized rather than improved.

• JJYoyo commented:

  8/3/21, 9:28 AM - … and I am particularly intrigued by your TN on the Platt Chard - definitely going to grab my allocation of that.

• csimm1161 commented:

  8/3/21, 9:34 AM - Well stated. I do like the Platt Chardonnay for a domestic Chard. Most Chards out of CA I'm not too impressed with. The latest rendition of Platt will need some time to fill out but has good bones.

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