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2016 Saunter Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 685 Red Head Vineyard

Cabernet Sauvignon

  • USA
  • California
  • Napa Valley

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Community Tasting Note

  • JLuch1 Likes this wine: 91 points

    February 17, 2022 - 30 minute decant and consumed over a couple hours. Approachable after the decant and during consumption. Sweet red berry fruit, some spice and vanilla notes. For me a bit more fruit forward than what I would have preferred. So much so that I felt the acidity was not enough to overcome the juiciness of this wine and it made it feel out of balance for me. Perhaps a savory element would have helped balance this out for me.

    Otherwise, the quality of the fruit and winemaking were all there, just missed the mark a bit for me. I have enjoyed the wines coming from their Eagle Summit Vineyard bottling, overall more structure and balance comparatively.

    I saved half the bottle for day two and will amend my notes if the wines changes.

    2 people found this helpful 1,564 views

6 Comments

  • Mark1npt commented:

    2/17/22, 3:35 PM - I have generally preferred this one over the ESV, however....just had a 3 day old ESV '16 and can't believe how much better it was! It is a severe PITA to try to figure out how/when these things are drinking their best!

  • JLuch1 commented:

    2/17/22, 4:30 PM - I have enjoyed other vintages of red head and I enjoy the style of thomas brown, which I typically find to be a nice blend between classical and modern styling. This vintage, at present, has seemed a bit more one dimensional compared to what I’m used to. Have had a few of these with similar results, but it also comes down to preference.

    The eagle summit on the other hand takes come coaxing, but when it does come around I have found them to over deliver for the price.

  • Mark1npt commented:

    2/17/22, 6:07 PM - I agree on all counts!

  • Decanting Queen commented:

    2/18/22, 4:37 AM - Interesting I found this too tight last year but sounds like it has opened up a bit since then. I am also a fan of the eagle summit vs the red hen’s I have tried so far.

  • Mark1npt commented:

    2/18/22, 4:55 AM - DQ, maybe the Hen needs a 3 day slow ox, too? Lol......

  • JLuch1 commented:

    2/18/22, 9:37 AM - It was a bit better the second day, but the fruit was still in your face. Not saying it is a bad wine by any stretch, just a little below what I prefer from TRB and the Saunter team. I will add, I don't mind a fruit dominant or modern style as I thought the 2016 Becklyn NV I had last week was stellar. That wine had it all going on, balance, structure, finish. It was excellent and considering the two wines are priced similar, the Becklyn was in a different league, in my opinion.

    Where as the last 2014 ESV I had, while stylistically a different wine, would compete more with Becklyn NV.

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