Community Tasting Note
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Mark1npt Likes this wine: 94 points
April 24, 2022 - Opened last night after we got back from dinner and Andrew and I sat watching The Batman, while the girls faded on the sofa......as usual, Andrew was taken aback at the pnp, by the standard exuberant, ripe BCellars nose. "How do they do that", he says......lol. Big fruit and just a tad hot. The 15.6% alc is felt more than a bit. Calmed down and melded together with about 2+ hours of air. 90-92 last night? Cork back into the bottle on the kitchen counter til this afternoon. Preparing dinner for guests and figured why not? Nobody is around, so......definitely a point or two better today. While there is still a lot of blueberry on the palate, the fruit has calmed down to an appropriate level and is more in sync with the tannins, acidity, alc, etc. Very nice at this point. I'd say in the 93-94 range. 2 hours of slow ox then an additional 15 hours under cork, no gas, room temp....has this showing very nicely today.
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7 Comments
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Badmonkey commented:
4/24/22, 1:22 PM - Nice note as usual. You have me tempted to pop one but I’m still trying to be patient with most 2018s.
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I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:
4/24/22, 6:54 PM - Nice note Mark....I do have a question....did the heat from the alcohol remain, or did it all down or disappear? (That is my biggest pet peeve)
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Mark1npt commented:
4/24/22, 8:18 PM - Bad, the '18s are starting to come around. I enjoyed 2 diff BCellars last week with 5-8 hours of air. This was pretty good the 2wnd day, fwiw.
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Mark1npt commented:
4/24/22, 8:21 PM - Jason, the heat was present the entire 1st night, not so much the 2nd day. If that helps you any.....my son really enjoyed the nose at the pnp, I enjoyed it most overall, the 2nd day.
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Badmonkey commented:
4/25/22, 4:49 AM - I’ll continue to be patient then if it’s showing better on day two. Sounds like most of the 2019 Napa cabs that I’ve had - enjoyable on day one with a decent decant but clearly better on day two. Take care.
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Mark1npt commented:
4/25/22, 7:33 AM - I would, Bad......the '18s as a whole are starting to move in a good way but they are a bit inconsistent. Some need 5 hours of air, some need 8+, and still others could use a 2nd day, but lucky for us they are moving into an above average drinking window. I think the '19s as a whole, are not as approachable, as people thought they would be, at least not like the '16s were, which many in the industry kept comparing them to on release. Many wineries held their '19s an extra 6-12 months before releasing, for cash flow and budgeting reasons given there weren't going to be many '20s made. It could be we all missed that early drink window that the '16s had? If you remember, about 16-18 months into the '16s they started to back up and shut down. Mending Walls '19 Tornahu cab was a prime example of this. Was exactly like a '16 on release but only stayed that way for 3-4 months before shutting down.
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Badmonkey commented:
4/25/22, 8:19 AM - I hear you. I had a number of 2018s within the first six months or so from their release that were drinking quite well - what I often call that really young/still barrel tasting phase. Most really shutdown afterwards and still haven’t come around. I agree that they are starting to show some improvement but I still believe another year or two is needed for most 2018s. Interesting with the 2019 vintage which was also showing really well shortly after their release but most are now in an awkward/transition phase and need time - although I like how most are showing on day two. I recently exchanged emails with Mike and Leah Smith and they said to give the 2019 cabs until the end of the year which makes sense. Thanks for your thoughts.