Introduction

Over the past few years the wine press has placed a stronger focus on the "classic" producers like Mayacamus, Ridge, Diamond Creek, BV, Inglenook and Beringer. Napa is coming out of yet another round of stylistic change. "Bigger is Better" had been the mantra for much of the 2000's at some wineries, and wine makers and growers have a renewed focus on balance.

Personally, as a consumer I got away from the names that got me into wine over the years. These were generally vintners making "scale" production wines at entry pricing levels. Some of these wines I started to find manipulated in one way or another, but reports on the quality of 2013 and better wines from some of these classic entry level producers made me decide to have a tasting. Additionally, the recent 95+ dropped on the Clos Du Val Napa Valley gave me interest in seeing how it does against its "peers".

Flight 1 - 2013 Classics (4 notes)

Closing

This was a great tasting, and gave me some renewed faith in Napa Cabs under the $50 price point. None of these selections were revolutionary, but the broad appeal and "honest" nature of the wines was appealing. At this price level there is a lot of highly manufactured juice out there, and each of these wines represented its house and vineyard sources very well.