April 13, 2024 - Decanted two hours. Good mouth feel with a medium finish.
December 17, 2023 - I was mistaken on the first bottle that I drank of this last year. This is outstanding.
September 18, 2023 - Started a bit tight but opened up beautifully
August 17, 2022 - Average. Not worth $100 cad.
July 12, 2022 - Drink soon...
May 19, 2022 - Black cherry, blueberry, a hint of pepper on the palate. Medium, grippy tannins on the finish. Let this breathe for a couple of hours before drinking. This helps balance the tannins and allows the fruit to open.
January 25, 2022 - Decisions...Decisions
That’s what I was faced with the other day as I was trying to decide as to what wine to drink for the evening. As I scrolled amongst the wines in my cellar, I found I had a couple of producers’ wines that were of the same vintage but various single or specific vineyard sites.
You know the ones; Howell Mountain, Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain (I’m big into mountain wines), and even a few more generic wines like that of Napa Valley. So, what's a guy to do when you have multiple wines from one producer? Other than the obvious, drink them. Which is what I did, in this case, the
Robert Craig Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Still, why all the confusion? At least for me. At that exact moment is when I remembered an event I attended many years ago for the rollout of the newest (can’t remember the vintage) bottling of the Katheryn Hall Cabernet. They had a small seminar highlighting cabs from each of their vineyards, such as those named above and others. That’s when I recalled why they do so many bottlings. They’re all different!
So, without any thought towards Robert Craig and why they have other district wines, (I now know why), I forged ahead. The Spring Mountain Cab is actually sourced outside of Craig’s Estate vineyards, from the 2,000-foot slopes of Joan Crowley’s biodynamically farmed vineyard overlooking St. Helena and consisting of rocky volcanic soils with varied hillside exposures.
Blending 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc and then aged for 18 months in Chateau-style French oak; 80% new & 20% 2nd year barrels, the wine is bottled unfiltered and unfined to produce this beautifully complex yet elegant wine.
Even with its age, decanting is key, 2 to 3 hours minimum helps smooth out the tannins and allows the fruit to bloom. Once sipped it revealed black cherry and blueberry with a touch of acidity for balance, rustic but soft tannins mingling with ever so present spices along with a nice velvety finish.
As a small production wine, they may not be readily available, but searching out for the wine and to find it, or any of their other wines, will present you with enjoyment and satisfaction. Good luck in whatever “DECISION” you make.
Cheers
August 23, 2021 - Great wine, ready to go.
August 1, 2021 - Popped and let breathe for about an hour and was drinking well. No detailed notes from last night unfortunately.
March 19, 2021 - No need to give this any air - tasted very nice after PnP. Mid-palate was just gorgeous dark red, light blue fruit. Unfortunately, there was very little backbone to this, so finish was short. Because of this, not sure I would be spending high dollar on this again.