2018 Di Costanzo Cabernet Sauvignon Caldwell Vineyard
Community Tasting Note
ledocq Likes this wine:
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 - Barrel sample tasted during a FaceTime call with Massimo di Costanzo. TL;dr: if you like the Montecillo and Farella cuvées, jump on this when they release it. I am unfamiliar with Caldwell, but I note the list of heavy hitters on their website (apparently Dunn sourced from there for decades). The wine is deep in color, like petite sirah deep, and the aroma is somewhat restrained with just a quick suggestion of its eventual depths. I recognize the winemaking, meaning it's serious juice, with a crazy amount of length. The mid-palate has some subtle spicebox to it, and then a graphite element creeps in, with velvety tannins at the end. I want to dig out one of my younger Pontet Canets to see if the comparison I thought of at the moment is accurate, but there's a Pauillac feel. I didn't want to drink this quickly, but at one point I looked down and it was gone. As good as the Di Co is, when I have one of the big guns, I'm just blown away. Here's hoping that 7-10 years from now, things are calm enough that I can try this in its full maturity. I don't think there's a lot of this for the first year. Big, huge, whistling, stomping recommendation.
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Comment posted by Jazz Nut:
7/8/2020 9:15:00 AM - Thanks for the note! How does this compare to the Farella or Montecillo? Also, were you able to taste either of these for the 2018 vintage?
Comment posted by ledocq:
7/8/2020 12:58:00 PM - I wasn't yet able to taste the others - and apologies for my flavor descriptors being so poor. I like how wine is a non-verbal experience, and finding the right way to describe it is always a little beyond me. But: if you had the three cuvées blind, you could tell them apart, but I bet you'd also be unsurprised to know they're the same winemaker. There's a classical restraint to all three, but there's this interesting spicey element to the Caldwell that makes it unique. Does that help?
Comment posted by Jazz Nut:
7/8/2020 1:20:00 PM - Oh, found your review very helpful! I am just getting into DiCostanzo after reading favorable reviews such as yours on Cellar Tracker. It sounds like good purity of fruit, along with structure, and classical restraint--but still being obviously Napa Valley and not Bordeaux. I'll probably end up getting a few bottles of each for the 2018 vintage, since the vintage sounds so good. I'll be excited to open a 2016 Farella or 2017 Montecillo soon!