Excellent again if you are looking for a big, rich Cali cab that is practically overflowing with everything. Consistent with my last bottle from 2022 - Agree totally with Jeb D's description of this wine -- although I noted more layers of flavor (including chocolate) than Jeb noted. Awesome body and mouthfeel with long, balanced and tasty finish. Pleasure all the way through." It has also developed coffee notes as well. It struck me as a bit sweeter than last time so I lowered the score slightly. Again, this ain't for those looking for sophistication or Bordeaux style and completely understand many would find it over the top :)
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Perhaps I was expecting more given my experience with Venge Cabs. I decanted the wine and gave it about 2 hours before consuming. Honestly I expected more complexity on both the nose and palate and a greater sense of place. It delivers on the fruit, but I wanted more earthiness and terroir. It's a nice well balanced Ca. Cab, but there's nothing special going on here, particularly at this price point. It has some structure to the frame, so I'll hold on to the next bottle for a few more years, but I doubt I see significant improvement.
Opened a pair for Christmas Eve dinner. Splash decant, then 3 hours slow ox. This opens with a huge nose of blueberries and blackberries. Rich, sumptuous wine with generous fruits of cassis, plums, blackberries, layered with smoked meat, chocolate, tapenade. Terrific balance, acidity, integrated tannins and oak. Long satisfying finish.
This is entering its peak window, for me. Both bottles drank the same
Agree totally with Jeb D's description of this wine -- although I noted more layers of flavor (including chocolate) than Jeb noted. Awesome body and mouthfeel with long, balanced and tasty finish. Pleasure all the way through.
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2hr decant in cellar. Big, rich, velvety Napa Cabernet. Still exhibiting barrel influence of oak and vanilla accompanied by big dark fruit. Silky tannins with a long finish. This wine needs a steak IMO. Very rich on its own but did nicely with a cut of red meat. For my palate I would’ve preferred to give this bottle a couple more years. Enjoyable drinking experience nonetheless. We have enjoyed Venge wines regularly over the last several years and feel that his Cabernet’s greatly benefit from a minimum of five years of aging. Excited to see where this is in year 10.
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Minimal nose. Initially classic and well balanced turning fruity and extracted but a huge crowd pleaser. Not sure what advice to give on when to drink (probably a few more years) or how (maybe let breath for an hour). Also hard to rate- I could have gone 3 points higher or lower.
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Fantastic. Big opulent wine, dark purple color with black fruits/cassis, vanilla, a hint of leather, smooth tannins. Really enjoyable over a few hours with beef.
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Hedonistic indeed. Better after opening up for a bit with a little chill. Pronounced tannins still naturally but well integrated with the fruit and acidity. Needs another 3-5 to continue to meld.
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This feels like a complex, fruit forward monster Napa Cab - honestly I feel like I broke into the bottle at least a couple of years too early and now regret it. Still tannic but overwhelming fruit notes - Napa’s answer to an Amarone. Every once in a while that’s exactly what I want and this night it fit perfectly. Don’t waste this one with a lot of great food options - it’s a selfish beast that wants full attention other than maybe a palate-opening cracker or biscuit.
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Opulent, ripe dark plum, cherry, and cassis, with a jammy sweetness, vanilla, and oak toast. Smooth, intense, in the hedonistic style, at the start of a long drinking window.
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Big, ripe, and slightly plummy on entry, this fruit monster needs some air to really find its glide. Black cherry and vanillin cassis flavors tiger-paw other behind-the-scene notes of soil and char that initially struggle to offset the huge gobs of fruit pushing through the attack. It has that “really ripe” posture and never really lets up. There is quality here, but it currently seems overshadowed by its flamboyant display of (wait for it…) ripeness. Is it a flavor hound’s dream wine? Certainly. What it lacks in poise, it makes up for in undeniable chewy goodness. For me it tipped its big toe a little too far into the deep end of the extraction pool. After a small glass, I was pretty exhausted. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a heat thing (which is quite often the case with some of these Napa big boys). It was simply a LOT of fruit. Finesse and nuance take a back seat in its current state.
If you have been conditioning your palate to bench-press 2000 pounds of fruit, then you’ll be in hog heaven. But for me, even in this style of winemaking, I was a little pummeled by its splayed and overt high-octane disposition. Slap a fistful of salami and a platter of sweaty sock stinky cheese in front of me and this may be the wine I reach for. Otherwise, it’s primarily an enemy to most food substances known to man.
Last tasted two years ago. Unfortunately, this slid toward the opposite end of my projected rating scale forecasted back in 2018.
A big Cali Cab as u would expect from Venge. Dark black purple in the glass with expected nose of vanilla and black fruits. Smooth and polished on the finish with well integrated tannins
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Napa Cabernets + SQN + others (Home): A step up from the 2015 Bone Ash, but still leading its attack with a lot of fruit in the mouth all at once. A darker flavor profile than the Bone Ash, with sappy black raspberry, wild blackberry, black currant, dark mulch and wet cedar, and some scorched earth. Big and bold, with nice concentration and depth, but a little sluggish on the drive toward the back end. Slightly heavy at the moment, with the delivery skipping a few necessary beats to best finish out the back end. Hopefully time will help this. 92-94 points at the moment, with possible upside in another year or two, where it hopefully will develop more seamlessness.
Like the Bone Ash, the Family Reserve typified much of Venge’s fruit-forward style. The Bone Ash was especially “fruity” when served side-by-side with this Family Reserve. Nevertheless, both wines are good (the Family Reserve was very good). However, they finished toward the middle/middle-end of the pack of the 30-ish wines tasted. I did not find them to be as compelling as the Morlets, Tusk, MACDONALD, Rudd, Scarlett Reserve, etc. (stiff competition to be sure).
Aged 27 months in barrel. Served decanted and we were told it was “built to age 8-15 years.” It has great possibilities but the $140 price tag was too much for me (and my lack of cellar).
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2/22/2024 - iamandyc Likes this wine: 95 Points
Excellent again if you are looking for a big, rich Cali cab that is practically overflowing with everything. Consistent with my last bottle from 2022 - Agree totally with Jeb D's description of this wine -- although I noted more layers of flavor (including chocolate) than Jeb noted. Awesome body and mouthfeel with long, balanced and tasty finish. Pleasure all the way through." It has also developed coffee notes as well. It struck me as a bit sweeter than last time so I lowered the score slightly. Again, this ain't for those looking for sophistication or Bordeaux style and completely understand many would find it over the top :)
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2/12/2024 - DawgByte Likes this wine: 92 Points
Perhaps I was expecting more given my experience with Venge Cabs. I decanted the wine and gave it about 2 hours before consuming. Honestly I expected more complexity on both the nose and palate and a greater sense of place. It delivers on the fruit, but I wanted more earthiness and terroir. It's a nice well balanced Ca. Cab, but there's nothing special going on here, particularly at this price point. It has some structure to the frame, so I'll hold on to the next bottle for a few more years, but I doubt I see significant improvement.
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12/25/2023 - Franken Berry Likes this wine: 96 Points
Opened a pair for Christmas Eve dinner. Splash decant, then 3 hours slow ox.
This opens with a huge nose of blueberries and blackberries. Rich, sumptuous wine with generous fruits of cassis, plums, blackberries, layered with smoked meat, chocolate, tapenade. Terrific balance, acidity, integrated tannins and oak. Long satisfying finish.
This is entering its peak window, for me. Both bottles drank the same
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11/27/2022 - iamandyc Likes this wine: 96 Points
Agree totally with Jeb D's description of this wine -- although I noted more layers of flavor (including chocolate) than Jeb noted. Awesome body and mouthfeel with long, balanced and tasty finish. Pleasure all the way through.
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11/25/2022 - Jmac56 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Medium fruity nose. Very well balanced with nice fruit and tannins. A bit of age starting to show.
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5/14/2022 - jstrovel@gmail.com Likes this wine: 95 Points
Delicious. Wish I had more.
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4/9/2022 - Winefrog19 Likes this wine: 94 Points
2hr decant in cellar. Big, rich, velvety Napa Cabernet. Still exhibiting barrel influence of oak and vanilla accompanied by big dark fruit. Silky tannins with a long finish. This wine needs a steak IMO. Very rich on its own but did nicely with a cut of red meat. For my palate I would’ve preferred to give this bottle a couple more years. Enjoyable drinking experience nonetheless. We have enjoyed Venge wines regularly over the last several years and feel that his Cabernet’s greatly benefit from a minimum of five years of aging. Excited to see where this is in year 10.
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1/21/2022 - Jmac56 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Minimal nose. Initially classic and well balanced turning fruity and extracted but a huge crowd pleaser. Not sure what advice to give on when to drink (probably a few more years) or how (maybe let breath for an hour). Also hard to rate- I could have gone 3 points higher or lower.
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1/8/2022 - dman7 wrote:
Fantastic. Big opulent wine, dark purple color with black fruits/cassis, vanilla, a hint of leather, smooth tannins. Really enjoyable over a few hours with beef.
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12/4/2021 - Slwojdyla Likes this wine: 93 Points
Hedonistic indeed. Better after opening up for a bit with a little chill. Pronounced tannins still naturally but well integrated with the fruit and acidity. Needs another 3-5 to continue to meld.
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11/2/2021 - 33Bob Likes this wine: 94 Points
Awesome Venge Family Reserve cab from 2015. Typical Oakville cab with plenty of life remaining.
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10/17/2021 - DDw2 Likes this wine: 93 Points
This feels like a complex, fruit forward monster Napa Cab - honestly I feel like I broke into the bottle at least a couple of years too early and now regret it. Still tannic but overwhelming fruit notes - Napa’s answer to an Amarone. Every once in a while that’s exactly what I want and this night it fit perfectly. Don’t waste this one with a lot of great food options - it’s a selfish beast that wants full attention other than maybe a palate-opening cracker or biscuit.
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10/11/2021 - YankeeRobio Likes this wine: 97 Points
Complex wine, classic Napa from Oakville. Black cherry, sweet tobacco, licorice. Settle and fine tannins. Fantastic
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10/2/2021 - Bob23 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Obviously the grownup version of Venge cab. More balance, more chiseled flavor - tasty, although my table preferred the BDX to it.
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12/5/2020 - Wine2372 wrote: 92 Points
Opulent, ripe dark plum, cherry, and cassis, with a jammy sweetness, vanilla, and oak toast. Smooth, intense, in the hedonistic style, at the start of a long drinking window.
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9/27/2020 - jstrovel@gmail.com Likes this wine: 94 Points
So much dark fruit, This one has years to go.
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9/4/2020 - csimm wrote: 92 Points
Big, ripe, and slightly plummy on entry, this fruit monster needs some air to really find its glide. Black cherry and vanillin cassis flavors tiger-paw other behind-the-scene notes of soil and char that initially struggle to offset the huge gobs of fruit pushing through the attack. It has that “really ripe” posture and never really lets up. There is quality here, but it currently seems overshadowed by its flamboyant display of (wait for it…) ripeness. Is it a flavor hound’s dream wine? Certainly. What it lacks in poise, it makes up for in undeniable chewy goodness. For me it tipped its big toe a little too far into the deep end of the extraction pool. After a small glass, I was pretty exhausted. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a heat thing (which is quite often the case with some of these Napa big boys). It was simply a LOT of fruit. Finesse and nuance take a back seat in its current state.
If you have been conditioning your palate to bench-press 2000 pounds of fruit, then you’ll be in hog heaven. But for me, even in this style of winemaking, I was a little pummeled by its splayed and overt high-octane disposition. Slap a fistful of salami and a platter of sweaty sock stinky cheese in front of me and this may be the wine I reach for. Otherwise, it’s primarily an enemy to most food substances known to man.
Last tasted two years ago. Unfortunately, this slid toward the opposite end of my projected rating scale forecasted back in 2018.
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8/29/2020 - jstrovel@gmail.com wrote: flawed
So sad, Brought to a friends house to introduce to Venge and the bottle was cooked. Bummer.
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7/24/2020 - GlenviewGSW Likes this wine: 93 Points
A big Cali Cab as u would expect from Venge. Dark black purple in the glass with expected nose of vanilla and black fruits. Smooth and polished on the finish with well integrated tannins
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4/5/2020 - dadudad Likes this wine: 95 Points
Another outstanding effort from Kirk Venge.
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3/10/2020 - wineholder Likes this wine: 98 Points
Better every year
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6/2/2018 - csimm wrote: 94 Points
Napa Cabernets + SQN + others (Home): A step up from the 2015 Bone Ash, but still leading its attack with a lot of fruit in the mouth all at once. A darker flavor profile than the Bone Ash, with sappy black raspberry, wild blackberry, black currant, dark mulch and wet cedar, and some scorched earth. Big and bold, with nice concentration and depth, but a little sluggish on the drive toward the back end. Slightly heavy at the moment, with the delivery skipping a few necessary beats to best finish out the back end. Hopefully time will help this. 92-94 points at the moment, with possible upside in another year or two, where it hopefully will develop more seamlessness.
Like the Bone Ash, the Family Reserve typified much of Venge’s fruit-forward style. The Bone Ash was especially “fruity” when served side-by-side with this Family Reserve. Nevertheless, both wines are good (the Family Reserve was very good). However, they finished toward the middle/middle-end of the pack of the 30-ish wines tasted. I did not find them to be as compelling as the Morlets, Tusk, MACDONALD, Rudd, Scarlett Reserve, etc. (stiff competition to be sure).
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5/5/2018 - KAL47 wrote:
Aged 27 months in barrel. Served decanted and we were told it was “built to age 8-15 years.” It has great possibilities but the $140 price tag was too much for me (and my lack of cellar).
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