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2016 Shibumi Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon
12/5/2019 - Badmonkey wrote: 93 Points
More of a classic profile as somewhat expected in light of the Winery’s statement that they harvest the grapes when they are ripe but not overly so and therefore their cabernet shows many qualities of a great Bordeaux. Dark purple fruit - blackberry, currants/cassis, dark cherry, and blueberry. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity and solid depth/concentration - medium plus body. Nice flavors of dark berries, some spice/licorice, a little chocolate/cocoa, and a mineral/graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep and a little tannic. Tried to pop/pour based on the Winery recommendation - they didn’t believe a decant was necessary. I disagree - it came across fairly tight/coiled especially on the back-end. Threw it in a decanter for a couple hours and drank over a couple more. Improved with time and took around three hours to open-up. Enjoyable at this stage with a decent decant, however, I believe it needs at least a year but more likely a couple to really show its stuff. Nonetheless, quality fruit and I expect another point or two higher with some more time. 100% cab.
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2016 Kinsella Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Jersey Boys Vineyard
12/1/2019 - Badmonkey wrote: 95 Points
Dark ruby fruit - currants/cassis, blackberry, and dark cherry. Really smooth and a nice purity, however, it has softened-up and isn’t showing quite the same depth/concentration as a couple months ago. In addition, it’s a little richer/sweeter. Once again, nice vibrant flavors of dark berries, some spice/licorice, chocolate/cocoa, and a little mineral/graphite component. Fairly long finish. Popped/poured but drank out of a decanter for a couple hours. Not much improvement with time but at a nice drinking point. In my opinion, in line with the 95 rating from Dunnuck this time around. 100% cab.
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2017 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon
11/27/2019 - Badmonkey wrote: 93 Points
Although awfully young and as expected ideally needs some more time, I’m thinking about buying more to lay down but wanted to see where this vintage is at first. A pleasant surprise in light of all the concerns that I’m hearing about 2017 Napa cabs. Derived from the Panek, Lore, and Kennedy Vineyards. Black and dark red fruit - dark currants/cassis, blackberry, dark cherry, and dark raspberry. Smooth mid-palate with solid depth/concentration especially for the price point - medium plus body. Nice vibrant/full flavors of dark berries, some spice, and a mineral/graphite component. Solid finish but not overly long nor deep and just a little tart - a little bing cherry profile that should resolve itself with a little more time. Decanted for two hours and drank over a couple more. Improved a little with time but drinking quite well after the decant despite its youth. Really enjoyable and approachable at this youthful stage with a decent decant, however, I’m going to lay my other bottles down for another 6 months to let it soften/open-up some more. From what was conveyed to me, the Winery apparently believes this is the best version of their Napa cab to date which I can’t argue - a nice vintage of this wine. 100% cab.
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