Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 88.5 points

  • Mostly Napa Valley 2017s (with 15/16/18 in the mix): Larger merchant tasting. Brief impressions. Terroir driven nose with earthy notes and lots of minerality and a bit of fresh blue fruit. Much sweeter on the nose with blue and black fruit. Not as round and balanced as the other 2017s tasted. Rather low complexity and medium- length. Ok structure with still some hard edges. Not one to chase.

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  • Putzi's Napa 2017 new arrival tasting: A new Napa arrival tasting hosted by a wine merchant. A total of 30 wines mostly from 2017 (with a few 2018 whites and new releases from 2016 and 2015 in the mix) were presented in various price brackets ($40 to $200+). For 2017 my takeaways were 1) 2017 is already approachable and offers immediate drinking pleasure. But 2) the wines also came across lighter and less layered. 2017 doesn’t seem to have the refinement of 2016, the depth of 2014 or the muscular concentration of 2015. For many, it seems, finding a spot in the sun will be hard with 5 outstanding vintages before and likely 2 more (at least) right behind. There were notable exceptions of course. Wine of the night was Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill 2017 (95) and just whisker behind Viader 2017 (95). A very notable mention deserves the Detert East Block Cabernet Franc 2017 for its unique character (94).

    Tasting note:
    Unlike other 2017 cabs this showcased more menthol and fresh herbal type of aromatics and a bit of black coffee. Fruit predominantly black currant and a few oak notes. Light and fresh with lots of acidity that needs more time to integrate.

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