2010 Di Costanzo Cabernet Sauvignon Farella Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 93.3 points

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  9/16/2021 - SanCarlosRunner Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Picked up from auction. Fruit starting to fade a bit. Still with great balance. Tannins still holding. Not sure if I’d wait if any still in cellar. Enjoyed the wine very much at this stage

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  9/16/2015 - PopularCar Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Nice acidity & length. Built to age so I wish I waited another 2 years.

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  7/27/2015 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 92 Points

  Blinds at Nopa - Take 6 (with AL) (Nopa SF): Short Note:
  
  It’s what I like best about Bourgueil, with Bordeaux richness and some New World flare and intensity of fruit. The oak is worn very modestly, to my taste. Lovely balance within the context of New World structure.
  
  Sweet ripe green peppers with dark fruit and modest, well-melded oak accent. Phenomenally elegant balance with just a hint of opulence, and supple tannins. Persistent.
  Score: Between 9 and 9.5
  
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  Blind Notes:
  Bright. Opaque ruby, no rim variation. Moderate tears.
  Nose: Dark fruit, pyrazines (stewed bell peppers). Some nice black cherry. On the nose, it screams ripe bourgueil, chinon. Clean style - New World. No obvious oak on the nose. Youthful.
  
  Palate: Fairly strong ripe green pepper pyrazines, and also ripe dark cherry fruit. Elevated alcohol: 13.5%? (14.3%). Ripe, with slight new oak - 20-30% new. I’m not good at calling Fr/Amer, but I’m guessing french based on more modest cinnamon/nutmeg spice character. Acidity is elevated. Tannins are slightly diminished. Youthful, with complexity. This is quality juice.
  
  Laterals:
  
  South American Carmenere - New oak isn’t common.
  Modern style of Bourgueil / Chinon - New oak isn’t common. Too high in alcohol. Doesn’t finish tart and dry - finishes ripe.
  CA Cab: Quite green for Cab. And oak is modest, and the tannins are quite soft for CA Cab of this quality.
  Left Bank Bordeaux: But it’s very clean, very modern. No Brett, no earth. Also a vintage this ripe would be 2009, and it doesn’t show signs of age (no bricking at the rim, no tertiary aromas). I think it’s young - 2-4 years. Also tannins are quite soft for a bordeaux of this quality. Plush, and diminished tannins.
  
  I’ve had this type of super-ripe structure from a modern (Rolland-influenced) Cotes de Castillon, so maybe this is a right bank wine, but there’s no merlot character (plummy fruit) and this is just so extremely green - I know that’s not a smoking gun, but certainly this wouldn’t be a good example of a merlot-dominated wine. And again, the tannins are too soft for a proper Bordeaux.
  
  Modern style Chilean Cab (cool climate, some oak, someone like Rolland consulting, perhaps, leading to a plush texture?).
  
  Final Call: AL went Left Bank Bordeaux, I went Modern Chilean Cab. There’s no classic call here - I don’t think this is a classic style anywhere.
  
  2010 Di Constanzo Cabernet — Napa, Coombsville, Farella Vineyard.
  Made by former Screaming Eagle winemaker, Massimo Di Costanzo.
  $85 on release, unavailable now.
  
  Discussion:
  Coombsville (the coolest area in Napa).
  2010 - older than I thought. A more structured vintage.
  20% new French Oak (looks like I was close on the % new oak- maybe a lucky guess, or maybe my read on the level of integration was quantitatively pretty good. As for FR vs. USA, it’s still a crapshoot for me, so I can’t pat myself on the back for getting it right this time.)
  
  I’m not sure what I could have paid closer attention to in order to get this. Massimo cites Cathy Corison as inspiration, but this wine is more supple in tannins, higher-alcohol, and cleaner than Corison’s wines, which always have a calculated touch of Brett. This is really good stuff, but I don’t think it’s typical for California Cab.

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  1/26/2015 - timdrex wrote: 93 Points

  Decanted 90 min. Initial nose of bright red cherries that later mellowed into bluer fruits.
  
  On the palate it has a slightly green start, with wet clay, cocoa and complex fruit mid-palate. It finishes with vanilla, and overall has smooth tannins and a velvety mouthfeel.
  
  We really enjoyed this wine because it impressed us with what we thought were uncommon pleasant characteristics.

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  3/17/2014 - elamasters wrote: 91 Points

  Very nice. Lots of cocoa and dark fruit flavors, with a hint of licorice and coffee. Well-balanced with good structure.

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