2015 DuMOL Cabernet Sauvignon Ballard Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 94.1 points

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  3/30/2024 - sdwineguru Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Fine Spring Mountain, Napa, 2015 DuMOL Cabernet Sauvignon Ballard Vineyard. Mid garnet, rim variation, viscous (14.5 alc.); red fruit, berries, mint, complex Napa Cabernet nose; mid acids; mid+ tannins; balanced; long, deep, Cabernet finish. 17.5/93.

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  2/2/2024 - michael47 wrote: 96 Points

  Wow. Wish I brought more than 5 bottles. Just delicious, fresh, balanced, deep classic California cab which is not a monster on ‘roids. While these guys are known for their Pinots and Chards their cabs are fantastic and (relatively) well priced for the quality in the bottle. Toe to toe with a Grand Cru ST Emillion of same vintage and the DuMol was the clear winner.

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  12/16/2023 - PAWS wrote:

  This is in a lovely place right now. Round fruit and beautiful finish…

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  12/11/2018 - msuwine wrote: 96 Points

  A wine often smells and tastes better at the winery. After all, context can be king: the beautiful location, the informed host, the perfect serving conditions, the mix of alcohol and daylight, the anticipation and exclusivity and indulgence of it all. Whatever it is, some wines just don't taste as good at home. Some wines shock (WTF was I thinking?) or disappoint (give it time, um, that it didn't need before!).
  
  This is not such a wine. Instead, this wine tastes as good as it would have at the winery. To be clear, I've never actually visited DuMOL, but this wine is so good it makes you think you're at the winery, perfect context and all. Drinking this wine is the vinous equivalent of eating a three-star dinner at home: it's fantastic in any setting.
  
  Ruby red in color and medium in body, the wine offers inviting aromas of ripe blackberry, bing cherry, gravel, and cocoa powder. The tastes are surprisingly integrated, with notes of blueberry, crushed rock, graphite, baking spices, and dark chocolate, with an incredible finish that balances rich fruit, fine-grained tannins, and an ethereal mouthfeel that picks you up and drops you in a mountain vineyard under the cool morning sunshine. 14.5% alcohol.
  
  I've been a fan of Andy Smith since the Larkmead days, and this tastes like one of those rich but balanced wines from the 2009 or 2010 vintages. It has that floral and elegant quality that Spring Mountain can deliver, but it's rounded out with deep and rich fruit that is Napa defined. I loved the DuMOL Meteor, but this is even better. As they say about turtles, so too with this wine: it's class all the way down. 96+ for now, with almost unlimited potential in another 2-4 years.

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  5/15/2018 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Tasting pour at the winery. Spring Mountain fruit. 13 year old vines. Inaugural offering. Dark purple in color. Tannic monster at this stage, baking spices, dark fruit, good concentration of fruit, lots of new oak, will need patience.

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