2021 Kinsman Eades Cabernet Sauvignon Kodo

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 98.6 points

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  4/15/2024 - csimm wrote: 100 Points

  Punchline first: And ‘the Ks’ have it!! Kaannos and Kodo! I know I’m supposed to find beauty in all creatures great and small, and that love is discovered in all forms of doe-eyed unicorns and rainbows, but after sampling over 70 wines over the course of a three-day weekend, the Kaannos is THE BEST wine. It just is. If you dare take your in vogue flat leadership model and go old school vertical with it, then the Kaannos is on the top, like the very top. #1. Numero uno. The cat’s pajamas, and even the cat’s meow for that matter. The Kodo is… also… the best…!
  
  Punchline #1 to the punchline: Kaannos TN – Not surprisingly, the first word in my notes just says, “perfect,” along with some hyphenated expletives that remind me this is, you guessed it, the best wine hands down. Dark fruit, but ever so balanced, with rays of succulent acidity (ya, that’s a thing), providing both elegance and speed. A nervy finish gives way to a second wave of flavor and energy. With air, it grabs ahold of more richness, akin to its Kodo brother. Darker, faster, even livelier with each sip. Block 4 powers, activate! The stamina here is worth waiting a few years, though Nigel puts it out at 8-12 years. But it’s a shakin good time right now without question.
  
  Punchline #1(a) to the punchline: Kodo TN - And of course, because every kind of exception has an exception, I will confidently say that Kodo is also the best wine. But since I just made up a rule that says I have to choose (science and law and all that), the Kodo for me is the #1(a) to the Kaannos #1. Other Galloni sympathizers at the table pegged the Kodo for grand prize winner, not that I can blame them. But my iconoclastic side gave the Kaannos the edge. That is to say, they are both solid 100 point wines, but since GPAs these days are like 6.0 to get into community college (not sure what happened to 4.0, but I digress, again), I’ll go with the Kaannos at Harvard and the Kodo at Stanford. Kodo is a darker knight, with the depth of a thousand gallant chevaliers that parade through silky seas of dark chocolate and black cherries. Unctuous. Precise. Enveloping. Balanced, but with personality and attention-grabbing gothic gumption. The initiative here is fantastic, especially on the slowly building finish that envelops the back of the mouth. I feel like this is an earlier drinker than Kaannos.
  
  I think I phonetic-a-sized my way through how to say Kodo, but I can’t for the life of me pronounce Kaannos, especially with all those little umlaut thingamajigs over every letter. I don’t know if it’s Kay-nohs, Ka-nos, Kaw-nohs, Can-os, or Ka’a-na-nah-na-nah-nah-nos. I know it means something to do with ‘translation’ in Finnish, but I can’t claim to know what the Fins have done to influence what I now consider the best 2021 wine I’ve had thus far out of Napa.
  
  “Save the best for last” is typically prudent advice, and it’s normal decorum to build up to the ‘best’ wine when one is toured through various wine tasting experiences. However, in this case, the esteemed Nigel Kinsman simply said, “I like to jump around,” giving us novice geeks free rein to pick among the four glasses in front of us. A creature of habit, when I reached to my left and took a sip, not bothering to look at the name, the Kaannos hit me square in the jaw. Epic! There is a sliver of me that wants it not to be so amazing, like “here we go again, another fanboy tasting note from me on Kinsman.” I wanted to be neutral on these and just write a couple lame short tasting notes (and the crowd cheers). Better luck next time I guess. So, obviously, the Kaannos was completely rad! (not Rhad – but which is also rad, by the way). And the Kodo is also a mega hit-out-of-the-park showstopper.
  
  … wishing Cellar Tracker had a word limit right about now…?… I don’t…. :)

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  4/13/2024 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 100 Points

  Talk about starting out with a bang! This wine is truly an amazing first vintage from M-Bar Ranch. Deeply rich, concentrated dark fruit with an endlessly long and powerful core, it showcases unreal levels of chocolate, graphite and spice box wrapped in silky, powerful tannins. The mouthfeel and texture are world class and overall this wine is textbook perfection for those who enjoy Oakville fruit at its finest. Comparing it against an equally amazing Kaannos (VHR), this is darker and richer vs redder, more floral and fresher. Bravo to Nigel and Shae.

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  3/27/2024 - Ampequot wrote: 98 Points

  Spring Break in Napa -- Who Needs Cancun?; 3/22/2024-4/27/2024 (Oakville, St. Helena, Calistoga): First taste just after opening and sipped through its journey for about 2 hours 15 minutes. Last wine in the lineup — darkest fruit overall and by a mile. Intense and powerful. Just full of black fruit and verve. Hard to fully get your head around.
  
  Tastes like a forest floor with deep earth and shale galore, nothing else like it. All that size doesn’t take away anything in terms of its precision. its cerebral and has immense focus, but just explodes on the palate. An experience, you want to close your eyes to fully enjoy because it's an experience so big you can't help but miss details. Sip after sip the profile fills out and you discover new details and wow. Nothing else like it.
  
  It’s cerebral and intense with power to spare. 98+

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  2/4/2024 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 98 Points

  Great time tasting 3 wines with Nigel Kinsman and agelvis over a very long dinner! Kodo is from a Southern site in Oakville that cannot be named right now but hopefully will be unveiled in a couple of weeks. I still have to research this and figure it out beforehand!
  
  Opened at dinner with no label yet, and needed a healthy decant but it began to wake up as the night went on. Dark black, blue and red in the glass, black raspberry and blueberry fruits. Mineral streak throughout (opening, mid-palate and finish), dark chocolate and a very very long finish. This has a distinctive taste with the consistent Kinsman Eades style. It's a BIG wine and it will be better upon release.
  
  Nigel told us that except for a few critics, agelvis and I were the 1st to try this gem. Very cool! I can't wait to try this once it's released.

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  1/31/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 97 Points

  One hour in glass before drinking. Nearly opaque intense magenta color. Dark chocolate peppermint patty, blackberry, and tangerine sherbet. Dry, dusty palate, with nice, tongue coating acidity. Firm tannins on the long finish.
  
  Besides the pro reviewers, I might be the first person to rate this CS. Nigel Kinsman brought it to dinner for a #1WineLover and I. Very kind of him. AG rated this 100 points.

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