WTN and Question-"Cedary" Reds, is this a palate "flaw" to admit liking 'em?

Is it a palate "flaw ( ) to admit that I really like leaner reds that have a strong touch of "cedary" character to them? I hate vanilla, not a big fan of too much green bell pepper, and dislike dill...but I really like "cedary" reds.

Speaking of which:

William Harrison Winery 2004 Cabernet Franc. This is showing very well right now. Definitely a darker but still aromatic style of Cab Franc. No real bell pepper notes here. Very cedary-he gave me a taste of the 2001 Cab Franc, and it was even leaner and more cedary. I really like this taste profile. The winery is a very small production place with just nine acres of grapes just south of Zinfandel Lane on the Silverado Trail (eastern) side of the Valley. They seem to avoid over-ripeness and jamminess, with a very dry style I like. 4*/5.

I also enjoyed quite a bit the Goosecross Cellars 2003 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. This was served from a decanter. Just a tiny whiff of bell pepper (2003 was a chilly year), but overall, this wine was singing today. More palate cleansing cedar, a mix of black and red fruits, already some lovely leather and tobacco secondary flavor notes, very nice fuzzy tannins and a great mouth feel. 4*++

A completely different wine experience, from one of my consistently favorite wineries in the Napa Valley, Elizabeth Spenser, 2006 Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc. Stunning nose of grapefruit and citrus, but the palate was a surprise. When I returned to the winery after my bicycle ride, I accidentally told them I wanted two bottles of Sancerre. Amazingly bone dry and crisp minerality-delicious stuff. This winery has a serious dry and Old World sensibility that I love. I can't think of a single wine in their broad and expanding portfolio that I dislike. I even love their Pinot! And, their Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon has a brambly, wild, cedary character that, again, I love. What's the real fun thing about their "Sancerre"=$14!!!!

Brian, from a strict definition, I would say yes; Flaw: "a feature that mars the perfection of something" - Random House.

The King, or Queen (depending on your gender preference) of grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, tosses off bell pepper and dill notes regularly; and winemakers, as a matter of course, employ new oak, which imparts vanilla for much of a Cab wine's evolution process. A perfect palate would appreciate these normal qualities as part of its overall function. One that didn't could be considered to be flawed.

Covert

[Jenise]

Of course not, you know the rule: you're never wrong about what you like.

And almost anyone who likes Bordeaux likes cedar. Speaking of which, I met a wine store owner the other day who said he doesn't care for Bordeaux because he can't stand the lead pencil (graphite+cedar) flavors. I told him he'd better let me pick his inventory, then.

Thanks, Covert. Now I feel flawed myself

I guess my response would be that I still find quite a few wines that do limit what I consider problems. I actually don't mind the dill so much (Trefethan) and I can handle bell pepper as part of a mix, but I still hate VANILLA!

Jenise: Thanks for the comments. So...I guess the cedar is somewhat of an "Old World Style" indicator! Makes sense.

Of course not, you know the rule: you're never wrong about what you like.

Hey, I didn't say he was wrong! I have tons of flaws, but I am not wrong,- or right, either. Things are what they are.

[Jenise]

Covert, wasn't calling you wrong, was just hitting Brian with what I like to tell anyone who questions their own taste. Of course, sometimes the next line is, "but I do think you're crazy."

I know. I am just being semi-facetious.

One likes what one likes. Although tastes evolve.

After all, there are people who swear by Big-Gobs-of-Hedonistic-Fruit-and Caramel-Machiatto-Milkshakes.

I'll take my wierd, "astringent" cedary wines. No "right" answers.

Of course not, you know the rule: you're never wrong about what you like.

I would imagine that this rule doesn't apply to spouses, two of which have left me for perceived greener pastures!!! (And one such pasture was an insurance agent from Leipzig ... oh, the ignominy!)

"but I do think you're crazy."

You might be crazy too, if you had worked nonstop since 2:30 a.m., like I have. I still have to submit a proposal before midnight, and two departments are working with me on it. They are also crazy.

As I await the latest iteration to review, I will continue to wrestle on my point, like crazy - and obnoxious - people do. (I know: I said it, you didn’t.)

Taste is indeed individual and everybody is of course entitled to whatever kind of taste they have. But the term “palate” connotes a little more than just taste preference. The dictionary gives “intellectual or aesthetic taste” and “mental appreciation” as connotations. In other words, a person who professes to have a wine palate is a self-described connoisseur, or at least a dilettante. A wine connoisseur who does not like vanilla, dill and bell pepper tastes is a little bit like a piano aficionado who does not like the black key sounds, don’t you think?

Covert

But, it's a matter of balance and dominance of flavor profiles. Even French wines have some degree of vanilla notes. YOur winemaking can chjoose to emphasize certain elements of the grapes-that's what style means.

I do not enjoy a California Cabernet that buries the fruit in a blanket of vanilla. (Silver OAK, anyone) Nor do I enjoy Cabernets that are so green they are astringent with raw bell pepper. Sure, these flavor notes are generally present, to a degree, in all Cabernet-based wines. They add to the complexity. However, it is definitely a matter of winemaker style and terroir as to which elements of the grape are expressed. I prefer less vanilla, more cedar. Your analogy supports my point-you would not like a piano concerto played only at the top left hand of the keyboard. An unbalanced vanilla (or dill)-bomb with little hope of the fruit absorbing the oak (like a Cab I sampled aged for 42 months in American oak. It tasted like a bottle of Vlassic pickles)

Both Nebbiolo and Sangiovese have clear cedar aroma and flavor, don't know what I'd do without it.

Probably why I love Chianti, too!

I'm opening a 1993 Barolo this weekend-I'm looking forward to my first Barolo with some age on it. Even if it was a "reportedly"so-so year and a no name producer.

Brian,

I've had some delicious '93s. Who's the producer?

Luigi Calissano
Bricco Mira Langa

Not a big investment ($28), so I'm not expecting transcendence, but still...I think it's been stored pretty well. There is what looks like a liquor store across from First Crush in SF's Tenderloin. It has a decent stock, but then the guy says to us, "No...you gotta come back here...an entire temperature controlled room full of 25 year old Napa Cabernets and Bordeaux and...this bottle