WTN: Aged Napa Cabs, Ridge and Cab Franc (Breton)

A friend of ours was in town, and they stopped at Beaulieu yesterday. So...after tasting in the Club Room (he is a winegrape grower so gets special treatment ) they brought home the 1995 Georges de la Tour for dinner! Complex, smooth, elegant, and classic Napa Cab-currant, anise, black fruit, leather. Quite balanced, with tannins fully resolved and good acidity. Oak still quite evident, but the fruit was so powerful that there was no oakiness problem at all. Fantastic wine-and the alcohol was 13.5% abv and not noticeable at all. 95 points. Classic. Thanks, Randy.

A wine like this makes me doubt Decanter magazine. I'm not sure the 15% abv fruit bombs will age this well, but the December issue implying that no California cabs are worthy of aging-just old world snobbery?

My contribution was a completely different wine-the 1996 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon. Mountain fruit instead of the Rutherford Bench. Given my love of acidic (battery acid ) French wines, I am not sure which wine I would pick first. Extremely bright cherry fruit (versus the black currant of the GdlT) Delicious mouthwatering acidity that I just found scrumptious. Randy, our friend from Oregon, though the acid was a little prominent and the wine thus not as balanced as the GdlT. However, I found the Mayacamas very good with food, and I loved the cherry fruit. One of Joe's neighbors commented that he thought the Mayacamas "easier to drink" which surprised me quite a bit (the GdlT is more classic California in style). Tannins were a little spikey here as well, but they did not bother me too much. The Mayacamas is made in a style that I love-we did debate whether the acid and tannins would be more in balance in ten years, with me expressing an opinion that it could age another ten years. 93/94 points.

We also sampled the 2002 Ridge Lytton Springs "Syrah" (it contained 21% grenache). Inky black in color. Definitely an earthy wine, with nice Syrah fruit dominating in the savory/meaty notes, and the Grenache contributing some high tone "strawberry????" elements. Only 13.8% abv nominal, and I found the wine very balanced. Was this sampled too young? Still very nice 90 points.
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2007 Breton Bourgeuil Loire Valley Sampled at Terroir Wine Bar on Saturday. This is a lovely complex and interesting natural French wine. Given the chilly year (2007), there are definitely some herbal/pepper notes, but they are well integrated into the currant fruit. I loved the nose of this wine-it was very fresh and elegant. However, what I really like about the Breton wines is the mouthfeel-there is a silkyness here that is very appealing to me. 92 points.

I found that the BV GdL drinks very well with some age. I stumbled upon a store a few years back that had well stored 85 and 87 at a reasonable price and bought them out of the remaining stock. To me those wines seemed to have a wonderful balance that I often feel is lacking in California Cab. Having never experienced these wines when they were younger no way to assess how much of it was due to age. Still have a bottle of the 1987 that we will likley open in a few years. The last one was still showing well at 20 years of age that I don't think we need to be in any hurry to pull the final cork.

-the 1996 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon. Mountain fruit instead of the Rutherford Bench. Given my love of acidic (battery acid ) French wines, I am not sure which wine I would pick first. Extremely bright cherry fruit (versus the black currant of the GdlT) Delicious mouthwatering acidity that I just found scrumptious. Randy, our friend from Oregon, though the acid was a little prominent and the wine thus not as balanced as the GdlT. However, I found the Mayacamas very good with food, and I loved the cherry fruit. One of Joe's neighbors commented that he thought the Mayacamas "easier to drink" which surprised me quite a bit (the GdlT is more classic California in style). Tannins were a little spikey here as well, but they did not bother me too much. The Mayacamas is made in a style that I love-we did debate whether the acid and tannins would be more in balance in ten years, with me expressing an opinion that it could age another ten years. 93/94 points.

I have only had a few of Cal Cabs from 1996 but have generally been disapointed with the vintage. Especially disapointing was the Peter Michael Les Pavot that seemed to just die right in the mid-palate. However, it was better than the Silver Oak Napa that was literally undrinkable, which just goes to show that no matter how little one pays its still only a bargin if you like the wine.

I have only had a few of Cal Cabs from 1996 but have generally been disapointed with the vintage. Especially disapointing was the Peter Michael Les Pavot that seemed to just die right in the mid-palate. However, it was better than the Silver Oak Napa that was literally undrinkable, which just goes to show that no matter how little one pays its still only a bargin if you like the wine.

Decanter Magazine admits this was a controversial vintage and recommends "drink up." I didn't find the Mayacamas disappointing in any way, though!

I fear Silver Oak is undrinkable in any vintage at any time. At least to me.

I have only had a few of Cal Cabs from 1996 but have generally been disapointed with the vintage. Especially disapointing was the Peter Michael Les Pavot that seemed to just die right in the mid-palate. However, it was better than the Silver Oak Napa that was literally undrinkable, which just goes to show that no matter how little one pays its still only a bargin if you like the wine.

Decanter Magazine admits this was a controversial vintage and recommends "drink up." I didn't find the Mayacamas disappointing in any way, though!

I fear Silver Oak is undrinkable in any vintage at any time. At least to me.

What, you don't like dill pickle and coconut flavored wine???

I fear Silver Oak is undrinkable in any vintage at any time. At least to me.

My experience with Silver Oak is very limited but the 1994 Alexander Valley was good enough to tempt me to try the 1996 Napa at the amazing sale price of $36/btl. Fool me once.....

I fear Silver Oak is undrinkable in any vintage at any time. At least to me.

My experience with Silver Oak is very limited but the 1994 Alexander Valley was good enough to tempt me to try the 1996 Napa at the amazing sale price of $36/btl. Fool me once.....

from very early in my wine obsession, I have two bottles of 2002 Alexander Valley in off-site storage. If I recall, they don't bury the fruit in a thick, muffling blanket of coconut and vanilla. They also don't charge $100.

The only Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de la Tour I've tasted was the 1994 in a horizontal comparison of 12 top-end California Cabernets or Bordeaux blends from that vintage tasted in 2004. The GdlT was my favorite of the bunch, topping the Caymus Special Selection which was my second choice. The 1995 sounds great also.

Re: the 2002 Ridge Lytton Springs "Syrah," don't know if you drank it too young, because your impressions are obviously positive, or is that positively obvious?!

These have already established some track record for extended aging, however (10 years and beyond in the case of the '96 and '97), and why should we be surprised, coming from Mr. Ridge?

Just my 2 oz.,

I have to admit that I am a regular Decanter reader but always take their tastings with a pinch of salt!! They/the judges/whatever will never understand California. Blimey they even screwed up last year with the red Loire tasting.

What, you don't like dill pickle and coconut flavored wine???

My general opinion of Silver Joke. But I have to admit, a '82 Alex was quite tasty last week.

What, you don't like dill pickle and coconut flavored wine???

My general opinion of Silver Joke. But I have to admit, a '82 Alex was quite tasty last week.

Gosh! THREAD DRIFT to the max. We've wandered from two of my favorite Napa Cabs over to one of my least favorite.

I can't even remember the name of their project and am too lazy to google, but they do the same thing to their Anderson Valley Pinots-tons and tons of new oak. The $80 or so Merlot from Saint Helena (Twomey) is questionable, too

Have to admit, though....Like Duckhorn, the owners have some of the best taste in architecture in the valley. They "almost" deserve support for that alone.

Gosh! THREAD DRIFT to the max. We've wandered from two of my favorite Napa Cabs over to one of my least favorite.

OK, back on topic, I really admire Mayacamas. Lots of Mayacamas CS from 70s and 80s are still going strong. They've stuck to their style when it was out of style. I enjoyed the '01 Merlot recently, and look forward to trying one of '03s I bought recently (in about 15 years).

I've had mixed results with the BV GdlT, but it can be a classic.

I have only had a few of Cal Cabs from 1996 but have generally been disapointed with the vintage. Especially disapointing was the Peter Michael Les Pavot that seemed to just die right in the mid-palate.

Brian, while I can't argue with the 1996 Cal Cabs you've tried, I have to say that 1996 is one of my very favorite vintages in California for Cabernet. Just looking at wines I've had in the past couple years, some are among the absolute best ever made by some hallowed names. Yes, there are disappointments, but I think producer has much more to do with that than vintage. If I look at just the last dozen or so that I have tasted, 7 are simply outstanding, 2 are good and 2 are not worth trying. Give one or more of these a try and see if your mind can't be swayed a bit.

1996 Montelena Estate. Among the very best Montelenas I've tasted.
1996 Ridge Monte Bello. Outstanding wine and will be a long-lived classic, IMO.
1996 Whitehall Lane Reserve. Outstanding. Outshines 1997 by a long shot.
1996 Fisher Coach Insignia. Drinking excellent right now.
1996 Flora Springs Trilogy. OK, not all Cabernet, but sexy stuff.
1996 Phelps Napa Valley. Going strong.
1996 Beringer Private Reserve. I may prefer the 1995, but see only small qualitative differences.

1996 Duckhorn Napa Valley. Pretty decent, takes a while to straighten itself out.
1996 Merryvale Reserve. Needs a lot a lot more time. A baby.

1996 Beaulieu Rutherford. Just OK.
1996 Freemark Abbey Sycamore. Bizarre, weird--avoid.

-Michael

OK, back on topic, I really admire Mayacamas. Lots of Mayacamas CS from 70s and 80s are still going strong. They've stuck to their style when it was out of style.

Dale, I think I've had maybe 3 or 4 vintages of Mayacamas. My favorite was actually from the 90's--the 1992. Second would be the '86, though that has some austerity on the finish that I hope works itself out. Just bought a bottle of 1977--looking forward to trying that soon! Probably in the heyday of this producer. Younger ones like '98 and '99 I've tried have not really connected with me, sadly.

-Michael

OK, back on topic, I really admire Mayacamas. Lots of Mayacamas CS from 70s and 80s are still going strong. They've stuck to their style when it was out of style.

Dale, I think I've had maybe 3 or 4 vintages of Mayacamas. My favorite was actually from the 90's--the 1992. Second would be the '86, though that has some austerity on the finish that I hope works itself out. Just bought a bottle of 1977--looking forward to trying that soon! Probably in the heyday of this producer. Younger ones like '98 and '99 I've tried have not really connected with me, sadly.

-Michael

Interesting, Michael. The 1998 was one of the Wines of the Night last year when we did a pretty broad Cab tasting. Delicious and classic. Not as high in acidity and bright cherry fruit as the 1996 Sunday night, but...

I'm surprised about the Freemark Abbey-this is a winery I've recently discovered that I quite enjoy. They do have some consistency, too, as the winemaker has been there for 25 years.

The '98 Mayacamas was a trade show dribble (and I double-dribbled) but recall not being able to get excited about it. I would trust your full bottle tasting much more. Given the performance of the '92, I am willing to try bottles of younger vintages (despite reading that this estate's best days are decades in the past), but I am leary of spending my own money to test 'em out. Thanks for the vote of confidence on the '98.

As for the Freemark Abbey, I think it is just that '96 Sycamore--which I think has been a bit controversial from the start. One of the absolute weirdest bouquets I have ever smelled--I will never forget it, though!

-Michael

We popped the '96 Mayacamas Cab this evening. It was a gift from a friend several years ago, right after release. It measured up to all the comments above. It drank as smoothly as cup of milk. It gave up smokey black cherries and plenty of tobacco. As it breathed it picked up an herbal quality as well. We had poured it through a sediment filter, but the last sip still had some not so bad fine tannin in it. It was a spectacular wine!

We matched it with blue cheese slathered rib eye steak, sourdough bread, and salad. A much better than average Saturday night!

Cool, Carl! Glad it tasted so fine. Sadly, they were sold out of the wine at the shop I bought it at.