Napa Cab: Blackberries or Blueberries?

I've begun drinking a bit of Napa Cab after having not done so for a while. Back in the day (of the $20-$25 Caymus, affordable Groth, even some yummy Stag's Leap and Silver Oak, I know, I know--and not really many super reserve wines out there), the most pronounced taste (besides mint in some cases) was blackberries, which I sort of liked. Recently, however, the wines that I have been drinking (Spring Mountain '04, some of the Sbragia Family single vineyard bottlings from similar years),scream blueberry much more usually, and I must say I am not so pleased. Two questions:
a) Is it just me?
b) If not, what accounts for this difference?

Thanks for whatever enlightenment others can offer.

Josh

I've begun drinking a bit of Napa Cab after having not done so for a while. Back in the day (of the $20-$25 Caymus, affordable Groth, even some yummy Stag's Leap and Silver Oak, I know, I know--and not really many super reserve wines out there), the most pronounced taste (besides mint in some cases) was blackberries, which I sort of liked. Recently, however, the wines that I have been drinking (Spring Mountain '04, some of the Sbragia Family single vineyard bottlings from similar years),scream blueberry much more usually, and I must say I am not so pleased. Two questions:
a) Is it just me?
b) If not, what accounts for this difference?

Thanks for whatever enlightenment others can offer.

Josh

I think what you're responding to, Joshua, is the trend for the last several years to seek increased ripeness (some say to the point of severe over-ripeness) in harvesting grapes. Other things are involved, but that's what I think the primary issue is.

With the increased ripeness the nature of the fruit expression changes, and might cause the perceptual palate change for you of blackberries (which can be astringent and tart and "brambly") to blueberries (which tend to be softer, less tart, less astringent and "meatier").

The ...side effect, I guess you'd say?...to the increased grape ripeness is that the mint/menthol/pepper component you associate with Cabernet shows more, or is expressed more boldly, in colder climates or in colder years. And lately, that hasn't been the problem; just the reverse. So those elements haven't been as strong as they used to be.

Thanks, Hoke,

What you say makes sense. And so I am losing out on both accounts, as I take it colder (more mint) would also make for less ripeness, or could that be made up for by a longer growing season, longer time on the vine?

Best,
Josh

Thanks, Hoke,

What you say makes sense. And so I am losing out on both accounts, as I take it colder (more mint) would also make for less ripeness, or could that be made up for by a longer growing season, longer time on the vine?

Best,
Josh

Well, you get into trouble when you attempt to isolate one specific component or situation, Joshua, to explain this.

But, no, longer growing season/longer time on the vine is what the new trend is emphasizing. That's what results in grapes being over-ripe, and over-ripe grapes result, among other things, in lessening the aspect of pyrazines and such (that's the veggie/herbal/pepper thing).

There is a corollary to shorter season/colder climate to emphasizing the veggie/menthol/herbal, and the longer season/warmer climate to the fatter, blueberry style.

Let's look at it another way, or with another flavor perception, okay? Do you like olives? If so (and we'll keep it simple here, and not go into the hundreds of types of olives out there) do you prefer the green olive or the black olive? And in your cabernet, do you prefer a green olive component or a black olive component. The difference is the black olive is a 'fully ripened' olive. Among other things, it has less astringency, lower acids, less 'bite', and less veggie-ness.

Same thing happens with cabernet. And if you put cab in a cold climate, you further emphasize the 'green' effect.

Case in point: in the early days of Monterey County, some of the Monterey cabs were so damned vegetal and so loaded with pyrazines that many people in this country couldn't choke them down. Reason was a combination of the wrong kind of canopy management (think photosynthesis and warmth from sunlight) and, more importantly, that the central Monterey valley was damned cold and damned windy---so the cab had trouble getting ripe enough, and thus showed those veggies.

That got corrected (to a large extent), but it was easy for the growers to move their cabernet vineyards inland and upland to Paso Robles, a much warmer climate, and thus avoiding the veggies. That's what J. Lohr did. Other people decided to (D'Oh!) plant their vineyards in better places in Monterey, i.e., the warmer spots further south and in the pocket valleys. And they left the open, cold valley to things like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Gewurztraminer---which all prefer the colder climate.

Okay, enough babbling from me. And others will chime in soon to tell you how wrong I am.

FWIW - perhaps not really relevant, but I've had some excellent blueberry wines that tasted a lot like Merlot. Could some of those wines have a bit of Merlot blended in?

Thanks, Hoke,

But we are basically on the same page: longer growing season, less ripeness, less mint (less "green" flavors generally). I had just wondered if, for example, you were in Burgundy (or even coastal Sonoma) and did not pick until November (cooler climate, longer season) how that would stack up against (early) September on the floor of Napa Valley, would there be any difference if the residual sugar and alcohol content, were the same, etc.? .
And thanks, Howie, the Merlot suggestion makes sense to me, at least in the California context (but also some of the new wave St. Emilion's and Pomerol's). At least according to their site, however, and I think this is the one that I drank, on Spring Mountain 2004 Napa, they write: "Dark garnet in the glass, this blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot ..."

Thanks to you both,
Josh

Again, Joshua, no easy, pat answer to your question, as posed, because there are just too many variables.

There's a reason you see primarily Pinot growing in the Sonoma Coast areas---because it's considered more optimal for cold climate grapes than grapes suited to a warmer climate. Same as the model I mentioned in Monterey.

You can't compare Burgundy and Pinot against Napa and Cabernet.

And when you're blending other grapes into the mix, that becomes a whole 'nother thing altogether---they you're looking at the blender's art of putting different things together to create a certain style, with each variety having a different effect. And that's in the Bordeaux model, when the grapes would likely be vinified separately, then blended. As opposed to some areas, where they do co-fermentation for blends.

Going back to the absolute simple basics, shorter seasons (less development time for the vine and grape) combined with a colder climate or season results in emphasis on pyrazines in Cabernet. Same conditions in Burgundy with Pinot would probably result in more sharp and acidic herbaceous qualities, and a thinner, more acidic and biting (and significantly less complex) style.

Re the fruit wine and Merlot---I don't know of anyone who has ever done that. Someone may have, but I couldn't conceive of mixing a fruit wine and a vinifera wine. They are entirely different critters.