A 2002 Napa Cab from the upper middle end of the price spectrum with mountain-grown fruit should not be this obviously tired and oxidized. Not a storage problem or shipping problem here, either. Maybe bottle variation, but several Cellartracker notes mention this wine as being over the hill (the reviews were all over the map) and my bottle was definitely dying, if not dead! Not "my"" fault either, this was purchased at the winery and put in good off-site cold storage at Storage By George in Napa. That awful oxidized acrid pruney note comes through, along with plenty of alcohol. There was some black fruit and anise coming through, but just tired tired, tired. Hess is a winery I quickly lost interest in (except for the beautiful facfility and the art collection), and this confirms it pretty much. The 2003 Cab Franc from up higher on the mountain made by Yates Family Vineyards (Napa Redwoods Estates) was much more enjoyable. 78 points.
We also sampled the 2007 Vitus Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, made by a local Vacaville partnership involving my neighbor, John Gilpin. His 2006 vintage was, to my palate, very ripe to the point of porty-ness and over-extracted and I frankly did not enjoy it very much. The 2007 looks to be a different animal altogether...elegant lightish red fruit with some pleasant herbaceous notes and very smooth tannins and good fresh acidity. Way too young right now, but I think this will be very nice in a non-blockbuster, food wine kind of way.