WTN: a very underwhelming Cal. Cab.

I had this wine a few years ago, the 2004 Sterling Reserve Napa Cabernet, and I was very unimpressed. Opened my last and only other bottle tonight (thank God) and time did it no favors. Very dark black in color with ruby at the edges, the nose was of muted black fruit. The flavors followed and I am sure glad I ONLY paid $30'ish for these ( with DEEP discount) as they were worth more like $10 as generic Cal. red wine. There was no depth of fruit or secondary complexity to recommend it and tannins and acidity were mostly resolved. How can a previously highly esteemed Napa Cab. producer with such good vineyards produce such mediocre wine ? Rant over, I feel better!

Why make good wine when you can get people to pay to ride a tram?

In defense of Sterling, 2004 was a challenging year for Napa. Too hot!

Alas, Brian nailed it.

Early on, Sterling had some triumphs. Then it became another corporate winery and tourist attraction.

Alas, Brian nailed it.

Early on, Sterling had some triumphs. Then it became another corporate winery and tourist attraction.

Yeah, the wines from the Ric Forman era are still doing quite well.

Mark Lipton

[David M. Bueker]

They jumped the shark in the late '90s. Perhaps earlier.

We had a great showing of 70-72 Sterling wines this weekend. And I love both the regular and reserve 74 Cabs. Didn't Coke buy in early 80s? And now it's Diageo/.

Hi Jim,

When we toured Napa, Sterling was one of the wineries I visited. I paid extra for the Sterling Cab reserve tasting ($25, I believe). Sterling has decent wines, but I was not impressed. I did not purchase any. The tram ride was fun and I got some good photos, but they were the highlight of my Sterling visit.

I live in the valley, stick to the tram ride.