From a recent tasting with friends:
1986 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. The first wine of the evening offers a distinctive bouquet that, at first, is all about rich toffee and caramel. With some air, it draws in black currants, dried plum, and even later brings along coffee, mint and creosote notes—a very interesting evolution to follow over the evening. In the mouth, it shows cool, dark fruits on the smoothly-textured and medium-bodied palate. It has a solid attack, but seems to lose some of its structure and drive toward the back of the palate. There are still some tannins hanging around on the finish, which has decent length.
1986 Château Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley The Montelena Estate. Delicious stuff! The ’86 Estate offers a complex, alluring bouquet of black cherry, black raspberry, bridle leather and a strong streak of iron minerality. It is just lovely, with some exotic spices sprinkled in from sniff to sniff. In the mouth, there is rich dark cherry fruit and a creamy layered texture overlaying very refined tannins—all working together to provide an outstanding mouthfeel. The finish is tinged with coffee grounds and baking spices and has good length. It is just very enjoyable all around. Much later in the evening, the nose takes on a bit more earthy funk and something like Off bug spray, but it just adds to the mystique somehow. My and the group’s WOTN.
1996 Fisher Vineyards Coach Insignia. Like settling into a comfortable lounge chair, the nose of this Coach Insignia offers up classic aromas of soft cassis, red currant, tobacco leaf, clean tilled earth and soft leather. Complex and classy, and quite inviting. On the palate, there is solid intensity, but also fantastic balance, harmony and elegance. The finish is clean and rich and long. It is just one of those wines that pulls off an effortless elegance, without a lot of pomp and circumstance, and I like it all the better for that. Good drinking right now.
2001 Fisher Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Coach Insignia. Now snap out of your reverie! The 2001 Fisher Coach is much more herbal right off the bat, with pine needles, thyme, white pepper and rubber to go along with forceful black fruit and concentrated beef stock. The dark fruit pattern continues in the mouth, with licorice and dark chocolate notes, as well. The tannins are still pretty abundant, and there is also a noticeable kiss of wood and a trace of heat on the finish. But overall, there is more structure here than in the ’96, and there is also good length, lots of stuffing and a fine texture—all boding well for the future. Still, it seems unlikely to me that this will ever evolve to have the kind of refinement exhibited by the 1996.
2003 Château Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. The nose is tight at first, and then opens a bit to aromas of bicycle tire, mixed dark berries and roasted herbs. In the mouth, it is initially pretty fruity, with an elevated blackberry profile up front and some dark chocolate in the background. While others were commenting on how surprisingly approachable they were finding this wine, I was focusing on the big tannins that clamp down at the back of the palate. The wine does offer a persistent oak and cocoa-tinged finish, but a small amount of heat is there, too. I don’t know where this is heading, but I would suggest holding for a while before trying again.
1999 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This wine is one you really have to sit with for a while to appreciate all it offers. One can sense from the beginning that this will be an outstanding wine with another 4-5 years under its belt, but even today it has much to recommend it. The nose sports blueberry jam, other dark fruits, incense and a pretty lavender or violet note. The entry is smooth and easy, and you can quickly sense the solid body, deep richness taut structure and fine balance the wine has to offer. Then, WHAM!, big drying tannins come in and really state their case for not touching this again for a while.
2002 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. I find the nose here to be a bit unusual, with tire rubber, tea leaves, cedar, dark brambly berry fruits, and something I associate with a root beer float all hitting the olfactory senses at various times. In the mouth, it presents smoothly-textured wild dark berry and black currant fruit draped over a medium-bodied, somewhat unyielding structure. The tannins are moderately drying on the woody, acid-tinged finish. I would say it could use some short cellaring time to find a better footing.
2003 Neal Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. There is an appealing nose here of black currants, creosote, white pepper and some soft incense. It is meaty in the mouth, with a plush texture to the plum and chocolate flavors. There are fine tannins throughout, including on the blueberry/blackberry-accented finish. Don’t touch again for another 4-5 years.
2003 Hendry Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Hendry Block 8. This wine needs some swirling to release its purple fruit, licorice and smoke nose. It offers a pleasant mouthfeel, with cool berry fruit and some chocolate flavors framed nicely by dusty tannins. Nothing too special here, but drinking pretty well at this young age.
2003 Darioush Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Signature. This is just plain exotic and a bit showy on the nose, with all kinds of plush fruit and incense soaring up out of the glass. It is totally mouth-filling, with cool berry fruits and very nice spice accents. It has a sappy, bordering on gooey texture, but it seemingly holds the line on remaining fresh and balanced. I kind of felt like this was too flashy, but damn if I didn’t just keep drinking it.
2003 Ramey Jericho Canyon Vineyard Napa Valley. An interesting flight-mate for the Darioush. The nose here is of sweet cherries, crème de cassis, scorched earth and leafy herbs. In the mouth, it is extremely smooth, with a fleshy seamlessness. Also, it really expands and unfolds in the mouth as it fans out across the palate. It offers up flavors of black currant, minerals, cedar and a Syrah-like meat note. The finish is quite fine, with some toasty cedar. Good stuff.
Michael