Reviews

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Martinez Vineyard

Same as my notes from two months ago. A beautiful flavor profile, with wonderfully sweet, dark core fruit. A bit soft on the attack, but ultimately a slow-burn of a delivery that stays persistent…

Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon Connoisseurs' Series Centre French Oak Sylvain St. Helena Mountain Block 2

A beautiful showing, with deep, dark black fruit, tar, black charred vanillin oak, dark chocolate, and a syrupy black raspberry note on the back end. Utterly compelling and unctuous, without ever…

Saunter Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Eagle Summit Vineyard

Same as my other notes. This filled out nicely after a short bit of air. Deep and dark, if not a little round and soft on the back end. The grip on this wine is more "medium" than I normally prefer,…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Empyrean Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

Previous notes apply, though this was a much more reticent showing than five months ago. PnP was somewhat linear on the attack, with a softer back end. The fruit was restrained and holding a lot back…

Quivet Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard

Exact same notes as five months ago. This was the #2 (#3-ish) wine of the night. Scarlett Reserve was #1, with the Quivet LPV and Myriad Crane battling for the #2 slot. This is the best Quivet LPV…

Scarlett Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Among 15 wines (12 of which were Cabernets/Cab blends), this was the hands-down best wine of the night. Almost all of us gravitated to this wine over and over again until it was quickly consumed. The…

Scarlett Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Much smoother than when I had this last year. Yet, I would leave this alone for another year or so (2019 optimally). Black fruited to the core, with some black cherry, black currant, asphalt, and…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Twins Vineyard

A very good wine wine indeed, with notable black cherry, blackberry, and some cassis notes. It showed a bit more reserved when compared to the more powerful and exciting 2015 Myriad Twins served…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Twins Vineyard

Exact same notes as five months ago. I am really loving this wine. It was served alongside the the 2014 Myriad Three Twins; the 2015 was far more concentrated and powerful in every way. Great depth…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

The absolute best showing of the "standard" Myriad Crane that I've probably ever had with this wine across the last eight vintages...but it took a number of hours in the decanter before it really…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Weitz Vineyard

Same as my previous notes. A really stellar performer tonight and one of the top wines of the night. A near-perfect tension between acid/frame and beautifully focused fruit. My favorite Weitz from…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Carter

Previous notes apply, though this was extraordinarily ripe and plush in its delivery this time around. It was decanted for a number of hours (which I honestly think was a mistake). PnP would've been…

Becklyn Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Moulds Vineyard

Certainly an outlier among the wines tasted, the 2014 Becklyn Moulds was a puckering, tight blast of sour cherry, pomegranate, red raspberry, vanilla-laced alcohol, red vanilla Creamsicle, and more…

Quivet Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Kenefick Ranch

Similar to my previous notes. This had a rush of delicious fruit-forward flavors (akin to the Myriad NV - black cherry, black raspberry, blackberry, spice), but it displayed an additional assertive…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

This wine displayed as it has been over the last few months. Previous notes apply. Of course, when served alongside all of the other Carter, Myriad, Quivet, and Scarlett wines, this ended up at the…

Scarlett Wines Cabernet Sauvignon

Cristal2000 and other CT'ers have thoroughly covered this wine in just about every detail. I had a similar experience, with PnP coming off in typical young Scarlett fashion; ultra-modern,…

Forman Cabernet Sauvignon

Same as all other notes. 93 points for me. My girl likes it better than me. Needs some air. A little flat on the attack, but otherwise a decent example of a more classical style of Napa Cabernet.

Arkenstone Cabernet Sauvignon NVD

This must just be a "me" thing with this wine, because try as I might I just don't seem to "get it." Previous recent notes apply. Light, linear, and fairly flat in its profile. There's some ok fruit…

TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa Vineyard

Same notes as last year. Really nice wine after about two-three hours in the decanter. Consumption temp remained at about 54 degrees the entire time, which was perfect. Black licorice, asphalt, dark…

The Grade Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard

Previous notes apply. This is already coming into an extraordinarily beautiful drinking window at the moment. After two hours of air, this wine was performing like a total phenom. Unctuously…

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld

Similar to my previous note from December 2016, except that this wine is showing a maturity (after about 2 hours of air) that is especially compelling. Reminded me of a 2012 Cliff Lede Beautiful…

Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Actaeon Quixote Vineyard

Similar to my previous notes on this wine. Drank much better after a two-three hour decant. Continued to improve through the final sips. Has years ahead of it. Ideally, hold until after 2019/2020+.

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 1858 Napa Valley

The good news is that this wine at least didn't come across like the total trampy Jamba Juice blackberry smoothy hooker that the 2014 Caymus Cabernet has become. This 1858 showed "some" restraint in…

Celani Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Similar to my previous notes, though this wine totally stepped it up since my last experience in August. Bottle variation? Hard to determine. This bottle was micro-filtered (a definite must) and…

Greer Cabernet Sauvignon Greer Vineyard

Though I just tried this wine on 10/4/2017, I wanted to give it a whirl at home where I could watch its evolution throughout the course of an evening from PnP through a few hours of air. Much like…