Estate Bottled Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish/ brick rim.

Beautiful nose of black fruits, cedar, chocolates, herbs, tobacco leaf and cola.

Full-bodied and elegant with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, black currants, plums, cooked cherries, cedar, mint, vanilla, spices, licorice, espresso, cola, light herbs, eucalyptus, light earth, tobacco leaf, dark chocolates and peppercorn.

Long finish with round tannins and tangy raspberries.

This 20 year old Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley is drinking beautifully now. Showing a gorgeous nose, that I kept on smelling for a while.

Feels much younger than it actually is, complex and well balanced.

Good right out of the bottle with grippy tannins, and better after a couple of hours in the decanter.

Peaking now and good by itself or with food. Will continue to drink nicely in the next 5 years.

A gorgeous wine. I love these older Napa Bordeaux blends.

A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Aged in new American oak barrels for 22 months. Unfiltered and unfined.

13.8% alcohol by volume.

94 points.

$225.

Pyrazine (only a hint in a good way), smoke, red and dark cherry, orange peel, alcohol heat, some French oak spices, high acidity, smooth-ish fine-grained high quality tannins. Rather restraint overall. Blended right before bottling to be 6% Merlot 75% Cab Sauv.
Visited the winery on Sep 3rd 2022 in the morning, greeted by the responsible vineyard guard dog 🐶 who turned into the happiest sloppy doggo during our tasting appointment. Charlie Smith just finished picking the estate Cab Sauv fruit that morning started at 6am. And we witnessed fruits coming in and the destemmer churning and read through reflectometer that the Brix sits at 24.5. Charles Smith is a such a personality but that’s a story for another time :)

This is an Interesting Cabernet from Spring Mountain.

Full bodied with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with nice complexity.

Showing black fruits with cedar, earth, vanilla, spices, vegetables, bitter herbs, green pepper, tobacco leaf, coffee and black pepper.

This Napa Cabernet is still young, and shows lots of earthy notes. Feels like a left bank Bordeaux. The Cabernet franc is very dominant right now.

A good sipping wine with good structure and a nice mouthfeel.

Good right out of the bottle and better with airtime. Would be nice to revisit it in 3 years.

Nicely balanced and good by itself or with food. Will pair nicely with BBQ Meats.

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Aged for 21 months in French Oak barrels.

14.3% alcohol by volume.

91 points.

$60.

It's time for my #FridayCabernetfix.

A very pretty color of dark ruby, with a red /brick rim.

Earthy on the nose with black currants, black plums, oak, licorice, light vanilla, light vegetables,, earth, tobacco leaf, dark coffee, dust, pencil lead and peppercorn.

Full-bodied with medium acidity and fat legs.

Dry on the palate with currants, cherries, spices, tobacco, oak, green herbs, vegetables, earth, spices, red chili pepper, bitter herbs and dark coffee.

Medium finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cranberries.

This Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley is still young, but already enjoyable. Showing nice complexity with a nice mouthfeel and good structure.

Earthier than I expected, actually, and good by itself or with food. Feels like a Left Bank Bordeaux. Interesting stuff.

Needs time to open up properly, I gave it 90 minutes. A good quality wine. Spicy and interesting.

Will be nice to revisit it in 5 years.

Will pair nicely with BBQ Meats. I paired it with a French Brie cheese.

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Aged for 21 months in (50% new) French Oak barrels.

14.3% alcohol by volume.

91 points.

$62.

Tired and past, poor closure.

This one is has good depth and is a crowd pleaser!

Blackberry, fig paste, dark chocolate, leather. Great grip. Nice finish. Steal of a deal for a Spring Mountain Cab!

Cherry cola, raspberry, blackberry, vanilla, plum, licorice, oak and hints of eucalyptus. Good structure and soft tannins.

Blackberry, raspberry, black cherry, licorice, oak and eucalyptus. Good structure and soft tannins.

The medium-dark wine really has a powerful nose, or maybe I should say an “expressive” one. The dark fruit is draped in earth and minerals and some of the more lovely holiday spice and pencil-lead notes that I've run across lately. On the palate, the fruit tastes “grown up” instead of candied - savory instead of sweet. The tannic structure is firm yet fanciful, the mouthfeel flinty yet filigree. The wine will pair wonderfully with a steak or a pork chop, but it's a great sipper, too.