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One of my contributions for Napa Cab vs Napa Merlot blind taste night!
This wine is a great example of Napa cab, especially from Rutherford. This is dark fruit (fresh squeezed blackberries, Black currant) with a crunchy (cranberry) finish, stain the glass purple, slow moving legs and lovely earthy notes on the tongue. Dusted cocoa leaves, too. Decanted about two hours and was prime. At $60'ish/bottle, this wine gives their reserve ($110) a battle for best QPR.
Thought this was Cab, not necessarily due to color or notes, but mainly because of structure. Nice acidity and red fruit driven. More tannic than the cab!
Hard to rate this wine. I immediately guessed it was the cab of the flight pair, and it was, and thought maybe it was a Bevan Cellars cab. After time in the glass, it got a bit more flabby, which had me thinking it was an Orin Swift wine, possibly Mercury Head. It was sweet, sugary, fruit forward and accessible. Loads of blue fruit, nutmeg, vanilla and some toasted bread. Medium tannic structure that suggested it could benefit from a few more years in the cellar but was totally ready to party now. Pop and pour like palate. Love it or hate it style.
Nose on this was so “dirty”, and I figured cab franc was mixed in and because of that, it would be the merlot. Wrong. Plush and smooth. Dark fruit and a bit chalky.
Donnie Siratt
Donnie had this 6 years ago