A CALIFORNIA CABERNET TASTING

DAVID WRITES IN:

CALIFORNIA CABERNET TASTING
NAPA VALLEY, MOSTLY 2001, MOSTLY SPRING MOUNTAIN
NOVEMBER 2, 2005

I was asked to select eight California cabs for a blind tasting. I chose the following. The purchase prices are indicated, as is whether purchased from wineries.

1. BV Rutherford 2001 ($18.99)
2. BV Rutherford 1994 ($12.99)
3. Beringer Knights Valley 2001 ($17.99)

I chose these three as examples of reliable, moderately priced standbys, with the older BV to see how such a wine ages.

4. Marston Family Vineyard 2001 ($65.00) (Winery
5. Smith-Madrone 2001 ($35.00) (Winery)
6. Pride Mountain Vineyards 2000 ($54.00) (Winery)
7. Summit Lake Emily Kestrel 2000 ($40) (Winery)
8. Robert Keenan 25th Anniversary Cabernet 2001 ($27.99)

The rest were all Spring Mountain estate grown wines, with the exception of the Keenan, a blend of Spring Mountain and other fruit, and the Summit Lake, which is from Howell Mountain, and which, unfortunately, turned out to be corked. All wines were 100% cabernet. The wines were tasted blind: I opened them, someone else bagged them, then another person decanted into numbered bottles.

This turned out to be an extremely challenging tasting. Except for the corked bottle, all were in excellent condition. There was no obvious loser in the bunch. All good wines. But there was no obvious standout either. All were huge. All kept evolving in the glass, first showing huge fruit, then tannin, then fruit, again; some starting out harsh, then smoothing out. As the wines changed, one’s opinion changed as well. Some were easy to drink now, some not. All but one clearly would benefit from additional aging. Some needed lots more time! (The one that did not need to age and which began to fade after awhile turned out to be the ’94 BV, as might have been expected.)

When it came time for each person to rate the wines in order of preference, it was clear that there was no obvious front-runner.

The results: The Beringer and the Keenan were tied for first place, with 22 points each; the runner up was the Pride, with 23 points. (My personal preference: Beringer, Pride, Keenan.) In 4th place came Marston –definitely a blockbuster in need of much more bottle age - was 4th, with 25 points. The ’01 BV, ’94 BV, and the Smith-Madrone ranked 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively.

I thought the Beringer, though as big as the others, was the most balanced of all. The Keenan offered the most variety of flavors and textures. At times, it seemed almost zin-like. Of course, we were surprosed at the Beringer's incredible showing, especially in light of the prestigious company it was keeping. (The wines, not the tasters!) One person seemed upset and wondered what kind of trickery or manipulation was done to get such a mass-produced wine to be so good. The answer: Who cares. Whatever they did, it worked. And as it is readily available for $20 or less, it’s a real bargain.