WCC 2001 CALIFORNIA CABERNET BLIND
@ Provence Restaurant, Albany, NY (9/15/2011)
My regular Albany-area group met to taste 2001 California Cabernet blind,
but it turned out all the wines were from Napa.
We each knew the wine or wines we had brought but nothing else and not which ones our were.
The food was once again superb at Provence. The dinner began about 7:30.
Notes posted from CellarTracker.
FLIGHT 1: Cabernet Plus
With Madeira and Apple Braised Berkshire Pork Belly with Flageolet Beans.
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
-
2001 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, Napa Valley
[Decanted for 6 hours.] Ripe tart black and red fruit. Tasty with nice spice and medium body,
but clearly not in the same leagues as most of the other wines here this evening.
Lacks the depth and richness of the others. 87 points.
Day 3: Fairly thin and tart now. Pleasant, no more. Drink up! 85 points. (87 pts.)
-
2001 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, Napa Valley
[Double decanted at 5pm.] Ripe juicy red fruit. Nice acidity. Medium body.
Elegant and balanced. Group #4 WOTN.
Day 3: Thicker, richer, more alcoholic now. A powerhouse. Riveting cherry brandy finish.
Should improve for 10-20 years. 94-97 points. (94 pts.)
-
2001 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Oakville
[Double decanted at 11am.] A more complex nose than the previous wines.
Coffee, cherries, vanilla. Excellent long sweet fruit. Drinking very well tonight.
One of the best for dinner tonight. 93 points. Group #5 WOTN. (93 pts.)
-
2001 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve, Napa Valley
[Double decanted at 8am.] Rich smooth sweet red fruit.
A touch of greenness or raw tannins on the finish, but the fruit is long, penetrating, and riveting.
A superb wine.
Day 3: More reserved but classic Beringer Private Reserve
with great elegance and purity of fruit. (95 pts.)
-
2001 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate, Napa Valley
[Double decanted at 11am.] Smoky red fruit nose. Sweet fruit, but slightly austere tannins.
Needs 10 years. Powerful stuff. 94-96 points. One vote for WOTN.
Day 3: More clearly the big brother of Wine #1 (the Napa bottling)
now that I taste them side by side. (95 pts.)
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
FLIGHT 2: Supposedly 100% Cabernet (or Merlot)
With Crispy Sweetbread Napoleon with Shiitake Mushroom Duxcelle,
Baby Spoon Spinach, Savory Puff Pastry and Roasted Garlic Supreme.
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
-
2001 Paloma Merlot, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
[Decanted at 5pm for one hour.] Flamboyant vanilla and black fruit nose.
Heavy oak covers smoky black fruit. Quite backward and tannic. Needs 5-10 years.
This is one of the most structured American Merlots I've ever had.
No one guessed it was a Merlot ringer! Impressive wine!
About 15% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. My #2 WOTN.
Tied for Group WOTN. (95 pts.)
-
2001 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Estate McWilliams Oakville Vineyard,
Napa Valley, Oakville
[Decanted for 1.5 hours at 4:30pm.] Huge smoky nose. Stunning wine.
The most thrilling wine so far. So penetrating with gorgeous fruit.
#1 WOTN for me and one other person (with excellent taste!).
Day 3: Dark fruit. Has a warm mellowness.
The most balanced and harmonious of the 6 Day 3 wines from this tasting.
Amy thinks so too.
She says, "It's a Charlotte Bronte wine: dark and brooding." (96 pts.)
-
2001 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown, Napa Valley
[Double decanted for 24 hours.] Acidic red fruit nose. Quite austere and tannic.
Not Rated by me. Tied for Group #1 WOTN. Go know!
-
2001 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
[Opened at 11am. Double decanted at 5pm.] Flamboyant sweet chocolate black fruit nose.
Long young and glorious. Must be at its peak tonight. Just a super-yummy wine!
My #3 WOTN. Tied for Group #1 WOTN. (95 pts.)
Note that the Plumpjack is signed by Winemaker Anthony Biagi, even though
he joined Plumpjack in 2003. This bottle was purchased at the winery.
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
FLIGHT 3: Meritage
With Honey and Cumin Crusted Magret de Canard,
Balsamic Cognac Sauce and a Cauliflower Gratin.
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
-
2001 Dominus Estate, Napa Valley
[Double decanted at 11am.] Muted nose. Sour cherry palate. Tannic black fruit.
Good length, definite potential, but very tight today. 93-96 points. (93 pts.)
-
2001 Fisher Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Coach Insignia, Napa Valley
[Decanted for 3 hours.] Lovely red fruit nose. Rich tight vanilla up fruit, but a short licorice finish.
Nice, but does not shine in this company. (90 pts.)
-
2001 Joseph Phelps Insignia, Napa Valley
[Double decanted at noon.] Long rich vanilla tannic sweet fruit. Quite backward.
Lots of potential, but way too young. 93-96 points.
Day 3: Still a huge thick wine with gobs of sweet red fruit.
Amy likes it and says "Very cherry." (94 pts.)
-
2001 Ramey Jericho Canyon Vineyard, Napa Valley
[Double decanted at 11am.] Medicinal cherry nose. Cough syrup palate.
Yuck! Not Rated.
-
2001 Robert Foley Claret, Napa Valley
[Opened at 11am. Double decanted at 5pm.] Big tannic hot alcoholic.
Not a good showing. Maybe needs 10 year or 24 hours of decanting.
Judgement reserved.
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
Cheese Course:
Cypress Grove Chevre "Humboldt Fog"
(a ripened Goat’s Milk Cheese) with Fresh Mission Figs.
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
SUMMARY
2001 is clearly an excellent vintage for California Cabernet (and Merlot!).
Modest wines like the Montelena Napa and the Groth Oakville are pleasant and drinking well now.
Some of these wines are just stunning now, and I see no reason to wait on wines like the Plumpjack and the Pride,
but some still need serious time.
The Wine Fairy had organized the flights for this tasting, and I wondered what basis he had used to separate these wines
into these three flights, given that they were all from the same vintage and the same place (not just California, but Napa as it turned out).
The general concensus was that the first flight wines were elegant and ready, some even on the light side.
The third flight was mostly huge concentrated, highly extracted wines that had great potential, but were hard to drink tonight.
Flight Two were the just right
wines: rich with lots of ripe fruit, but balanced and ready to drink.
Before the wines were revealed, I speculated that he had used Parker's rating to group them, with
the first flight getting ok ratings, the second flight getting good rating, and the thrid flight getting great ratings.
Turns out this was not how he organized the flights, but I was generally right about the Parker ratings:
Parker Scores for Flight 1: 87, 91, NR, 97, 91.
Parker Scores for Flight 2: 94, 93+, 92, 93+.
Parker Scores for Flight 3: 98, 88, 99, 96, 99.
WOTN Voting (3pts each for #1, 2pts for #2, 1pt for #3)
| Rank | Pts | Wine |
|---|
| 1 | 11 | Paloma Merlot |
| 1 | 11 | Clark-Claudon |
| 1 | 11 | Pride Mountain |
| 4 | 9 | Paul Hobbs |
| 5 | 7 | Groth Oakville |
| 6 | 6 | Plumpjack |
| 7 | 5 | Ramey Jerico Canyon |
| 8 | 3 | Montelena Napa |
| 8 | 3 | Montelena Estate |
| 10 | 2 | Beringer PR |
| 10 | 2 | Dominus Estate |
| 10 | 2 | Foley Claret |
PEOPLE PHOTOS
Click on an image with a border for a larger view of that image.
Owner and Executive Chef of Provence Daniel Darves-Bornoz.
The Wine Nazi is mad as hell and he's not going to take it any more!
The Distinguished Gentlemen.
The Distinguished Gentlemen.
The Distinguished Gentlemen.
The Distinguished Gentlemen.
The Distinguished Gentlemen.
All original content © Ken Vastola
