Last week I received an email from the Napa Valley Vintners inviting me to a tasting of 100 Cabernet Sauvignon three days hence only blocks from my office. As my tasting appointment calender was fairly full in the afternoon, I decided to make the most of the morning section of the tasting thinking that it would be getting crowded fast. When I arrived there was only one other person in the room with nearly 18 cases of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon to taste. The tasting was arranged at the request of Jancis Robinson of Decanter Magazine for the benefit of their California correspondent, Linda Murphy, to review. After a quick survey of the room I resigned myself to start at the far end and work my way around backwards so that I would only overlap Linda once.
I made it through about 20% of the available wines with notes but tasted more than that which I left without notes. A few of the top wines of the day are noted below. I will add more notes here and to VinCellar, with my ratings over the next week.
2003 Staglin Estate - Beautiful fruit, allspice, creamy cherry and berry. Excellent structure with extracted smootness.
2004 Laura Zahtila Beckstoffer George III - Chocolate and cherry nose; smooth concentrated and polished on the palate. Nice tannins with a smooth grip.
2004 Crocker Starr Stone Place Cuvee - Solid berry and herb laced nose. Very sexy on the palate and grippy tannins
2004 Lewis - Rich, polished nose with licorice, blackberry on the palate. Very intense.
2005 Revana - Pretty nose, blackberry, briary polished blueberry. The palate is intense with great length.
I would like to thank Terry Hall of Napa Valley Vintners for putting this amazing lineup of wines together for those of us who were able to make it to the event. It was a one of a kind experience.
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