Cabernet Sauvignon

Decanted for four hours prior to serving.  This is Cabernet Sauvignon from Mt. Veeder and St. Helena.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, dark chocolate, slight cedar, coffee beans, and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Nice balance.  On the palate, there is cassis, chocolate, coffee and char.  Long finish.  The longer decant made this wine much better than a prior bottle.  This is a twenty year wine so don't be afraid to give it lost of air if opening in the next few years.  It is nice on its own and will work well with roasted meats, fowl or veggies.  

Inky purple, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose deep. Cassis, graphite, leather, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.   Great balance.  On the palate, this complex and delicious.  Flavors of cassis, some black cherries, graphite, spice and char.  Long finish.  This is drinking well now but will improve.  Drink over the next twenty years.  Great on its own, this will work well with meat or fowl or roasted veggies.

This is the other wine from Scarecrow (second wine doesn't do it justice).  It is a blend of  84% Cab Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot, and 3% Merlot.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great.  It could pass for young left bank.  Cassis, plums, chocolate, spice, cigar box and slight graphite.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Great energy.  On the palate, this is drinking well.  Nice complexity.  Flavors of cassis, black cherries, plums, spice, chocolate and char.  Still young but starting to evolve.  Long finish.  This drinks great on its own and would work well with meat

This wine features grapes from all five of the single vineyard Cabernets that Memento Mori produces.  Consumed side by side with the 2021 and 2020, this was my favorite although it seems like eventually the 2021 will be the best.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, some blueberries, coffee beans, cedar, spice and chocolate.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Great balance.  On the palate, this is very concentrated.  Flavors of cassis, blueberries, earth, spice and char.  Long finish.  This is delicious and drinking well if young.  It will also work with bigger foods s

This was made from three out of five vineyards (Dr. Crane, Las Piedras, and Vine Hill) in 2020 as the other two were affected by fires.  I found no smoke taint in this one.  It was a much softer wine that 21 or 18 but still quite good.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is clean and deep with cassis, new leather, slight dark chocolate, fresh dirt, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Good balance.  On the palate, there is a softer texture.  Plenty of cassis, some blueberries, chocolate, spice and char.  Long finish.  This seems accessible if young and delicious.

This is their "Flagship" wine.  In this vintage it is a blend of all five of their single vineyard sites.  The bottle had been open for a few hours and then splash decanted before serving.  This needs time but was quite good.  A separate bottle opened but not decanted and then consumed the following evening was even better.  I score wines as they show, but no doubt, this will hit triple digits as it matures.  Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is deep.  Big but concentrated.  Aromas of cassis, espresso, black cherries, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.

Comprised entirely of Cabernet Sauvignon, this differs from many Napa Cabernet in that there is a quiet rusticity to this wine. Rather than bright up front fruit, the fruit here is rather muted, offering blackberry, light blueberry, Rainer cherry, cocoa powder and white pepper. The tannic structure is fairly tight with a dusty, earthy quality. The light oak aging in all French oak provides the vanilla and campfire notes while giving the tannins room to exercise their importance in balancing the wine.

A rich and opulent style of Cabernet, this benefits from decanting, but it is less about tight tannins and more about letting the fruit open up to show its macerated side. This 100% Cabernet is replete with traditional Cabernet notes; blackberry, black cherry, blueberry and boysenberry. The oak aging brings on the vanilla and fine-grained tannic structure. The rest of the wine fills out with green tea leaf, sandalwood, earthy fruit, wild berries and moderate acidity.

This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Oakville district in Napa.  Tasted blind, this seemed a bit older than a current release.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, slight cedar and char.  Full bodied.  Medium  tannins.  On the palate, this is drinking well.  It is more elegant than a big fruit Cab.  Flavors of cassis with spice and char.  Long finish.  Drink over the next eight to twelve years.  It would be an excellent choice if fairly priced at a Steakhouse.  

This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from three different vineyard blocks in Calistoga. BA2 | Venge’s Bone Ash Vineyard Block 2, Calistoga, Estate LC9 | Larkmead’s Estate Vineyard Block 9, Calistoga, and CDM | Cavey Vineyard’s Diamond Mountain Estate, Calistoga.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, iodine, iron and chocolate.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is complex.  Young but already accessible.  Flavors of cassis, chocolate with nice minerality.  Good finish.  This is drinking well and should for the next fifteen to twenty years.  It is nice