I’m back in my home-state California for a month, so I had to drink some California Cabernet. However, I wanted to talk about California Cabernet beyond Napa.
Recently there have been some insightful articles about the Judgement of Paris in 1976, which helped put California on the wine map, because it was the 45th anniversary in May and its organizer, Stephen Spurrier, recently passed away. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the interesting blog post I had read about it, but the crux of the message was to recognize that all the AVAs that currently exist in California didn’t exist then and that the Judgement of Paris is more than just about Napa.
First of all, there was diversity among the contestants within what is currently the Napa Valley AVA, which is now divided into sub-appellations such as Oakville, Stags Leap, Rutherford, Calistoga, etc. In addition, other California contestants were outside of today’s definition of Napa such as the current Santa Cruz Mountain AVA and Sonoma. However, too often people limit California and the success that came with the Paris Judgement to Napa Cabernet.
After 4 years of delving deeply into Chilean wines, it’s funny how much its terroir and history mirror California wines. For example, Chile also had its own Judgement of Berlin in 2004 with similar results to California’s 1976 contest. They both were colonized by the Spanish and grew Mission (Pais). Moreover, although one is far more expensive with higher prestige, both are often pigeon-holed to being only about Cabernet from its most famous valley.
Therefore, I wanted to highlight some of California’s diversity while I’m here. Hopefully, I’ll have some posts on some tastings/visits I’m going to do here. Besides visiting Napa, there are so many other options around the state with different terroirs, varietals, and styles. In the past, I’ve done tastings in Amador County, Calaveras County, Edna Valley/Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara County, Santa Cruz and all over Sonoma County. There are also some urban wineries. Maybe I’ll discover a few more wine regions/wineries during my month here.
Likewise, for this Cabernet Sauvignon tasting with friends, I definitely wanted to include some Cabernet from other parts of California and have a diverse representation within Napa itself.
Tasting Notes
2016 Kathryn Kennedy Small Lot Cabernet Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz Mountain AVA is a great place to visit with wonderful views of the Bay and winding roads through redwood forests. Obviously there’s Ridge and their Montebello estate, but there are also many other wineries you may know that are based there like Mt. Eden, Rhys, and Thomas Fogarty. Kathryn Kennedy has a large reputation among wine geeks for their Cabernets. This one is a blend of small producers and even home gardens within the Santa Cruz Mountain AVA. It normally sells for around $40-50.
French and American oak aging. Stood out as the most different in the tasting with red fruit and acidity. Bright pretty nose. Almost floral. Some baking spice. Some savory notes mixed with the red fruit on the palate. Not a blockbuster. Elegant and lighter than the rest and could be eaten with lighter foods. This was the most Old World Bordeaux-like. 91
2014 Star Lane Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa Barbara County is better known for their Pinots and Rhone varietals, but there are some Bordeaux varietals being grown here too. Happy Canyon’s warmer climate makes it more suitable for Bordeaux varietals. It became an AVA in 2009. It normally sells for around $40-50.
83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Darker in color and fruit profile than the Santa Cruz wine, but still not as ripe as the Sonoma and Napa wines. Definitely feel the oak more, but it’s integrated. Bigger than the Santa Cruz wine, but it has a silky feel which may come from its age along with some leather and herbal notes. 92
2006 Veedercrest Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon
I wanted to be sure to include some higher elevation mountain Napa Cabernet which tends to be more structured (with tannins and acidity) than vineyards from the valley floor. Hence, it’s also the oldest wine in the lineup because it needs more time to soften up. It’s also apropos since Veedercrest produced one of the Chardonnays that was included in the 1976 Judgement of Paris. This wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Pym-Rae vineyard, which used to be owned by the late Robin Williams. Now the vineyard is owned by the family that owns Pontet Canet in Bordeaux under the name Tesseron Estate Pym-Rae and currently costs hundreds of dollars. This 15 year old Veedercrest was only $50.
One of my favorites of the 7 Cabs overall. Perhaps it’s the age but it’s more restrained than most Napa wines despite the 15+% alcohol. It still has ripe fruit and notes from the oak, but everything is well integrated and seamless. It has medium acid with pretty dark fruit intermixed with vanilla, spice and savory notes. There are still some tannins yet to be resolved, but it’s in a good place now with a little air. This reminds me more of classic styled Napa Cab from the 80’s, which is when Veedercrest was in its heyday, but there’s a little more oak. 93
2018 Yesterday Oakville
If you haven’t heard of this wine, it’s because it’s an NDA wine exclusive to Wine Access, who are wine dealers well connected in Napa and Sonoma. Through their contacts, they are able to procure surplus barrels of top, even cult, Napa and Sonoma wineries. Why? Some wineries simply want to keep their supply-low to maintain their high demand and prices. Others have wines from younger vines or grapes that didn’t quite make their main wine, so they sell them. However, Wine Access has to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to not directly mention the name of the source of their wine. Some of their NDA wines are developed by the original owners while some are from grapes sourced from top vineyards and then developed by some of the top winemakers in the region. Based on the clues they gave about this one, it might be from the cult winery Harlan ($1,000+), but it sold for less than $50. Even if it’s not Harlan, Oakville is the epicenter of cult Napa Valley wines from the valley floor and foothills, so we should expect a high quality wine from one of those cult producers.
This was ripest and fruitiest of the bunch, but it’s also one of the softest. It’s so gentle. You don’t get the 15.2% alcohol and the tannins are so soft. Low acid. Creamy. This should please those who like ripe fruit in their wines and are sensitive to astringent tannins. 92
2016 Concept Album Sonoma
This is another NDA wine from Wine Access. Based on their description, it sounded like this wine was taken from Immortal Estate (previously known as Hidden Ridge). It sold for around $35.
Slightly more acidity than the Napa wines given the elevation. Similar fruit profile to the Immortal, but it doesn’t have the same complexity, layers and finesse. You feel the heat and weight a little more, but it’s not a monster. It’s still a tame fruit-forward wine that reminds me more of Napa than Sonoma. 91
2014 Immortal Estate Slope Cabernet Sonoma
I thought it would be fun to compare the actual Immortal Estate to an NDA claiming to be possibly from Immortal Estate. If they are comparable, I’ll be sure to keep buying NDA wines from Wine Access. The actual Immortal Estate Slope is at least double the price of the Concept Album. It’s called Slope because their estate vineyard is grown on a steep incline on the other side of the Mayacamas mountains in Sonoma at 1,700 feet.
A notch up in potency and complexity on the nose and palate over all the other wines. Dark fruit. Spice. Chocolate. Herbs. Silky seamless palate. More length. 94+
2018 Halpin Cabernet Coombsville
This is another Wine Access NDA, and based on the clues they gave, my best guess is this is from Caldwell because their description mentioned a story about the owner sneaking in 1st Growth Bordeaux cuttings. Caldwell makes one of the few mono-varietal Carmenere in California by the way if you can find it. Medium-bodied. Definitely darker fruited than the Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara Cabs with some tobacco/oak notes. Overall, it was the most basic and least potent, but it still was an excellent Napa Cab. Coombsville is generally cooler and not as big compared to other parts of Napa. This wine was still fruit-forward with no hard edges and never felt over the top despite the 15.2% alcohol. Sells for $30. 90
Conclusion
The Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara wine certainly stood out mainly in terms of lower level of ripeness while the Sonoma and Napa wines were all similar in style with subtle differences due to age, vintage and terroir. None of them disappointed in terms of overall quality for their price, and they featured lovely fruit. Modern New World wine drinkers will be impressed by the ripe dark fruit, low acid and easy-going tannins of all of them except the Santa Cruz wine, but even the Santa Cruz wine matches the overall profile except it’s just red-fruited and more acidic instead. I didn’t feel any of them were being drunk way too early although a few could improve, especially the Immortal.
As far as the NDA wines, were we drinking the equivalent of $100-1,000+ cult wines for less than $50? I don’t have the dough to regularly drink tons of Napa cult wines in my life, but I have had some of the big names. Do these measure up? Honestly, they were more like second wines to the top-end Napa wines. They’re all more approachable young without the longer ageability of the top cult wines. They all have the finesse of those top-end wines because they never felt over the top despite the alcohol levels and use of oak. They give an approximation to the lushness of fruit you’d expect from the top Napa Cabs. At the same time, they don’t have the power, length and structure the top wines have. Second wines of elite Bordeaux and Napa producers still often cost triple digits, so given that these wines were all under $50 still make them great deals.
I might be underrating the wines some because I prefer Bordeaux to Napa wines, and these Sonoma wines were essentially right on the border physically and stylistically from Napa. Usually Sonoma is more classic than Napa. In the end, however, these NDAs are opportunities to get baby-versions of California cult wines for the price of entry-level California Cabernet, which is still a great deal even if it’s not at the level of their flagship wines. Drink these young as cellar-defenders while you wait for your bigger wines to mature.
