Comments on: What make for great Cabernet Sauvignon?

By: Larry Stanton

Larry Stanton — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:19:02 +0000

Thank you for mentioning Paso, Steve. where we have a number of locales that grow superb Cab. You reviewed a 2004 Byington Cab vineyard designated Cerro Prieto (Paso) in WE, in Sept, 2007, and said: ” I like this wine for the way it mimics Napa cult Cab, yet carves out a distinct identity. Like Napa, it’s dry, soft, and ripely opulent, with rich blackberry, cassis, cherry, cocoa and oak flavors, housed in sweet, finely ground tannins. Yet there’s an earthy, tobacco and sassafras quality that suggests real terroir. 91 pts”. How could I possibly argue with wisdom such as that? Also, it was impressive that you could have described our vineyard so well, never having seen it.
Our own first bottling of 2006 Cerro Prieto’s Paso Bordo(85% Cab/ 15% Syrah) was rated 92 pts, again by you in Oct. last yr. One thing not known by many, is that we have Pidicularis, a flower in the lily family growing along our 1250 “mountainsides” , and botany texts mention that this lily is found only between 5000-7500 ft elevation. One of the reasons you like some of the better Cabs from our area is that we have mountain Cab climate, albeit at only 1250 feet. This mountain climate(courtesy of the Templeton Gap) greatly affects other Cab vineyards/wineries nearby, L’Aventure, Booker, Saxxum, to mention but a few, and when paired with our limestone soil and Paso daytime heat, we SHOULD be producing great Cabs. We fall nicely into your diagonal line, but it should also be noted that there are indeed some areas in this vast AVA that do not make great Cabs. As you have noted often before, Paso is hard to pigeonhole in that there are so many wildly diverse microclimates and soil types thruout our entire AVA.

By: steve

steve — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:49:34 +0000

Andy, in the movie, they cut out my remarks about Arizona wine, for good reason: I hated the ones I tasted. I didn’t have the MJK you refer to.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:05:46 +0000

Great topic and I agree with your assessments completely regarding where cab has been and potentially can be grown successfully (and where it cannot). But, the more pressing question, given your cameo appearence in “Blood into Wine” is: “Where do you think Arizona stands in all of this?” I;ve actually had multiple AZ cabs from both the Northern and Southern Vineyards and I’ve generally felt that the vineyard space would have been better suited for, well how should I say it…anything but cab (actually I think the rhones do very well). And then I had a bottle of MJKs Judith Cab from the tiny hillside vineyard in Jerome. My initial impression of the concept was that he had more money than sense but the wine is good…damn good and certainly as good as, if not better than, many of the big names from Napa. Molesworth gave it an “89″ but I personally think that is way underrated. Did you try it? What do you think?

By: Randy

Randy — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:29:19 +0000

Charlie,

You are correct… The average ph for the fat cabs is more like 3.90, which still is not a pretty sight with five full years in btl. Although I will correct you on your statement regarding Dry Creek Cabs. With proper aging (16-20 months) in mostly older brls with a final alc in the 12% range can offer up the most beautiful non-berry profiles out there. I do believe you’d change your opinion on over berryish DCV Cab’s if you had one in your glass. Moreover, I bet you would place it (in a blind tasting) in a much more “respected” growing region than DCV. I agree, most stuff coming from the DCV falls in the fruit bomb, overly berry-driven catagory and is not super fun to drink (IMHO) due to the lack of juicy acid. If the fruit is harvestd with minimal (here comes that pesky word again) shrivel, DCV can grow some serious Cab.

By: Morton

Morton — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:30:55 +0000

On the subject of capital, deep pockets and Cabernet wine quality…

In then 1960′s/early 70′s “sweetspots” in the Napa Valley were more easily defined. It really had to do with soil and the best vineyards were in deep, well drained, gravely loam where there was often a nice balance and moderate stress on the vine. Places like the alluvial plume off Spring Mountain (Spottswood), Dutch Henry Canyon (3 Palms) Bear Creek (Inglenook, BV) were obvious. Opposite to this and equally obvious were places that were always ignored for viticulture. These were fine, heavy soils with a shallow water table. Great for hay, awful for grapes. Or shallow hillside soils to parched for winegrowing.

One parcel that never had vineyard in the Napa Valley was a large hay field next to the Oakville Grocery. But some crazy people with pockets stuffed with money, came in, drained the field with expensive subterraneon structures, modified the soil, and planted Cabernet meter by meter on devigorating rootstock trained on vertical trellis. They brought in European tractors and equipment and expertise. The grapes were then made into wine in a pristine temple of a winery, using the finest equipment, best barrels, and top winemakers. The result was Opus One. A notable expansion of “sweetspots.”

On steep, shallow soils that were too restrictive for vineyard, drought tolerant rootstocks, dense planting, horrendously expensive erosion control measures, water development, and drip irrigation under precise management has expanded that sweet spot further. You see this on Howell Mtn. and in the Mayacamas.

These examples have been duplicated in too many place to count proving access to capital, deep pockets, and high bottle prices have been of prime importance in Napa Valley Cabernet culture. You cannot generalize any longer.