Cali 351

Cakebread Cellars

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1988

Presented to me double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine appears a garnet color with a near opaque core with significant rim variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and significant signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of desiccated and ripe dark and red fruits: currants, plums, brambles, old leather, cigar box, and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin (integrated) and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium.

Initial conclusions: this could be Cabernet Sauvignon (or based blend), Tempranillo, Grenache-based blend from the United States, Spain, France or Italy. I felt like this leaned more towards the fruit than the non-fruit character and/or structure. Additionally, the color and desiccated nature of the fruit leads me to believe this bottle has significant age. So, my final conclusion: this is a Cabernet Sauvignon (or based blend), from the United States, California, Napa Valley with 30+ years of age. We’ll call it 1985. Awfully close! Drink now.
— 5 days ago

Tom, Douglas and 1 other liked this

Joel Gott Wines

815 California Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Deep ruby in color; cherries, blackberries, and cassis on the nose; medium acidity; medium plus tannins; tastes like plums, black currants, vanilla, and graphite with a long finish. — 17 days ago

Kosta Browne

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2021

2021 vintage. Pleasant throughout and hit plenty of notes without screeching. The KB style has changed in the last few years. Gone are the mega-extracted pinots altho those are still around and holding up in the cellars/secondary market. Those older wines were a 10 on the volume scale. The last few vintages are closer to a 5. That said, this should hold up and develop nicely for a decade+ without issues. Those that don't think you can drink CA pinot noir over 4-5 years old are in for quite the surprise with quality producers. 04.18.25. — 15 days ago

Ted, David and 12 others liked this

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2019

From MAG

2 hour decant. A striking purplish dark garnet color. On the nose: beautiful notes of dark fruit, pencil shavings, herbaceous, vanilla, cloves. Taste: creamy, polished, structured wine with blackberry, dark chocolate, minerals, bell pepper, leather, and a decent herbal/potting soil finish. Drinks surprisingly well with the decant at this age, and of course a few more years it will improve. YUM!
— 6 days ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, Tom and 17 others liked this
Paul T HB

Paul T HB

Only about 10-15 years too soon

Faust

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

Fourth best wine in 2024 according to WS exquisitely paired with Sharp Cheddar over dark chocolate. Cheers to that. — 10 days ago

Tom, Andrew and 5 others liked this

Shafer Vineyards

Hillside Select Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Jan A
9.5

Really looked forward to this one, but a little bit too rich to warrant higher score. Missing the acidity/tension a bit.
Edit: and it was served too warm..
— 2 hours ago

Stef, Roman and 5 others liked this

Dunn Vineyards

Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Jan A
9.7

Whole table was directed to bordeaux. Excellent. No rush, still standing strong. — 3 hours ago

Jan, Tom and 3 others liked this

Silver Oak

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

Somm David T
8.9

It has been 15 years or so since I’ve had a Silver Oak. Thought I check in. Nothing has changed, every vintage basically tastes the same. It almost like they add flavoring. 🤷‍♂️ One red you could not fool me blind. Short Rib was excellent.

At Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2025.

The ticket to this event has a pretty big price tag. But when you consider what a Napa etc. tasting or two and lunch would cost you, you are pretty much there and there is so much more than that. It ends up having great value. It’s wine, spirits and food candy land.
— 15 days ago

Jay, Tom and 6 others liked this

Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Insignia Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2002

Somm David T
9.5

The last of the 2002 in mags brought from the property. Delicious. I would have thought these would have been saved for their member parties. So, a nice surprise.

From The Cellar event at Pebble Beach Food & Wine.
— 20 days ago

Jay, Neil and 17 others liked this
Ron R

Ron R Influencer Badge Premium Badge

Looks like fun! Hope you had a great time.
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

@Ron R it’s a good event even worth the effort to travel from the other coast. Cheers! 🍷