Napa Valley Cabernet Battle Royal And The BOOK Is Now OUT!

Napa Valley Cabernet Battle Royal And The BOOK Is Now OUT! – Episode #464

May 13, 2008

Gary Vaynerchuk goes BLIND on this HUGE day for him and his Family and the Vayniacs. Napa Valley Cabernet is the epic and most sought after wines of America and this tasting will be a battle Royal!

Note: the wine listing is in tasting order.

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Comments on this episode(380) Leave a comment ›

“Hi, first time lurker here, QOTD: The first napa cab I fell in love wi…” by Sam
“Absolutly love your show and the way in which you describe wine. Your…” by Susan
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Neyers Ame Propreitary RedNapa Cabernet
2005 Tor Kenward Cimarossa Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet
2005 Paul Hobbs Napa Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet
2004 Rocca Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet
2004 Bennett Lane Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet
2004 Altamura Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet

Links mentioned in todays episode.

380 Responses

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May 15, 2008

pawncop
What a wonderful experience.

QOTD – In my limited experience, I don’t have too many to choose from. The best so far is a 2004 Franciscan. I tend to like Australian Cabs a little better so far. Still learning, so many wines, so little time.
May 15, 2008

italianwinelover
QOTD: So many to choose from, but I do like Turnbull and Klinkerbush Zin!

Nice show would like to see more of these if time permits!
May 15, 2008

ted vaughn
QOTD – It would be a tie between the 2001 Arns Estate Cab & the 1997 Spottswoode.

One thought – if you want to change the wine world, it might be more radical and effective to move away from the 100pt scoring scale. Think outside the existing box of wine scoring, a practice that causes so much conflict within the industry you’re trying to change. You’re a creative guy – bring some creative thunder to how you rate and/or measure good wine.
May 15, 2008

Taylor
Great Show wish i had the chance do large blind tasting like that.
QOTD Either Cobblestone or Sequoia Grove both are great
May 15, 2008

Tobacco Road Cellars
Well this is a toss up between the 2005 Tobacco Road Cabernet Vitality Napa Valley and 2005 Tobacco Road Cabernet Private Reserve Napa Valley…but i guess we’re biased?!? Hahaha…Great show & you’re dead on w/ Roca…great producer!
May 15, 2008

YoungDave
QOTD: I haven’t had too many, but I think I’ll mention the 2001 O’Shaughnessy Cab. (Howell Mt.), the 2003 Schweiger (Spring Mt.), and the 2002 Richard Perry.
May 15, 2008

Big D
Loved the blind tasting! I was sorry to see the Hobbs do so poorly since I have some. Hopefully I am a little less sensitive to the “Oak Monster” than Gary.I also wish that the prices for NV cabs were lower but unfortunately price inflation is a fact of life and we always have Gary to help us find bargains. I just wish I could drive to Wine Library to pick up my wine instead of having everything shipped.

QOTD: I have only started drinking wine seriously for about 5 years (everything before that was just grabbing a bottle on the fly) so most of the cabs I own are sitting in my wine cabinet or in my storage locker waiting for maturity. I have enjoyed Sol Rouge who got a hold of some Dr. Crane and To Kalon grapes and turned out a very nice cab. I also have enjoyed some of the Beringer Private Reserves and just tonight enjoyed a delicious cab from Meander.
May 15, 2008

Mason
Awesome show!!! I absolutely adore the blind format! I am thinking about doing a blind tasting here at my home soon, so this was right up my alley.

QOTD: Robert Sinskey Vineyards Vandal Vineyard 2004.
May 15, 2008

Andrew D
Thanks Gary – great show

QOTD: I’m an Australian living in HK; I have never had a good one and I’ve tried a few!

Cheers
Andrew
May 15, 2008

Brian
Please do more blind tastings! They are a great deal of fun. No favorite Napa Cab. I’m a little afraid of Napa Cabs because I so frequently encounter the oak monster.
May 15, 2008

BillyBatts
QOTD: 2001 Frescobaldi Catelgiocondo & the 2001 Il Poggione BDM.

Not quite cabs but cab like.

Keep up the good work Gary.
May 15, 2008

Randy S.
Gary, Loved the blind tasting. Please do more!
May 14, 2008

sev
Turnbull Cabernet Sauv 2005
May 14, 2008

RickM
Just bout two bottles of Pretty Sally at WIne Library – one down one to go – I now have a fave cab – cab/shiraz actually – 2004 Pretty Sally Cabernet/Shiraz.

Gary you have to review this wine – just so i can track how our tastes are compared to one another – I have your book, but it will take forever to taste all those wines in order to find out – many are out of my price range.
May 14, 2008

MrsCyberTLH
Hubby has chided me into delurking. . .

QOTD: Hartwell 2002 Cab Sauv — bought a couple last year and just had one. Beautiful. Solid fruit, some tobacco and the tannins and oak are mellowing from when we bought it last year. Looking forward to trying the 1999 we bought to have next year for our anniversary!

BTW, the Rocca 2004 CS was one of our “wines of the day” on our last trip to Calif in March!
May 14, 2008

Kahuna
Blind tasting makes it a much more valuable show to me. Maybe cut down on the number of wines so it doesn’t take more than 20 minutes or so. This way we know you are trusting YOUR PAL and not being influenced subconciously by the label.
May 14, 2008

Sep
Sequoia Grove
May 14, 2008

JimChem
QOTD: I seldom drink CA Cabs. I don’t have a favorite.

Jim
May 14, 2008

agentorange
QOTD: 2000 Fife Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wow.

Nice job on the book. We got our copies today.
May 14, 2008

LarryWineGuy
QOTD 2004 Bell Wine Cellars Napa Cabernet… love the complexity that the 10% P.V. in the Wine Adds. Very Well Extracted, with alot of Fruit, Floral and Spice…Very Bordeaux Like in it’s approach. Anthony Bell The Winemaker was the former Winemaker at B.V. Vineyards for 15 vintages!!
May 14, 2008

ChrisR
QOTD: Can’t say I have a fav, since none have blown me away yet, but the 2002 Rutherford Hills was pretty good.
May 14, 2008

GR8wine
GV,
First, I agree blind tasting can be humbling, revealing, and ultimately the most fun. I don’t feel I’ve tasted enough NV cabs to nail down my favorite. Unfortunately many of them are above my preferred price range!
May 14, 2008

dAve
$40-$70 cabs? you are quickly outpacing my budget. Maybe I can find a Gary Va-ner-cheap – wine blog somewhere? Napa/Sonoma Cabs are best at $12-$16 – after that you are just liking to pay money. Robert Mondavi Cab Private Reserve is a great Cab at a price that is wow. That’s the QOTD answer.

Nice blind tasting concept – made me focus on your words rather than writing down the label. smile. I almost wanted to put a bag over my head and be the unknown lurker! haha.
May 14, 2008

sam
Great show. I’m not a big cab fan but still…I love Cahors and Madiran.
Maybe another show on either or both could be fun.
May 14, 2008

David M Roberts
QOTD: Sebastiani’s Cherryblock.