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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“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 20, 2008

Mike Gigante
Yeah, I’m late on this too.

I’m not a fan of most Napa wines – too much oak, extraction and alcohol. However there are a few good ones. I like Charles Krug’s Cabernets – ‘04 Vintage Selection was good value for money and I really enjoyed the ‘04 X (ten) clones’ but that was more pricey.

I really the Ridge Cabs from Santa Cruz but that isn’t Napa.

Where I come from, I don’t drink a lot of any California wines (except when I am on business travel). I do drink lots of Aussie Cabs mostly from Yarra Valley, Coonawarra and to a lesser degree Margaret River.

cheers, Mike
May 20, 2008

JonE
Sorry G-Man, very late on this one. Killer line-up wish I was there.

QOTD: 1974 Sterling Cabernet, and 2000 Delectus Beckstoffer Georges de Latour III. Both changed my thinking on the grape.
May 19, 2008

Luis Felipe
Wow, these wines are definitely not inexpensive
May 19, 2008

NV Wino
I live up here in the Napa Valley and am married to an amazing winemaker and have a small winery of our own..that being said, we drink alot of great wine (and even more not so great wine)..most of our friends are winemakers with pretty good reps, and I can tell you that Rutherford Cabs are in a class all their own.There is something about that Rutherford Dust that calls out to you. It is the absolute definition of Terroir!

Must Try these:

Martin Estate Reserve or Estate Cab..Fruit forward, extremely well balanced, jammy with a hint of good tobacco..My favorite nectar of the Gods. Hard to find but well worth the effort.( BTW- they are Caymus’ neighbor )$75-$125

Rubicon Captains Reserve..this is the good Rubicon stuff, not the tasting room crap. Big, jammy, plummy.Yum! $75

BV Georges de Latour :-GDL is Rutherford and is consistantly good.

Caymus- Anything prior to 2003 is outstanding(I know many will say anything Caymus does is outstanding, but they have been over oaking for sometime now). Caymus put Rutherford on the map!
May 19, 2008

Jayhitek
QOTD: Neal
May 19, 2008

LogansRunRx
QOTD: (1) 2003 Reynolds Faimly Stags Leap Reserve -OR- (2) 2004 Revana
May 19, 2008

Dan P
04 mondavi oakville or 03 plumpjack
May 19, 2008

Iron Man
GV, what are you doing? what are you doing bro????

I said, review the cabs everyone knows!! What’s this telling America all about Rocca!!! What’s next? are you going to tell everyone about the next stock secret GV??? Are you going to make everyone millionaires??? That’s it GV, I can’t take it anymore!!!
May 19, 2008

Oregon Jim
Heitz Martha’s ‘83 was the wine that started me down this road. Just kept opening and changing and getting more profound. Drank it in 2000. Ready to try a Colgin, Bond or Harlan when I get rich and connected! I bought an ‘05 Showkett a while back that was the height of my resource capability. I will let you know in a few years how that measures up.
May 18, 2008

Nick R
Great episode as always!!!
May 18, 2008

Tom P
Almost done reading the book. Busy so it is not going too fast, but its a good read.

Nice show on the Napa’s. QOTD I dont have a bunch of Napa’s that I keep, they tend to be $$$$. I have some Clou du Val and Caymus. Of course Caymus is much more of a business dinner wine.
May 18, 2008

Cabrilla
Don’t drink Napa cab.*

Too much oak (usually), too much money (mostly), and too much alcohol (invariably). (And people drink them far too young.) Sure, I could branch out and experiment, but @ an average $50/bottle for current releases, I could try almost twice as much southwestern French wine that would probably be more interesting and better balanced. The Napa cabs that I’ve had in the past year were mostly in the $30-60 range, but I rarely have an emotional response to them. That, I think, is really why I don’t try more. For that amount of cash I could be trying well-seasoned madiran, to which I do have a strong emotional response, or chinon, or bourgeuil, or cnp, or cdr, or irouleguy… heck, even bordeaux is a better bet.

* unless at someone else’s home, dinner invitation, or if I’m at a Napa winery and they have nothing more interesting on offer (say, petit verdot or cabernet franc, for instance – YEAH)
May 17, 2008

Paul Horan
QOTD: Tossup. I’m loving, loving, loving the Elizabeth Spencer Napa Valley cab (40 bones), but Del Dotto (75 bones) is giving Liz a run for her money.

Cakebread, Caymus, Heitz – they’re all fantastic, but they’re definitely not flying “under the radar”

-Paul in DC-
noazdad
May 17, 2008

jeff devor
best napa cab i have ever tasted 1969 heitz marthers last tasted june 98 first time tasted jan 75 still have some
May 17, 2008

Rui
Lots of fun. Philip Togni Napa Cabernet.
May 17, 2008

hastings115
Favorite napa cab is the caymus special selection. Very consistent year in and out. However my favorite Napa red is the 1997 Cardinale.
May 17, 2008

California Cab lover
1. Cakebread Dancing Bear
2. Frank Family Reserve
3. Frog’s Leap
May 17, 2008

Karl B
Hi Gary,

favorite Napa Cab: Shafer – love the line-up, but the 1.5 steals the QPR contest.

Karl B.
May 17, 2008

Sonoma County Doc
Congrats on the book!!

QOTD: I like a little dirt in my wine so I a fine of Howell Mountain. The most exciting HM Cab right now —— Spence. Give it a go. It’s fantastic.
May 16, 2008

Rick Hudak
Dominus and not the Napanook variety. Had it before and it was a revelation. Never had anything like it. Congrats on the book! I ordered my copies already!
May 16, 2008

ratmice
I am so glad I found this site. Your shows are just amazing. Thank you.

Love the blind tasting format.

One of my favorite Napa Vineyards is Acacia, I don’t think I’ve had a wine from there that I don’t like.

Keep up the good work.

Now I’m off to get the book!
May 16, 2008

salvatore
Simply Terrific Show- Best Ever!!!

Believe ut or not I like Belvedere Cab Healdsburg Ranch…….

Inky black with very exceptional flavor and finish.

Wonderfull show………. my favorite yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 16, 2008

Ian Smith
Good idea. But here’s a better one:

GET A GUEST & DO THE SAME THING WITH THEM AND COMPARE WHAT YOU RATE THEM.

Would be a good way to show off pallet differences that you are so much about. Maybe you should do it with Chris Mott!
May 16, 2008

Richard Treadway
Excellent show. I liked the blind tasting format. My favorite Napa Cabernet is the 2002 Silver Rose Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon.
May 16, 2008

DFC
QOTD: 2002/2004 Kuleto Estate Cabernet