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.

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the Quicktime version.

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
View all 380 ›

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

Pages: « 16 … 14 13 12 11 10 [9] 8 7 6 5 4 … 1 » Show All

May 14, 2008

Grape + Bean Guy
Cool show Gary. I am a mega lurker. You broke me today and I felt I had to comment after a year and a half of closet time (i.e. no comments)

The one time I had Harlan, the fruit blew my face off!(in a good way)
May 14, 2008

Obama_Man
Congrats on all your recent (and future) successes with the book et all Gary!

QOTD: I’ve had the Altamura and LOVED IT!
May 14, 2008

I-lurk
Sweet! Ask and thou shalt receive (and soooo quickly I might add)! When I saw the paper bags it put a big smile on my face. Nice1
May 14, 2008

joel delon
hi gary thank you again for taking risks… very interesting blind testing from a french point of view have a good work
May 14, 2008

Justin L Ove
YES! Thank you for doing the blind tasting. SO Entertaining!!

QOTD: ‘97 Caymus…and the ‘02 Insignia. Yes! I have two favorites!
May 14, 2008

David
1999 Joseph Phelps Insignia
May 14, 2008

Shawn
Loving the show, bought the book on WOOT and added your widget to my site. Im not big into wine but have watched the show since day 1.
May 14, 2008

rimarfish
First, congrats on your appereance on Conan and Mad Money. loved it.
Second, i really like this format on your show. You should definitely do more blind tasting episodes. Is just so much fun, and we learn a lot.
QOTD: Caymus regular bottling is just great. Turnbull is another great wine.
May 14, 2008

Withnail
Extremely enjoyable episode. Maybe wine #4 will be featured in the sequel to “101 Wines”?
May 14, 2008

Ben Janssen South Australia
Vaynerchuk! T-shirt action today. Showing off the guns.
Do I see come definition in those arms!
May 14, 2008

TonyStro
I have yet to hit my Cali Cab phase, but I like Togni and La Jota. You get the Napa Cab experience without dropping trips.

trying to find the Conan show on the ‘net. CNBC online won’t let it play here in Japan!
May 14, 2008

T. Reasoner
GREAT SHOW!

Calling for more blind shows and you should always throw a wild card in there as in an under $20 one just to make it interesting.

QOTD : 04 Dariush Cabernet was the last really good one I have had.
May 14, 2008

Craig Rabe
Book, Conan, Mad Money….you’re like a celebrity! Just don’t go Hollywood nutty on us, ok?

Great show. I like the format with the bag covered wines, but 6 is just too many. You had a tough time keeping track of them. Imagine how hard it is for us if we can’t taste them.
May 14, 2008

Chateau_Plonk
Can Dominus count? If not, the 86′ Beringer Private Reserve Cab was freaking awesome a few months ago.
May 14, 2008

David Cole
Go big or go home! Today you went BIG! Got the big dawgs out and gave a little sniffy-sniff and a whirl and I am sure I was not the only one surprised!! Except for one which was the Paul Hobbs. The Hobbs has been over rated and over oaked for the last three vintages!

QOTD: My favorite California Cab that I have been drinking the last year has been the 2004 Bravante Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon! It’s not cheap at $47.00 either, but it is fantastic!! It has a little cab franc in it as well. Wine Spectator only gave it 90 points, but I liked it more than that! They only made 550 cases.
May 14, 2008

Victor Blancet
alright so i am 17 and i work at Cafe Cenizo (A.K.A. The Gage) under Chef Paul Peterson. I have been really trying to expand my wine knowledge but it is hard since i am underage. I have been watching your show for awhile now just because any little bit helps. I think it would really help me, and everyone else, out if you did a wine fact of the day maybe. A book about wine for me is just too unimaginative and droned out. Thank you if you consider this, and you are welcome anyday to come eat at The Gage. Loved the new format today by the way.
May 14, 2008

nberg
Just hit Napa for the first time. It is a good way to taste lots of Cabs without spending hundreds.

I thought the Groth Cab really nailed it, as did Silver Oak of course.
May 14, 2008

Kdawg
QOTD: as a bordeaux-phile I don’t like napa cabs at all, lol, J/K. That being said, I love Montelena and Togni because of their backwards style. And Dornback introduced me to Cavus which just really rocked me when I had a chance to have it
May 14, 2008

TonyTwoTimer
Pride cabs are usually my favorite Napa Valley cabs. Not sure if this is fair to my guests but i’ve filled an expensive bottle of wine with a Yellow Tail Shiraz. I enjoy watching with amazement as my dinner guests oh and ah about how great the wine is. I usually cover a bottle of a napa valley cab and drink it by myself while being entertained.
May 14, 2008

Butterfingers
QOTD: I love to drink Shafer Hillside Select & Harlan Cabs but for me Screaming Eagle has a special place in my heart ( even though I have yet to drink one of my bottles). When you walk into my custom wine cellar, I have 1996-2002 vintages of Screaming Eagle displayed first even before my 1st Growths. I get alot of compliments from my guests.
May 14, 2008

BigTarheel
Calling for more blind showdowns … Pinot Noir, Syrah, even Chard. The ‘04 Altamura killed at the last Cab showdown I was at (Top wine over Caymus SS, Pahlmeyer, Rudd, Miner Oracle, Paradigm, Frog’s Leap, and Silver Oak).

Two of my all-time Cali favorites are Volker Eisele Terzetto and Robert Young Scion (not technically Cabs but ridiculously strong!)
May 14, 2008

EliteWino
QOTD: My sophisticated palate enjoys most Napa cabs over $150. but for me, sipping a 2002 Sloan cab while driving with my top down on my M6 Convertible on a beautiful sunny day…ahh life just doesnt get better than this!
May 14, 2008

Eric Gardner
I watched Gary on Conan and I thought about Dizzy Dean’s famous line: “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up.” Gary is brash and opinionated, but he has mad skills.

Note to Gary: keep it up, don’t forget to embrace your own palate, that’s main thing that got you here. The more you are involved in the mass media, the more you will be encouraged to dumb down your palate. Never give in. You have too much talent, and yo have a great day job, so you don’t need the money. Continue to make the show that you want to make, and would want to watch.
May 14, 2008

CRZYWinemaker
Fantastic blind tasting format. Do more of these for sure ! I’d be curious to see how Washington Cabs do against each other ? There are a ton of blind combinations that could be great fun.

Qotd: Tough question. Current favorite 2004 Pine Ridge Howell Mtn.cab (needs more time for sure)

Congrats on the book, looking forward to getting my copies !! Cheers ~
May 14, 2008

teckdeck2008
QOTD: I really don’t have a favorite napa valley wine. I tend to drink australian and argentinan wines more. although lately I have tried drinking more chardonnays and white wines, i’m with you in that I try to avoid napa valley because of the heavy oak flavors. Its something that I really need to fix, i know, maybe i can tackle that over the summer.