5 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines – BLIND!

5 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines – BLIND! – Episode #581

November 19, 2008

Gary Vaynerchuk tries 5 wines blind and sees which tickle his palate, as we continue the Napa Cabernet theme this week!

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Comments on this episode(575) Leave a comment ›

“Gary, You should do as many blind tastings as often as you can. This w…” by DClarkTandem
“epic show bro – natural entertainer – just too much fun watching wltv!…” by Chris
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2004 Beringer Napa Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet
2005 Barnett Cabernet Sauvignon Spring MountainNapa Cabernet
2004 Steltzner Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Barrel SelectNapa Cabernet
2005 Newton Unfiltered Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet
2005 Cliff Lede Stag’s Leap District Cabernet SauvignonNapa Cabernet

575 Responses

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November 27, 2008

Russ J
Blind for 2009! Maybe a few “special” non-blind shows…..
November 27, 2008

Stu Scrace
Hey Gary, I love the BLIND, but for the entire year maybe not such a good idea, as suggested by most other people maybe like once or twice a week, “Blind Tuesdays” was mentioned that’s a cool idea, and could be a wristband idea too.

Keep doing what you do.

Stu
November 26, 2008

John
Not the whole year, I do like the idea of at least one day a week.
November 26, 2008

Dave from VA/FL
Hey GV, thanks for continuing the blind tastings, I really enjoy watching them!
November 26, 2008

Jimmy T
QOTD: Not the whole year but maybe a commitment. “Blind Tuesdays” or something like that.
November 26, 2008

Lawrence Leichtman
Any and all tastings done blind should be the way to go. That way there is less bias as you said in a previous episode that you liked the guys and this would definitely affect the tasting experience. I have not liked Beringer in 15 years so not surprised how the tasting came out. Cliff Lede has been up and down. I didn’t know that Newton had an unfiltered Cabernet and I do like the Chardonnay so I may have to try it.
November 26, 2008

Hugh McCabe
Great show, I like the unbiased format.
It reminds of a recent blind tasting in New Zealand of 6 Hawkes Bay bordeaux blends vs 6 top Bordeaux from the 2005 vintages.
It is on http://www.geoffkellywinereviews.co.nz.
The bordeaux wines included 3 first growths along with Cos d’Estornel and Troplong Mondot and ranged in price from $US 144 to $574, the New Zealand wines were between $US $16.40 to $41.
Judges included James Halliday the noted Australian wine judge and author and Elin McCoy from the US.
Suffice to say the most highly rated wine was not from France and the QPR of the $16.40 wine was staggering! That one was Trinity Hill “The Gimblett”.
Now I’m sure you could do a similar tasting with Napa vs Bordeaux with similar results but the Napa wines would be more expensive than the Kiwi ones.
Currently our NZ dollar is the “Pacific Peso” at 55 US cents.
Maybe you could try some of our Hawkes Bay reds vs Napa or Bordeaux blind, with the stipulation the the average price of the Napa or Bordeaux wines should be twice that of the New Zealand wines.I think the kiwi wines still would stack up well.
November 26, 2008

DH
“And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” Isaiah 29:18.

Mass is held once a week.
November 26, 2008

John
Blind 20% of the time.
November 25, 2008

astropress
I like one blind taste a week, at least. but not every day. make it a little special.
November 25, 2008

mnlope
Please go blind the entire year of 2009…go blind forever. It’s the most impartial format and the most exciting to watch.
November 25, 2008

Collin
QOTD – Blind is great but even Christmas would lose a little something if it happened everyday. Keep it spontanious, a few times a week/month. Never had Cliff Lede but I will now.
November 25, 2008

Colin
Blind all the time. No question.
November 25, 2008

MannyPants
YES TO BLIND
November 25, 2008

Jayhitek
QOTD: How about 75% of the time…
November 25, 2008

Eli
I love the blind format. But I wouldn’t do it every day. How about once a week?
November 25, 2008

Carlitos
QOTD. YES, blind ALL THE WAY. Even YOU have PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS!!!
November 25, 2008

PSPatrick
I really like the blind format and I’d say that at least one and up to two shows per week would be fun. Going all shows blind – no thanks. Special themes shows are also entertaining and education and shows with guests tend to be awesome. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket…
November 25, 2008

Nik
QOTD – I think go blind for at least 2 shows out of every week. Doing every single show blind would be way over the top.. and would mean you wouldn’t be able to do interviews with winemakers or owners from the industry.
November 25, 2008

Stephen
Gary,

Love the show. I vote for going blind once a week, but with more commonly available wines.

You da man.

Regards,
Stephen
November 25, 2008

Randy C
Go Blind at least a couple times a month. The format is entertaining.
November 24, 2008

Bobby Bo
Great show. I really like the blind format, esp because I can skip to the end and get a better side by side comparison. Its esp. great for some of the more common wines, that most people know. These wines should be covered up, your judgements would hold much more weight. For more esoteric wines though, I think you should leave the labels out so you can talk more about the specific grapes and regions ect.
QOTD: Blind at least once a week, but not for the more off the beaten path wines.
November 24, 2008

MBannon
How about making “blind” be the default format for ‘09, but allow some exceptions (guest shows, etc)? So kinda the reverse of the current format.

Good show! CA Cabs scare me – too spotty and the price tag doesn’t tell you much.
November 24, 2008

Valentin
This again confirmed that the mainstream Cali Cabernets are totally overpriced. It is really insane. QOD: Yes, do the blind format more often.
November 24, 2008

Bored Doe
Great Show… Love the blind format. I would say once a week for blind tastings would be awesome