QOTD: Neal

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!

Wow, these wines are definitely not inexpensive

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.

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

Gary,
Sorry for the late reply but have been away from the CPU and I’m catching up on shows…
QOTD for this show…favorite Napa Valley Cab- 1987 Joseph Phelps Reserve or 1982 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard…unbelievable both. Congrats on the book, I’ve two on order.

Your Ian Dorin is going to kill me for saying this but my favorite has been by far and away the 2003 La Sirena cab. Subtle, floral, whisper-soft, far from the power house so typical of the Napa cab. So lyrical were its flavours that I almost wept with delight as I drank it (I’m not kidding). This is the Art of Winemaking. Unfortunately, art appreciation like this comes at quite a high price. I ordered it from Calif for about $120 all told. Fortunately, I was able to replace it from you for about a $100. The winery sells the latest vintage for $150. I asked Ian if he’d consider ordering it and he said no way. He claimed the eine sold poorly. Still when I went to order an extra bottle of the 03 from you it was sold out. Glad others got to enjoy it.

Gary, my favorite Napa Cab. continues to change. For years I loved Silverado, then Franciscan,then Turnbull, yada yada yada. I continue to taste wines that excite me and I think that is what wine is all about. I will certainly look for the Rocca Cab. and will start with WineLibrary. Keep up the GREAT work!!
Al

This was such a Grrrrrreaaaaaat Episode i had to watch it AGAIN!!!!
Moooore Blind Tastings, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZ !!! 🙂

Excellent episode, I would like to see more blind taste tests.

My favorite Napa Cab is Clos du Val.

GV – I like th blind format. Although you shouldn’t have the “Tags” because some people, like me, couldn’t resist a peek.
QOTD – I can remember a few favorites – Lakoya, Corison, and Staglin Family. Last night I uncorked a 2003 Ladera that was pretty good as well.

Gary, my favorite Napa Cab has been for years Chateau Montelena, but they have gotten a little expensive the last few years (still have a few 2001s); the cab that has just blown me away the past 2 years is Darioush, I love this wine.

QOTD: 2003 Pine Ridge Rutherford Cab

QOTD – Favorite Napa Cab, Pride Mountain and Miner Family, tie

Great episode, I love the head-to-head format. Keep them coming!

Pride, Phelps or Flora Springs Trilogy (ok that’s a meritage but it’s still a fave). For value, we like Sequoia Grove and Turnbull.

Great and fun show. Please do more blind tastings in the future.

I love the format of the blind tasting GV…

Yes I too fell in love with the Rocca Cabernet when I first tasted it in my local San Diego Wine Bar and loaded up on every bottle I could locate. I’ve still got 14 left out of the 15 that I located. Glad to know that you think it will cellar for a long time as this is definitely a special occasion wine.

Great show. I’m a bit behind in my viewing.
Favorite Napa cab is probably Miner. Frankly they are my favorite CA producer period. They don’t make a bad wine and are consistently good year after year.
The best Napa cab I’ve ever had was the ’97 Heitz martha’s vineyard, ’96 Bryant Family a very close second.

Love the format. Great show!!

QOTD: Off the top of my head, probably a Caymus SS or Phelps Backus Vineyard…

QOTD: Silver Oak Cabernet

QOTD- I’ve never had a Napa wine! hehe
Any Californian wine I’ve had has been awful.
You should do a show on what us old world junkies should do about all this American and Australian shite! I’m sure there must be some great new world wines out there!

Another great show! QOTD, probably Caymus Cabernet. Value, definitely Sequoia Grove. Any vintage for both.

BV Georges De Latour 1997 Cab 100 year anniv. bottle!!

I think you need to do a blind taste-off on WLTV against that fancy lad Brian Freedman from Classic Wines!!! Take him down to China-town Gary and show him what’s what!