Stags Leap, Napa Valley, California. Cabernet sauvignon. 14.9%. Cork. Source: FatherA bottle free from it's roots and tasted without any particular notions or expectations, I wonder if some may feel that my impressions are incorrect and suffering from translational issues. Heavily packaged and sealed with an impressive and blemish free cork, I now know that this retails for around $US200. It's big, bold, rich and ripe and because of this it seems non specific and generic. The nose is pointed, prickly and volatile. High pitched and drenched. In the mouth the fruit is dessicated and intense - raisin like, and as you would expect from a wine that has spent years in oak, it is sweet, creamy and laden with vanilla. I can see the appeal in the juxtapostion of weight and easy softness and the dense concentration of flavours, but for this palate it just seems wrong.
Image: Flower of the Cannonball tree.
3 comments:
I think your impressions are spot on. I tasted this wine a couple of times at tastings, and while giving the winemaker credit for a well made wine I also knew it wasn't what I was looking for in a wine to drink with dinner. Sadly, this seems to be the style of choice for a large number of Napa wineries.
Dan,
Good to have some corroboration from someones palate I have come to 'know'. Some Australia cabernets and many more Shiraz are made in this style, but it does seem to be getting less, rather than more.
Stumbled onto your blog looking for info about Shafer Hillside Select, 2006, Napa Valley. Lovely humour. I'm going to recommend your blog to my uncle who also is a physician and vino connoisseur!
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