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WTN: Two Cabs @ Dinner...(short/boring)

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:13 pm
by TomHill
Not much of a fan of Cabs, but tried these the other night:
1. A Proper Claret (62% CabSauv/22% PetiteVerdot/8% Tannat/7% Syrah/1% PS; 13.2%) V&B by AProperClaret Wine Co/SantaCruz 2012: Med.dark color; quite attractive blackcurranty/Cab/bit herbal slight earthy/loamy/herbal light smokey/toasty/oak slighht licorice/pungent nose; lightly tart/lean attractive blackcurranty/Cab/herbal light earthy/dusty slight pungent/toasty/oak flavor w/ some tight/grippy tannins; med.long restrained/attractive/blackcurranty/Cab/slight herbal fairly tart/lean light pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ light/lean/grippy tannins; a moderately interesting/pleasant somewhat old-timey Calif Cab at a fair price. $19.00 (LCSWS)
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2. SevenFalls CabSauv WahlukeSlope (14.0%; www.SevenFallsWine.com) Patterson 2011: Very dark/near black color; very strong licorice/blackcurranty/Cab/boysenberry/ripe some earthy/chocolaty/black cherry cola some toasty/charred/oak slight herbal/RedBdx bit plummy/WashState/earthy rather intense nose; soft lovely rich/lush/chocolaty/blackcurranty/Cab/ripe strong toasty/charred/oak some earthy/dusty/plummy flavor w/ some smooth/polished tannins; very long soft/lush/chocolaty/blackcurranty/Cab/plummy some WashState earthy bit herbal some toasty/charred/oak finish; a terrefic WashState Cab at a great price; blows away the ColumbiaCrest; a bit on the spoofalated/manipulated side but quite tasty. $12.00 (AV)
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A wee BP:
1. ProperClaret: This is an obvious RandallGrahm wine, though it only makes a sidelong reference to BonnyDoon. Randall's disdain for Cabernet is well known. Don't know if this is his first Cab since the GrahmCrew days or not. Don't know if it's another BigHouseRed-type effort or what. It's a good/solid Cab, though much prefer the 7Falls.
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2. 7Falls: This is a Ch.Ste.Michelle wine (they do a Chard & Merlot as well) designed for on-premise sale only. There is no reference to Ch.Ste.Michelle on the label or WebSite whatsoever. The wine struck me as a bit spoofalated and if a lot of winemaking tricks used in its making; but it was hard not to like it, esppecially given its price.
Tom

Re: WTN: Two Cabs @ Dinner...(short/boring)

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:40 pm
by Craig Winchell
I am surprised to see Wahluke Slope as an appellation for a Cab. Back in 1982, Langguth was the big player on the Wahluke, and everything was Germanic, with the exception of a small amount of Chard. Riesling and Gewurz. A couple of Unifieds ago, the winemaker at Patterson was telling me that much of his Riesling was sourced on the Wahluke Slope. I would imagine there are few places that can properly ripen both Riesling and Cab, providing proper long hang times to both. In '82, I made quite good Gewurz from Dr. Stewart's fruit, which was located there.