Dennis Moosebrugger and I decided to get together and put together a comparative tasting of vintage Napa Vally and Washington State Cabernet Sauvignons.

Though Alice and I no longer live close enough to Grand Rapids to get together monthly with our old Rude Tasters wine group, we do occasionally pop into town and get together for a tasting at a restaurant or club where we can bring in wine. I got together with Dennis to see if, between our cellars, we could put on a tasting that would make some sort of comparison with as few variables as possible. What we came up with was pairs of wine, one Napa one Washington from 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016 along with a couple of warm-ups from 2018 plus a couple of older wines to finish things off.

Meanwhile, we got a call from our friend, Jack Wainer, in Holland asking if we’d like to join our old buddies from Class in a Glass for a pot luck CAVA tasting. Being in West Michigan for Rude’s, we figured why not. So, we started our trip in West Olive just north of Holland and tasted a half dozen sparkling wines from NE Spain, five of them CAVA and one from an adjacent region. We started off with Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut CAVA (about $8) which was light and pleasant without a lot of complexity, depth or length of flavor. Same for the second wine Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut CAVA (about $12); clean and fresh but nothing special. The third wine was a noticeable jump in quality with the Llopart Brut Reserva Methodo Tradicional Barcelona Valley (about $18). Here, the bouquet possessed a noticeable lees fragrance which carried through to the finish. Maybe not what you’d get with French Champagne, but classy nonetheless. This one was Xarello dominant. Next, was another CAVA. Insito Brut Reserva CAVA (24+ months bottle aging) about $16 with a typical Parrellada dominant CAVA cépage had a nice touch of yeasty, toasty nuance with fresh, bright fruit. The last two were from the same house. First we had the “regular” Segura Viudas Brut CAVA (about $12) which held its own compared to the two preceding wines. For the money, this wine offers a lot of complexity and Champagne-like lees bouquet and minerality. I would say the “bang for the buck winner” while its counterpart the Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad CAVA (30+months on the lees) about $26 is clearly the class of the tasting. Though pretty much the same profile as its less expensive sibling, there is just way more of everything, especially the long, pronounced leesy finish. The label boasts that it contains no Xarello. I’m not sure why that is significant but clearly they have mastered this cuvee and have gotten the most out of what can be produced in the region. However, I have a feeling that if compared to, for example, Kirkland Champagne at $20, I’m not sure it would hold up.

So, the next evening at Pietro’s, Tim Fellows greeted us with a couple of dandy everyday house wines Placido Chianti DOCG and Placido Pinot Grigio della Venizie IGT and a lovely Caprese salad made with heirloom tomatoes. We all had a delicious Italian-themed entrée and then proceeded to the Cal/Wash Cabernet tasting. The wines are listed in the order in which they were poured. All wines were double-blind to the tasters; only Dennis and I knew which wines were being tasted but we did not know the exact order. Everyone rated the wine in the two flights but from the rumblings around the room, I gathered that the warm-up wines went over pretty well too. All of the wines, had they been rated in a formal setting by certified wine judges would have been given a high silver or gold medal. There were no losers. All of the wines were decanted brilliantly clear about 3:00 pm and allowed to breathe until poured after 7:00 pm. The notes are primarily mine though I do jot down other’s comments and often add them to my notes when they make sense. Dr. Ed Cox, who is our official score keeper also takes meticulous notes which I have noted where posted.

WARM-UP WINES

2018 Smith & Hook Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon CA (14.8% abv) was the first wine poured, and it is a whopper!! We purposely used wines under $20 for the warm-ups so as not to show up the wines in the tasting itself. Well……this wine is huge with massive fruit, fine, fat and ripe with a big complex cedar and earth finish. Exhibit A is indeed the definition of a classic Cab, in spades!! Both Alice and Ed noticed a healthy acid core which amped up the texture. I gave it 19/20 points, one of the two or three best of the evening.

2018 Mercer Bros. Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet Sauvignon WA (14.5% abv) is even bigger! Gigantic might be more accurate. Holy Cow, it is even more complex with that medicinal spicy tang not unlike a drop of Worcestershire sauce on your steak. Yes, this wine is downright meaty. Can it get any better!? For me, it was the best wine of the night and I gave it a 20/20 score.

FIRST FLIGHT

2008 Jack Nicholas Napa Valley Private Reserve (78% Cabernet Sauvignon) CA (14.2% abv) was just a bit of a letdown from the two massive warm-up wines, though its milder softer demeanor did exhibit good depth, nice soft tannin and a lingering hint of toasty brown spice. The ten year gap between the last warm-up and this wine didn’t do it any favors. I gave it 16/20, the group score was 17.9/20 fifth place (tie)

2010 Abeja Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon WA (14.2% abv) is a slightly closed, softer version of the Mercer Bros. above. It is big and long on the palate with good weight and persistent fruit. My score was 18/20 while the group score was 18.2/20 fourth place

2008 Chateau Rollat Walla Walla Valley, Rollat Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon WA (14.5% abv) is full, soft and easy to drink. Though not as big as some of the others, it is fine, has good grip, balance and a rich mouth-feel. The finish is long, mouthcoating and distinct. Alice felt it has unique characteristics. I rated it 18/20 while the group only gave it a 17.5/20 eighth (last) place

2010 Mount Veeder Winery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon CA (14% abv) appealed to most of the tasters in a much stronger way than it did me. Although it is probably the one wine with an emphatic indelible stamp of “Napa Valley” on it, I found it somewhat tough and grainy textured while a little past its prime. By itself, it would have shown as a wonderfully mature Cab with a special dinner, but by contrast with tonight’s wines, it seemed rather tired. Alice also noticed its age. Sadly, I only gave it 14/20 though the group gave it 17.9/20 fifth place (tie)

SECOND FLIGHT

2016 Chaix Napa Valley, Rutherford, Cabernet Sauvignon CA (14.9% abv) is a monster! It is hard to separate the absolutely massive, powerful structure from its fine, lively, smooth, graphite-like elegant pedigree. Though past the stage of youthful vigor, it has not yet reached that maturely balanced stage yet; a delicious glass of wine right now, however. My score was 18/20 while the group gave it 18.5/20 third place

2012 Gramercy Cellars Columbia Valley, Lower East vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon WA (14.2% abv) offers a very pleasant balance. Like the Chaix above, it is simultaneously ripe, juicy, and youthful yet starting to show a level of maturity. I found it didn’t deliver quite as much in the finish as promised up front. I’m 17/20 with the rest of the group at 17.6/20 seventh place

2012 Moon + Tsai Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon CA (14.5% abv) to me is everything I like about Napa Cab; cedar, tobacco and earth nicely woven into classy balanced fruit. This is a very big wine yet the mouth-feel and balance is all silky smooth with a hint of leather and strawberry jam at the fine mouth coating end. I gave it a perfect 20/20 and the rest of the group wasn’t far behind with a 19.5/20 first place

2016 Bledsoe Farm Winery Walla Walla Valley, Flying B Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon WA 914.5% abv) possesses fruit so deep and vivid that it feels soft on the palate. Yet, it is enormously rich and full bodied but not overly tannic with exotic coffee and brown spice at the finish. I was 18/20 while the group gave it 18.9/20 second place

AFTERWARDS

We concluded the evening with a couple of older wines. I brought a bottle of 1980 Louis M Martini North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon CA (12.5% abv) that was still alive and well. Those of you who read my blog regularly will note that this is one of several bottles of this wine we are still enjoying. Compared to the preceding wines, yes, it does show a bit of dust and age, but it is still very much alive; maybe even a bit of brown sugar-like sweetness in the remarkably lively fruit. This was a favorite of two of our deceased members, Jake Rohe (our founder) and John Beadle in whose cellar this bottle had rested for nearly a half century. Dennis brought out a bottle of 2008 Gramercy Cellars Columbia Valley, Lower East Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon WA (13.9% abv) which seemed like a brand new baby after the Martini. The balance, maturing fruit and silky rich finish concluded an evening of wonderful wines.

SOME THOUGHTS

Some of these wines were quite expensive, yet I don’t think either of the warm-ups (both under $20) played second fiddle to any of the heavy hitters. I’ve been a big fan of Smith & Hook for many years and definitely will be more aware of Mercer Bros. Cabernets. I’ve enjoyed mostly their Syrah based wines in the past, and for some reason don’t think I’ve ever had one of their Cabs. David Russo selected this one for Dennis. Most of the tasters felt that the Washington and California wines clearly fell into two distinct categories regardless of vintage. A few also noted that the Washington wines were a tad less hot, that is lower alcohol, than the California. I noticed a distinct coffee, Worcestershire, toasted brown spice element more pronounced on the Washington wines than the California wines which showed more cedar, graphite and earth and maybe a little less ripe fruit than their Washington counter parts. Ed was not as big a fan as I was with either Washington or California. He felt many were somewhat closed and not showing much aroma nor the level of fruit on the palate one expects for higher end Cabs. The wines were close enough in vintage in each flight that it was much harder to say which two were the older of each four-bottle flight.

Enjoy in Good Health!

Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner