California Cults

wines

Composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, the stunning, full-bodied 2010 Dominus boasts an exceptional perfume of hoisin sauce, licorice, underbrush, forest floor, plums, black currants and jammy cherries intertwined with hints of cedar, baking spices and oak. Full-bodied and voluptuously textured, the 2010 is on a slightly faster evolutionary track than the 2009 (somewhat of an anomaly for these two vintages). This exquisite as well as prodigious 2010 can be drunk young, but it should age effortlessly for 20-25 years. Bravo!Looking at the harvest dates for the 2009 through 2012 Napanook and Dominus reveals that none of these were early, very warm years, such as 2013 is promising to be in northern California. For example, in 2009 the harvest took place between October 5 and 12; 2010 between October 4 and 23; 2011 between October 15 and 24; and 2012 between October 9 and 21. Production has remained steady because the estate crop-thins as much as 50% of the harvest to ensure bunch regularity, even ripening and reasonable yields. The second wine, Napanook, tends to come in around 3,000 cases per year, and Dominus around 5,000 cases per year. I was joking with Christian Moueix when I visited the winery and I told him I am one of the geezers old enough to remember his first vintage of 1983, which was tasted at the Rombauer Cellars until he moved to what appears to be an old bank building in downtown St. Helena, after which they constructed a spectacular winery in Yountville that resembles an extension of their historic terroir. Another great vintage, the 2012s have slightly lower alcohols than the 2009s and 2010s, which surprised me given the exuberant nature of this vintage and its boisterous fruit and glycerin. I was shocked to realize that 2013 will mark over thirty vintages for Christian Moueix and Dominus, not to mention my visits each year. How time flies!Robert Parker | 100 RPA cabernet-based red that’s all about the finish. Shows phenomenal character of caramelised orange, berries and lightly toasted oak. It’s also wonderfully structured, with great tannin, fruit, and acid balance. Try after 2018.James Suckling | 99 JSBright, deep ruby. Ineffable scents of dark berries, graphite, minerals, licorice, violet, dark chocolate and sage. Wonderfully suave, fine-grained and plush but light on its feet, and every bit as complex in the mouth as on the nose. Really impeccably balanced, classy wine with uncanny precision and inner-mouth aromatic lift and a resounding, endlessly building aftertaste that leaves the taste buds quivering. A wine of great finesse and energy, not to mention noble palate-saturating, fully ripe tannins. This is more about subtlety than weight, but is still hard to scrape off your palate. This already coats every square millimeter of the palate but may yet expand further. All of this fruit was harvested in October.Vinous Media | 97 VMA brooding bouquet of cassis, wild berries, pencil shavings and exotic spice is followed by a deep, layered and intense wine, framed by fine tannins and bright acidity. There is a vibrancy and energy to this wine that makes it particularly compelling, no doubt partly thanks to the long, cool growing season, but also in keeping with all the work Dominus has been doing in their vineyards to balance the vines and prevent sun burn. Drinking Window 2020 - 2050.Decanter | 96 DECThe wild swings in weather during the 2010 growing season took out the cabernet franc at Dominus, this vintage blending Cabernet Sauvignon (95%) with Petit Verdot. It has more voluptuous warmth than wines from this site in western Yountville usually give on release, rich with black currant flavors, scents of violets and black spice. The texture is silky, with an undercurrent of green herb and pine needle in the tannins that adds complexity to all the saturated currant and blueberry fruit.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&SGraceful and refined, offering a subtle mix of delicate Cabernet flavors, with dried currant, cherry, herb, cedar, cigar box and graphite notes, ending with smooth, integrated tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2024. 3,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 2010 IX Estate is another perfect wine. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by copious aromas of blueberries, cassis, pen ink, asphalt, licorice and subtle oak. Full-bodied and rich but light on its feet, this spectacular effort was created from a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Enjoy this profound wine over the next 25+ years.Robert Parker | 100 RPSuper-complex on the nose with roses, pure fruit and walnuts. Hints of plums. It’s full-bodied with velvety tannins and crazy spicy character. Firm, chewy texture. Savory finish. Even slightly salty.James Suckling | 97 JSSaturated bright ruby to the rim. Initially brooding, dark nose opened spectacularly with aeration to reveal complex scents of blackberry, blueberry, licorice pastille, minerals, mocha, smoky rocks, black olive and dark chocolate. Enters the mouth with a plush wave of fruit, but lovely mineral and floral lift gives the mid-palate shape and definition. Large-scaled, wonderfully sweet, voluptuous, seamless wine with powerful, saline soil and rock tones and substantial but utterly refined, harmonious tannins. Finishes plush, broad, sweet and long, saturating the mouth and building. This beauty may be close to its apogee right now but it should go on for at least another 15 years. A superb showing.Vinous Media | 96 VMDeep garnet in color, the 2010 IX Estate flies out of the glass with maturing scents of prunes, stewed blackberries, and fruitcake, followed by hints of wild sage, damp soil, and unsmoked cigars with a waft of wet slate. The medium to full-bodied palate is bright and drinking nicely now, with chewy tannins and a refreshing backbone, finishing on a lingering umami note and an herbal lift.The Wine Independent | 95 TWIFrom a late, cool vintage, the 2010s from Napa often find more favour with European than Californian palates. Very deep in colour, this is now showing some evolution. The nose is rich in blackcurrant and mint aromas; it’s vibrant and stylish. The palate is weightier, with more opulence and firm tannins. Sleek and elegant, the long finish is threaded by fine acidity.Decanter | 94 DECPleasing for its richness, elegance and finesse, this graceful red presents a delicate mix of dark berry, licorice, light cedar and loamy earth, gliding along on the finish, where the wine is amazingly polished. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2026. 1,100 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

Araujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year. Vibrant, precise and beautifully chiseled, the 2010 boasts serious depth and concentration. The aromas and flavors are incredibly vivid in this textured, dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of dark blue and black fruit, mocha, espresso and grilled herbs flesh out on the huge finish. Today the 2010 is unusually open, but it is almost certain to shut down in bottle over the next 6-12 months. The 2010 is a super-classic Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Araujo. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2035.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPAraujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year. Vibrant, precise and beautifully chiseled, the 2010 boasts serious depth and concentration. The aromas and flavors are incredibly vivid in this textured, dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of dark blue and black fruit, mocha, espresso and grilled herbs flesh out on the huge finish. Today the 2010 is unusually open, but it is almost certain to shut down in bottle over the next 6-12 months. The 2010 is a super-classic Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Araujo.Vinous Media | 98 VMA big, plush Napa cab, which still offers lots of dried fruit, such as berries and figs, as well as chocolate and vanilla. It’s full-bodied with a rich, layered, ripe-tannin structure and mouth feel. Flavorful finish. This is really starting to show complexity with black truffles and leaves to the ripe fruit. Drink now.James Suckling | 94 JSPure, rich and delicious, with a sumptuous core of melted black licorice, dark berry, nutmeg-scented spice, loamy earth and dried herb. Shows impressive focus, density and persistence. Tempting now, but should age well. Best from 2014 through 2028. 1,900 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

From the Howell Mountain Arc Vineyard (usually 1,300 to 1,400 cases produced in a normal year), the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Arc Vineyard could be a candidate for perfection when it hits full maturity in 7-8 years. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to drink it now given the sweetness of the tannin and the abundance of the ripe, concentrated, delicious fruit. The nose exhibits classic aromas of mulberries, graphite, licorice, forest floor, black currants and blackberries. This is a broad, full throttle, multilevel, sensational wine.Proprietor Jayson Woodbridge, one of the wine world’s most compelling, outspoken, irreverent, bigger-than-life personalities, can get away with just about anything he wants to say or do simply because year after year he proves what great wine is all about from his 15-acre Kayli Morgan Vineyard east of St. Helena, his 15-acre parcel on Howell Mountain, and another vineyard on the upslope of the Eisele Vineyard (recently acquired by Chateau Latour in Pauillac), called Few and Far Between. Woodbridge was recently profiled in a wonderful graphic wine magazine called “Loam Baby,” and may have set a Guiness Book World record for the number of times the word “F***” was used in that interview. I first met Woodbridge, who hales from Canada, when he released his first vintage, 2000, which is still going strong and showing more staying power than I would ever have imagined even though I loved the wine from the beginning. It remains a sensational wine at age 13. He currently has six cuvees of Cabernet Sauvignon, the Kayli Morgan Vineyard, the Arc Vineyard on Howell Mountain, the Few and Far Between Vineyard in Calistoga near the Eisele Vineyard, a wine called Deep Time which spends considerably more time in barrel than its siblings, a wine called Precious, and depending on his mood, another wine called Fortunate Son. He also makes a hedonistic, attractive Pinot Noir from the Stanly Vineyard called Cherry Pie, and he has had enormous success with the high quality yet bargain-basement priced selections from around the world called Layer Cake. The Few and Far Between Vineyard is a 5-acre parcel on what Woodbridge calls the “upside of the Eisele Vineyard.” The only blend in his portfolio, this cuvee includes 15% Cabernet Franc. The first vintage was 2008, and this is another exceptional wine, with the 2010 achieving perfection and the 2012 capable of doing so. I only tasted two vintages of the Precious cuvee made from Woodbridge’s favorite barrels. Normally he limits production to 100 or so cases, which would be four barrels. I only tasted one vintage of the Cabernet Sauvignon Deep Time because it spends up to 40 months in barrel and almost becomes like a great chef’s reduction sauce because of evaporation. It is normally a selection from the Kayli Morgan Vineyard. It is a remarkable wine, but very little is available.Robert Parker | 98+ RP(15.5% alcohol): Good dark red. Pure sex appeal on the nose, with black raspberry, licorice, menthol and mineral aromas buoyed by a violet quality. Like liquid velvet on the palate; a great, sweet fruit bomb with a positively three-dimensional texture. Dark berry flavors are complicated by a saline element and lifted by sneaky underlying minerality. The finish is lightly saline and endless, with ripe tannins totally buffered by the wine's voluptuous texture. My sample gained in firmness with 48 hours in the recorked bottle without losing any of its verve, a very good sign for its likely aging curve.Vinous Media | 95+ VMPure, ripe and plush, with tiers of blackberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, mocha and spice. Shows some heat from ripeness, causing the finish to becomes a bit diffuse. Needs a little time. Drink now through 2024. 700 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the silky 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Precious boasts amazing amounts of creme de cassis, licorice, spring flowers, charcoal and graphite. The quintessential Woodbridge wine, it is busting with sensuality, exuding enormous fruit, and built like a skyscraper. Abundant notes of cassis and the soft, velvety tannins are fabulous. This wine can be drunk now or in 20-30 years.Robert Parker | 99 RPGood deep ruby. Dark berries, spices, minerals and coffee on the nose, lifted by a sexy floral topnote. Impressively rich and lush but with its saturated berry and floral flavors currently dominated by a deep core of minerality. With aeration this wine showed more red fruit character and a more delineated, energetic mid-palate. Has the harmonious acidity and ripe tannins to ensure a graceful evolution in bottle.Vinous Media | 94+ VMProvides density and focus, with a complex mix of dark berry, spice, licorice, mocha and light toasty oak. The finish sails along gracefully amid ripe tannins that give you plenty to chew on. Drink now through 2024. 100 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2010 Proprietary Red Cariad reveals great intensity along with abundant notes of unsmoked tobacco leaf interwoven with blueberry, blackberry and cassis fruit, charcoal and coffee bean nuances as well as a Pauillac-like lead pencil shaving character. This blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 14% Cabernet Franc is one of the finest wines I tasted over the 12 days I spent tasting in Napa Valley in late August and early September. This remarkable 2010 should drink beautifully for 20 or more years.Robert Parker | 100 RP(a blend of 48% cabernet sauvignon, 28% merlot, 14% petit verdot and 10% cabernet franc): Saturated, bright ruby-red. Deeper and darker on the nose than the Tychson Hill cabernet, offering vibrant scents of blackcurrant, graphite minerality and bitter chocolate. At once round and delineated in the mouth, with dark berry and mineral flavors displaying outstanding depth without excess weight. With its very firm tannic structure, this typically Medoc-like wine will need a good eight to ten years to evolve in bottle and may ultimately merit an even higher rating. These vines in Madrona Vineyard in St. Helena were planted on an alluvial fan in the 1980s.Vinous Media | 95+ VMLots of ripe fruit, chocolate and iron. Full body, with loads of velvety tannins and a round and rich palate. It is round and mouthfilling yet fresh and beautiful. Delicious already but will improve with age.James Suckling | 95 JSNotable for its charcoal and graphite woodiness, along with its edgy entry into the core of dark berry fruit. Keeps you at arm’s length, with the flavors both concentrated and nuanced. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2024. 550 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS