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Cult
California
A tasting of ten Californian cult wines
Cult California, Roberson, March 1st
2012
What an interesting tasting. 10 wines,
all from California, all in the ‘cult’ category, and with price
tags ranging from £102 to £485 a bottle.
Mark Andrew, or Roberson, who hosted the
tasting began the evening by trying to put a loose definition on
‘cult’. They are wines that are limited in production (fewer
than 2000 cases), which are sold on strict allocation (by mailing
lists, usually, which you have to queue to get on), and which are
expensive, and which have investment potential if you buy them early
(there is a secondary market for these wines.) Oh, and one final
thing: they need stellar critic scores. Robert Parker matters most
here, but the Wine Spectator also has influence. ‘I’m not in any
way a Parkerite,’ says Andrew, who doesn’t care for scores. ‘I
would love a world where customers weren’t bothered about
points.’ But they are, particularly in the USA.
I must point out that I came to this
tasting with an open mind. None of these wines were set up to fail,
and some I liked a great deal. Leave aside the prices for a moment
(I don’t consider value for money in my scoring), and most of
these wines did really well. But factor in the prices and the level
of critical acclaim that they get in the USA, and there’s a
surprising discrepancy.
You have to choose which critics you want
to listen to. We all have rather different perspectives on wine. In
the end, reader’s need to decide whether or not a critic’s
particular perspective is useful for them, for some or even all wine
regions.
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Score
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Wine
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Label
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95
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Diamond
Creek Volcanic Hill 2002 Napa, California
Refined blackcurrant fruit nose is smooth and restrained
with some gravelly minerality. Lovely restraint on the palate:
this is rich and ripe, but not at all overblown, and still
fresh and youthful. Good structure and attractive minerality.
95/100 (£145)
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95
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Arietta
Hudson ‘H Block’ 2000 Napa, California
Sweet inviting aromatics. Refined sweet berry fruits with
some herbs and a hint of earth. Harmonious. The palate is
sweet and smooth with finely grained tannins, nice cherry and
berry fruits, and subtle warm spiciness. Evolving very nicely
with real complexity and balance. 95/100 (£120)
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94
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Dunn
Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Napa,
California
Rich, ripe, sweet berry fruits nose shows nice purity with
some cedary, savoury notes. Very fine. The palate is ripe and
smooth with good freshness and nice acidity. Stylish wine
showing restraint. 94/100 (£102)
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93
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Kongsgaard
Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Napa, California
Just 350 cases made. There’s a slight disconnect here
between the sweet lush blackberry fruit, which seems very ripe
and liqueur-like, and the high acidity. But after a while it
begins to show a natural-wine-like purity of fruit, with some
elegance. Definitely the outlier in this group, but some
interest here. 93/100 (£130)
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93
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Rudd
Estate Oakville 2003 Napa, California
I may have been a bit generous here, but I think it’s a
well made wine in its style, which is ripe and modern. Sweet
ripe blackberry and cherry fruit nose with some purity and
lushness. Ripe palate shows nice density of ripe primary fruit
with some spicy warmth from the oak. Creamy, ripe texture,
with some grip on the finish. 93/100 (£110)
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92
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Joseph
Phelps Backus 2004 Napa, California
Lots and lots of oak influence here. But it’s not a bad
wine. Ripe, sweet, smooth and quite lush with blackberry
fruit, a very sweet personality, and a liqueur-like richness.
Smooth, textured and sweet, but showing some elegance. 92/100
(£195)
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90
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Harlan
Estate 1999 Napa, California
Sweet aromatic black fruits nose with some liqueur-like
ripeness. The palate is sweet and ripe with plum and
blackberry fruit, but it is quite warm and alcoholic, and
while it’s a nice drink it is lacking real complexity.
90/100 (£470)
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89
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L’Aventure
Côte
à Côte
2007 Paso Robles, California
40% Mourvedre, 40% Grenache, 20% Syrah. Smooth, ripe, lush
pure sweet cherry and berry fruit nose is liqueur-like and
sweet. Very ripe and smooth but with a disconnect between the
ripe lush fruit and the grippy tannins. A bit overripe. 89/100
(£115)
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89
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Bond
Pluribus 2005 Napa, California
Deep coloured. Bold nose showing herbs, mint, earth and
spice alongside meaty ripe black fruits. Concentrated, rich
and powerfully structured palate showing ripe blackberry
fruit, oak and grippy tannins. Some warmth here: alcohol? A
bit stewed: too much ripeness, despite the massive
concentration. 89/100 (£225)
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86
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Sine
Qua Non ‘A Shot in the Dark’ Syrah 2006
Incredibly ripe and sweet aromatics. Distinct roast coffee
notes allied to the sweet liqueur-like black fruits reminds me
of coffee Pinotage. The palate is super-sweet and rich,
showing over-ripe lush black fruits as well as spice and tar.
Very smooth and overdone, this is actually quite unpleasant to
my palate, although I have to try to be objective in scoring
it. 86/100 (£485)
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See also: tasting
icon wines at The Sampler
Wines
tasted 03/12
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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