I really liked the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. On the nose, black fruit, cassis, leather, pencil shavings? tobacco...just starting to show some complexity. Beautiful berry fruit on the palate as well. Mouth-watering acidity backs up the fruit and the beginnings of secondary flavors. No heat, although the wine does sport the too typical Napa alcohoil (14.5% nnominal abv). Still...the latest vintage (2004) has a searing? 15.4% Would I like that 2004???
93 points with strong upside potential. This could be a classic, given the structure and acidity???
Also stopped by William Harrison, one of my favorite Rutherford wineries. They are a Cab hose, but they make a little bit of Pinot Noir, too, from purchased grapes. No open top fermenting (they are a tiny independent winery, and the wine maker said that they are not really set up to make Pinot Noir), none of the usual tricks. Carneros fruit. Not extracted or candied at all...this wine has a nice earthyness that is absent in more famous Cali Pinots. I would actually drink this wine regularly!!! 89 points.
Elizabeth Spencer Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2002. While this negociant winery is making more and more single appellation Cabs, this Napa Valley wine is their basic intro to Cabernet. The 2002 is coming along nicely-if one likes a pretty distinct herbaceoussness. Not bell pepper, more savory earthy herbal notes underlying the fruit, which is still definitely there. Very nicely smoothed out, this has become a quite elegant wine after six years since vintage. I think it was originally $30. Elizabeth Spencer is my very first wine club, and I like the place a lot. They are being discovered, though, and the prices (and ambition) are creeping up.
Still...I happily have a bottle of this in my off-site cellar. 89-91 points.