Anybody tasted this recently?

Hello Folks,

I've got a bottle of Louis Martini, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma 2001 I've been holding onto for a few years, hoping to see if it would drink well for as long as I guessed it would (just a cheap bet, you might say), but I've read somewhat recent notes from Cellar Tracker claiming it is past it's peak. That might be a matter of taste, since Martini's wines are not your typical Cali Cabs, but I'm curious if anybody here has tasted it in the last year or two, and if so, what you though of its current condition and future prospects. I'm also running out of cellar space, and so have other reasons to just drink it, but if the prospects are still good, I may yet hold onto it.

Of course, I have reason to suspect the Cellar Tracker users don't agree with my palate much, as last year they declared a modest Rioja I had was going downhill fast, I had planned on opening it last year anyway, so I did, and found that not only was it in nice shape, but that it could probably last another year or two.

Thanks,
Ryan

[Jenise]

Ryan, just my opinion, but where Martini didn't used to be a typical California cabernet under Gallo ownership, to my tastes (02 vintage and more recent), they've become just that. Don't know at what point their style changed.

Ryan, just my opinion, but where Martini didn't used to be a typical California cabernet under Gallo ownership, to my tastes (02 vintage and more recent), they've become just that. Don't know at what point their style changed.

To my tastes, the 2005 Sonoma Cab is definitely in a riper, more fruit forward style, although still tasting like Martini, and I though upon tasting it "this is nice for change, but I hope it doesn't represent a shift in style." But aside from that, other Martini wines I've tasted from the 2001 - 2005 vintages were all in what I would call the classic Martini style. Of course, all the Martini wines I've tasted were made by Mike Martini, and I do get the impression that his wines are different than the wines his father (Louis P) made.

Way back when they were a joke in California. Would never have dreamed of putting one on my list.