Spending a bit of time in Europe and then opening a California Cab is a bittersweet occasion. It’s a welcome rush–and a very different experience. Kinda like having a hamburger. Granted, most of the Provence rouges I’ve dranken the past week were dominant cab–usually mixed with a bit of Syrah or Grenache–but as everyone knows: it hits different. But here we are, and I don’t love or hate California wines and more or less from drinking those brash, textured young things made in a completely different style. Most were 30 or 40 euros on a restaurant list, and I think I saw ONE 14-5, the majority 13-5 or even 13-oh. But we’re not here to talk about them: here’s an orphan I found in the cellar headed into 10 years old. And quite a bargain. Gloriously concentrated, the nose piles of musty velvet on deep fruit.
Rather rash and spicy in taste, it bites with gritty aplomb and a little heat. Acid is in good balance and calling this thing “over-ripe” would be a misnomer. Not ridiculously complex, but carrying everything you look for in a young cab: fruit fading slightly behind copious sharpness, it’s a bitter little pill, but I also think it was about 20 bucks at Back Room Wines in Napa. I’m not complaining at all, and it seems a rather fitting juxtaposition between the cabs of Provence and the cabs of California.
2014 SLEEPER Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 14.5
Stephen McConnell 