Don's Gillette's Weekly Wine Blog
Weekly musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Check back here each week for Don's latest thoughts on various wine-related topics. Read Don's full bio...
Email Don directly with your wine-related questions.
'05 - '05 - '05
The release of 2005 California Cabernets is now at full flood and those of us who expected it to be a vintage of wide-ranging possibilities are being proven right.
Two important factors were obvious early on to those in the trade. First, 2005 was such a big crop that wineries good and bad were going to have extra wine on there hands. It was also a crop of potentially great quality (only in sunny Napa will nature fully ripen a crop of this size). Producers who had desire, ability and a good customer base were going to be able to make multiple bottlings of quality. Those who did not do so would likely be flooding the bulk market with better-than-average juice. This would provide fuel for existing "Negotiant" labels and potentially help launch some attractive new ones.
Huge crops like 2005 need careful thinning to maintain quality. This means extra labor and cost, to produce fewer bottles. For most privately held wineries, this is business as usual, as their long-term reputation is seen as an important asset.
At a corporate-owned winery the philosophy is often quite different, as is their response to a year like this. It is assumed that the corporate CEO will take advantage of extra production to increase "market-share". He could chose to make fewer bottles of a better wine to enhance the winery's reputation, but he knows the benefit won't be felt for several years and he knows full well that the one who gets credit for that benefit will be his replacement, as he will have been fired for this behavior.
Exploring the Choices
It isn't hard for the consumer to separate the good guys from the bad in this process. Think "corporate greed" and tread carefully when you reach for a 2005. Unless you hear it praised by another taster, take a pass on any wine made by a conglomerate or a producer regularly noted on the stock exchange. If you are a bargain hunter, keep your eye out for and your mind open to, new Cabernet labels. Expect great possibilities from names you trust. Keep a lookout for "new labels" from old friends. Some recent releases worth exploring:
My favorite new "Negotiant Label" is called Fisticuffs, a delicious $29.95 Napa Cab. I also adore the DRII, a $59.95 second label from D.R. Stevens, a bottling which tastes remarkably similar to a fine vintage of Opus One.
Seavey's $44.95 Caravina, like the DRII, is another dandy second label. Whitehall Lane, who gained several new Napa vineyard sources in 2005, is about to release two exciting "appellation bottlings." One is a rich and age-worthy Oakville Cab and the other a luscious fruit bomb from Rutherford. Both will be released at $60.00, but with no quantity discounts available.
Exciting recent '05 Cab releases from small producers include: Crocker Starr Stoneplace; Forman; Hollywood & Vine; Hoopes; La Sirena; Pedemonte; Revana; Serdonis; Showket; and Whitehall Lane Reserve. A very tasty group!
Lots more are on the way!