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...
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Two Big Ones On The Way For Cab Lovers
Doing a lot of Cab tasting lately, as the 2005s & 2004s are starting their respective journeys toward the bottling line and the store shelf. Both are outstanding vintages and each has ingratiating qualities. The top wines will have similar virtues: intensity, clarity, structure, charm, richness, etc. Consumers should expect to encounter a different set of issues however, plowing through the chaff in search of the wheat.
2004 is a small crop, from a hot year. There is a jammy note to most '04s and it tends to give early appeal to nearly all of them. Some otherwise successful ones can be a bit blurry around the edges though and others are a bit flat and simple. Even the best may have a less expansive future than they might have had in a cooler season. It is a splendid year however: try a 2004 Revana to see just how good the best ones can be.
There could be even more great wines in 2005, but there will undoubtedly be more disappointments as well. This is a huge crop, with some of the virtues and vices of 2007, if blessed with softer tannins. Those wineries that controlled fruit production made Cabs that truly exemplify regional and varietal accuracy and show polish and plenty of depth and charm. Some of these wines will be long lived and others less so, but they should be memorable in either case.
The worry is that the market will be flooded with watery, but possibly otherwise pleasant wines. There is an ocean of those kind of Cabs in 2005. Their release will bring two likely results. The price of Cabernet should go down at first, but with the accompanying danger that the first perception of the vintage could be unenthusiastic.
The first wines released are typically the first reviewed, so don't be surprised when the early magazine reports need to be upgraded later. This too will be a great year.