Happy Hour Wine Tasting Featuring Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

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Cabernet Sauvignon is the most popular red wine in the world today and when it comes to immediate gratification wines this varietal it is hard to beat. 

Most people know about Napa Valley's Cabernet Sauvignon and although it only accounts for around 3-5% of the total production in terms of volume it is probably closer to 40-50% of all the total volume in terms of dollars.   They do make great Cabernet Sauvignon in Sonoma and even places like the Santa Cruz Mountains but the most sought after Cabernet Sauvignon from California comes from Napa Valley.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grape is a relatively new invention it is the result of the combination of a white varietal Sauvignon Blanc and a red grape Cabernet Franc crossed by some mad grape scientist in southwest France in the 17th century.  Because of its thick skin and relative ease of cultivation this varietal has spread around the world and makes high quality full bodied red wines in many parts of the wine world.

California Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the easiest wine tastings to sell, can you say immediate gratification, but these wines can age for 20+ years in a very good vintage.   Cabernet Sauvignon always draws a crowd and this is a Happy Hour wine tasting featuring 12 different Cabernet Sauvignon’s mostly from Napa Valley.  The fee for this tasting is $125 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Happy Hour Featuring California Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting at Wine Watch
Thursday, March 7th
6:00pm

2019 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Napa
Price: $82.50        Your Price: $69.00
#6 - Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2022
(94 points) Almost entirely from To Kalon (there's 3% from the former Franciscan property), the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon The Estates Oakville is composed of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec and 1% Merlot. It's a deeper, earthier wine than the Stags Leap version, with loam notes joining plum and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, plush and velvety, it finishes long, with softly dusty tannins.  James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Nov 2022)

2021 Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Double Diamond Oakville
Price: $96.50        Sale: $79.00

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon stands to outshine the award-winning 2019 vintage with even deeper concentration and complexity. On the nose, the wine leaps from the glass with ripe blackberry, cassis, black cherry, and red plum, with a lovely herbaceous undertone. The palate expresses juicy red and black fruits with hints of black tea, damp earth, vanilla bean, lavender, and just a touch of flint. With fine-grained tannins and mouthwatering acidity that lingers through the long finish, this wine is ready to drink upon release but will cellar well for years to come. 
Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Barrels: 54% New French Oak, 46% Second-use Schrader Darnajou French Oak 

2019 To Kalon Vineyard Co Eliza's Red Blend Napa
Price: $225.00    Your Price: $198.00
To Kalon Vineyard Company’s Eliza’s cuvée is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, two varieties that best showcase the strength and spirit of this historic site at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains. This blend produces one of the most compelling examples of Napa Valley wine, with the Cabernet Franc bringing exotic spice notes and floral aromas, and the Cabernet Sauvignon providing weight, structure, and a deep, rich, black fruit character.

2019 TO KALON VINEYARD COMPANY 'HWC' CABERNET SAUVIGNON, NAPA VALLEY
Price: $262.50        Your Price: $231.00
Named after the founder of To Kalon, H.W.C is produced from one single clonal selection of Cabernet Sauvignon within To Kalon. These vines were originally planted by Robert Mondavi, who was lured to To Kalon by the depth and richness of the wines he made from the vineyard in the 1960s. This incredibly low-yielding selection of Cabernet Sauvignon produces wines with high energy, a black-purple color, and exceptional aromatic and palate intensity—a high-resolution look at this noble variety. While not overly ripe or extracted, the wine has remarkable freshness, texture, richness, and length. Four extra months of barrel aging give it a high level of polish and a silky finish.

2019 TO KALON VINEYARD CO. HIGHEST BEAUTY CABERNET SAUVIGNON, OAKVILLE
Price: $225.00        Your Price: $198.00
The goal for our namesake wine is working with To Kalon Vineyard as a whole, crafting a wine from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, while capturing the purity, intensity, and diversity of this special terroir. The 2019 Highest Beauty has soft tannins, plenty of structure, richness, and aromatic excitement. The grapes were harvested at night to preserve the freshness of the fruit. Careful sorting and a long, slow fermentation and maceration round out the wine and bring forward the broad spectrum of flavors and aromas inherent in this noble variety.

2021 ROBERT MONDAVI FUME BLANC OAKVILLE NAPA
Price: $39.00                 Your Price: $34.32
We selected fruit from two blocks of I-Block clone in our Oakville estate—one younger and one more mature. The younger block adds stone fruit, a hint of minty herbs and floral, and a youthful character. The Estates Fumé Blanc offers a beautiful snapshot of the Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon coming off of our Oakville Vineyard. A small amount of Sémillon is added to complement the Sauvignon Blanc’s vibrant fruit and acidity and adds notes of fresh apple and a creamy texture.

2021 MONDAVI CHARDONNAY NAPA
Price: $27.00                   Your Price: $23.76
Aromas of pear, peach, green apple, jasmine, a hint of maple candy, and floral. Mouthcoating layers of green apple, citrus blossom, and toast. Lush and opulent with a lively acidity, oak, and a long finish.

2017 ROBERT MONDAVI PINOT NOIR CARNEROS RESERVE
Price: $63.00                   Your Price: $55.44              Quantity in Stock: 12
A hedonistically expressive Pinot Noir, our 2017 Reserve brims with decadently rich red cherry and red and black plums made complex by layers of vanilla, caramel, anise, tarragon, and an underlying hint of savory earthiness.
The 2017 wildfires made international headlines, but the majority of our grapes, picked between August 28 and September 2, were in the cellar before the fires began

2020 CHARLES KRUG CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA, USA
Price: $36.00                   Sale Price: $29.00
Sourced principally from our five family estates in Yountville, our 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon displays red cherry, baked strawberry, and vanilla aromas with hints of fig and coffee bean.  This medium-to-full bodied wine showcases a rich mix of berry, chocolate, and buttery caramel flavors set against a backdrop of toasted oak; all leading to a seamless, long finish of currant, blueberry, and warm oak.

2021 SWANSON CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA
Price: $37.50     Your Price: $33.00
WINEWATCH TASTING NOTES:  Pretty nose of blackberries, currants & cassis fruit with a nice touch of oak spice showing here as well, fairly complex, notes of cedar and bitter-sweet chocolate.  A good amount of ripe berry fruit showing on the palate with a fine amount of ripe round tannins on the tongue giving the wine excellent structure with some dry tannins at the end but drinking beautifully for such a young wine, it should continue to develop for the next three to five years.  Finish 45+.  TASTING DATE:  8/19/23.  EXCELLENT

1980 JORDAN WINERY CABERNET SAUVIGNON, ALEXANDER VALLEY, USA
Price: $189.00                 Sale Price: $140.00
The oldest wine we have in the store from Alexander Valley and in perfect condition this wine was just acquired from a private collection and we recently showed it at the wine bar.  It has a beautiful bouquet of dried herbs, currant and plum fruit still present with cigar box spice and some fresh earth showing, lovely evolution here and still quite lively.  Silky smooth tannins on the tongue with a good amount of evolution but still has nice fruit and a long layered finish, an excellent example of a fully mature Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  Finish 45+  Excellent +

1980 DOMAINE LAURIER CABERNET SAUVIGNON, SONOMA COAST
Price: $65.00                   Sale Price: $50.00
Another gem from the same collection as the 1980 Jordan and this is a winery that no longer exists but this wine is still drinking beautifully.

2019 PETER MICHAEL CABERNET SAUVIGNON AU PARADIS OAKVILLE, NAPA
Price: $270.00                 Your Price: $237.60
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc Aged 18 months in 100% French oak barrels from selected artisan coopers
Winery Notes The 2019 ‘Au Paradis’ appears near-black to ruby in color with perfumed aromas of red rose and distinct black currant and cassis. Equally, the flavor delivers dark fruit reminiscent of plum and crème de cassis aside bright and savory notes of raspberry, rose petal, and graphite. Well-rounded on the palate, showing refinement with complexity and the hallmark aromas and flavors characteristic of the acclaimed iron-rich, red dirt soils of Oakville. Approachable now, the wine will reward five years of cellaring and will continue to age gracefully for two decades or more.

Menu
Pork Belly drizzled with Current Jam
Tuna Sliders with Pickled Ginger Aioli and Wasabi Cucumbers
Jamon Pizza with Parmesan Caramelized Onion and Fig
Chicken Sate with Black Berry BBQ
Gougeres with Dark Cherry Goat Cheese Mousse

This is a walk around tasting in the Wine Bar and the fee for this event is $125 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.