1997 Vintage California Tasting at Wine Watch

1997 Vintage California Tasting at Wine Watch
Friday, September 15, 2017
7:30 PM

1997 Barbour Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

(93 points)  The dense blue/purple-colored 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon offers a terrific nose of plums, cherry liqueur, cassis, and subtle new oak. It is beautifully pure, with gobs of fruit, low but adequate supporting acidity, and plenty of ripe tannin in the finish. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged for just under two years in French oak, this is a beautifully made wine that can be drunk now or cellared for two decades. This wine is made from the famed Grace clone of Cabernet Sauvignon (from Grace Family Vineyards). (RP) (12/1999) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

1997 Behrens and Hitchcock Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvee Lola Napa

(93 Points)  The 1997 Cuvee Lola (a blend of 75% Cabernet Franc and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) is one of the finest Cabernet Franc-dominated wines I have tasted from northern California, ranking alongside the superb efforts turned in by Dalla Valle, La Jota, and Pride Mountain. The wine exhibits a cedary, cigar box, black currant, and raspberry-scented nose, superb ripeness, rich, fleshy, low acid flavors, and a rich but not weighty mid-palate and finish. This wine will be drinkable upon release, and keep for 12+ years.  The Wine Advocate

1997 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

(93 points) The 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon (2,800 cases from a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc) boasts an opaque purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of mineral-infused black currants, and spicy oak. Full-bodied, structured, muscular, and multi-dimensional, it is approachable, but best cellared for 2-4 years, and drunk over the following 20-25 years. (RP) (12/2000) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
 

1997 Dominus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $250.00    Your Price: $212.50
Quantity in Stock: 3

(94 points) The 1997 Dominus, a blend of 86.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4.5% Merlot, is showing fabulously well. With 14.1% alcohol and a pH that would make many New World oenologists shudder (about 3.95), this wine is a fleshy, silky-textured, opulent wine with a gorgeous nose of roasted herbs, coffee, jammy black cherry and plum-like fruit. Asian spice, licorice, and blackberry and cherry notes with tobacco spice all add to this complex, very involved, yet gorgeously symmetrical Dominus. The wine is medium to full-bodied, very concentrated, and silky-textured. (RP) (12/2000) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

1997 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection Napa

(93 points) Bright ruby. Cassis, violet and lightly tarry, spicy oak. Ripe, dense and very concentrated; thick and deep. Not at all overly sweet or dominated by the wood. Has superb material and verve. Finishes very long, with thoroughly ripe tannins. The finest vintage for this wine in a long time, and one that avoids the excesses of (American) oak that have plagued so many recent vintages. (12/2000) Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

1997 Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

(90 points)  This wine exhibits a dense ruby/purple color as well as sweet tannin, and copious black currant fruit intermixed with soil undertones and licorice. The wine is medium to full-bodied, pure, ripe, and nicely-textured with a long finish. Wine Advocate #141 Jun 2002

1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia

(100 Points)  An inky/plum/purple color is accompanied by a stunning bouquet of violets, charcoal, creme de cassis and a hint of toast. Prodigious when it hits the palate with a full-bodied expansiveness, there is not a hard edge to be found in the 1997, only velvety tannins, compelling depth and fruit intensity, and stunning purity. It is a perfect expression of Napa viticulture and wine that should continue to age effortlessly for two decades or more.  The Wine Advocate

1997 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (Screwcap)

(90 Points) The ambitious 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate possesses power, structure, and density. Spicy new oak competes with cassis in this full-bodied, moderately tannic wine.  The Wine Advocate

1997 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (Cork)

1997 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

(94 points) This wine, produced by winemaking consultant Heidi Barrett, is impressive. There are 600 cases of the 1997, all from a 3.5-acre Cabernet Sauvignon parcel planted with the Grace clone. Sweet, rich, full, and concentrated is the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon. A deep ruby/purple color is followed by pure black currant fruit intertwined with tobacco, vanillin, and spice. This lush, full-bodied effort displays sweet tannin, and cuts a powerful swath across the palate. The finish reveals high extraction and harmony. (RP) (2/2000) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Menu

Rare Seared Beef Carpaccio with Crispy Fried Capers, Fresh Basil, Spanish Onion, Lemon-Roasted Garlic Aioli & Parmesan Crisps Tuilles

Cabernet Braised Beef Short Rib with Roasted Garden Carrots & “Thumb” Baby Red Bliss Potato Cookies with Crème Fraishe

Dark Chocolate-Sundried Apricot-Sea Salt Roasted Nut Bars

The price of this event is $225 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com