Although I tend to shy away from some of the larger, fruitier and more alcoholic Napa Valley Cabs that a lot of people seem to like, I do love the ones that can be massive but balance it out with clean acidity, creating a tasty, elegant elixir. The 1996 Forman Cab that I spoke about in yesterday's French Laundry post (still salivating about that meal...) is a good example of this balance. Although judging by the alcohol content of that wine (below 14%) 1996 may have been a cooler year; the result might have had more to do with the weather than with the winemaking style. For those of you who don't know, the more heat, the more sugar is created in the grapes, and, usually the more sweetness and alcohol in the wines. (It's not this simple and I apologize to those who think I oversimplified it, but directionally this is what you need to know for this post!) Some Australian Shiraz from the Mollydooker Winery are good examples of extracted wines that will make your taste buds happy and also knock you out with a high alcohol percentage. (In fact, one of Mollydooker's more popular wines is appropriately called The Boxer.) I just checked Robert Parker's review of the 1996 Forman and he describes it as Bordeaux-Style. Bordeaux is not as warm as Napa--a different climate producing a different style of wine.
In any case, with dinner last night at The Lakehouse restaurant at Calistoga Ranch, J and I had a 2005 Harris Estate Cabernet Lakeview Vineyard. It was massive, but with high acidity. Not as high as I would have liked, but hice enough to keep the fruit in balance and create an elegant, mouth-filling wine. Luckily, no punches to the face!
I would describe the aroma as tons of dark fruit emanating from a very opaque liquid in the glass. The wine itself is velvety on the palate, with rich fruit enveloping the tongue and an acidity that tames a lot of the sweetness. The wine had a nice long finish. I sensed a slight irregularity in the flavors towards the end of the experience on the tongue (yes, I'm a critic, too!), but definitely still a keeper for the Napa Cab set. However, not inexpensive at around $100 retail.
Check out more about Harris Estate vineyards at their website. Quite an interesting story about a former pediatric dentist who bought an old school in Calistoga with his wife in 1997 and turned it into a winery making excellent stuff like this. Applause to you, sir, for living the dream!
Honorable mention goes to a 2005 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs we had with the appetizers. It was very nice and complex for a non-Champagne sparkler. Schramsberg's always up to good stuff!