rooboy wrote:LabRat Report - 03 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

WD – Thank you very much for this opportunity!

This is an excellent bottle of wine. It is not a big fruit wine. Thus, it doesn’t compare to the likes of Silver Oak – I don’t mean this in a good or bad way. It is just a different style cab, i.e. old world. I very much appreciate it for what it is and am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with you!

Yeah... But is it worth the loot?

rooboy wrote:LabRat Report - 03 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

WD – Thank you very much for this opportunity!

This wine, along with the excellent learning environment of winewoot, has greatly expended my understanding of wine, in particular cabernet sauvignon. I now clearly understand old world vs. new world and tannins.

6:30 – uncorked wine:
Smell: dark plum/blueberry
Taste: a touch hot at the start, but quickly disappears, mild tannins, and moderate fruit (this is not a fruit bomb – new world). At this point I rate this as a good to very good wine.

7:00
Smell: dark plum, ash/charcoal
Taste: no heat, slight tannins, light to mild fruit (blueberry?), and light vanilla/oak. At this point I rate this as a delightful wine. This wine slightly reminds me of the 2003 Sadler-Wells Cabernet Sauvignon (in a good way!).

7:30
Smell: light plum
Taste: A bit increase in tannins/heat – now on tip of tongue (before in back of mouth). Mild good fruit taste! Paired well with cracker and olive tapenade. At this point I am set on increasing my original order from 1 to 3 sets.

8:00
Meal: marinated T-bone grilled, grilled sliced potatoes, and salad. Heat returns with moist food, but not in a bad way. The combination of red meat and this wine was excellent! Also, it went well with the chocolate brownie we had for desert!

In the end, I can sum it up by stating what my wife said at the end of the bottle – “Did they only send you one bottle?”

This is an excellent bottle of wine. It is not a big fruit wine. Thus, it doesn’t compare to the likes of Silver Oak – I don’t mean this in a good or bad way. It is just a different style cab, i.e. old world. I very much appreciate it for what it is and am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with you!

Thanks for the great rattage rooboy.

You had me at Old World.

jwhite6114 wrote:you didn't! did you?

no i didn't, i had a long post about something else.

Loweeel wrote:I agree. And that's why I don't find Parker's take on PS to be that offensive; in fact, as TMR first suggested to me, I think he gets PS more than some of the other critics. I concur that his mistake is in wanting CS to be like Lodi PS. I like contrast -- if I want something elegant and less rustic, I'll go for CS, of the right stripe. Obviously, there are ranges in all things, but I don't need my CS to be huge, nor do I want it that way. That's why I've loved the ones I've had that weren't -- Corison (both of them), the Pepper Bridge (my first woot...). And while I probably didn't do it justice by letting it breathe/decant long enough, I was profoundly unimpressed by the '04 Opus One that I had w/ my parents to celebrate passing the bar exam. Don't get me wrong, it was still a pretty damn good wine -- just not what I expected from hearing the reverent tones in which people say the name.

It's just the role that expectations play in winetasting, I guess. I expected to be blown away, and wasn't. (That '97 Caymus Special Select that I had in August, on the other hand... wow.)

who says good things about Opus One? Unless it's mid 90's early 90's Opus you probably should never listen to their advice if they think post 96's are good.

clayfu wrote:no i didn't, i had a long post about something else.

Thank Heavens!

It would have been a sign of The Apocalypse, otherwise...

rooboy wrote:LabRat Report - 03 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

WD – Thank you very much for this opportunity!

This wine, along with the excellent learning environment of winewoot, has greatly expended my understanding of wine, in particular cabernet sauvignon. I now clearly understand old world vs. new world and tannins.

6:30 – uncorked wine:
Smell: dark plum/blueberry
Taste: a touch hot at the start, but quickly disappears, mild tannins, and moderate fruit (this is not a fruit bomb – new world). At this point I rate this as a good to very good wine.

7:00
Smell: dark plum, ash/charcoal
Taste: no heat, slight tannins, light to mild fruit (blueberry?), and light vanilla/oak. At this point I rate this as a delightful wine. This wine slightly reminds me of the 2003 Sadler-Wells Cabernet Sauvignon (in a good way!).

7:30
Smell: light plum
Taste: A bit increase in tannins/heat – now on tip of tongue (before in back of mouth). Mild good fruit taste! Paired well with cracker and olive tapenade. At this point I am set on increasing my original order from 1 to 3 sets.

8:00
Meal: marinated T-bone grilled, grilled sliced potatoes, and salad. Heat returns with moist food, but not in a bad way. The combination of red meat and this wine was excellent! Also, it went well with the chocolate brownie we had for desert!

In the end, I can sum it up by stating what my wife said at the end of the bottle – “Did they only send you one bottle?”

This is an excellent bottle of wine. It is not a big fruit wine. Thus, it doesn’t compare to the likes of Silver Oak – I don’t mean this in a good or bad way. It is just a different style cab, i.e. old world. I very much appreciate it for what it is and am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with you!

Nice write up and nice food pairing! I've always said that steak is the perfect excuse to open a nice cab.

Oh, if only woot issued an IPO. I'd jump on that bandwagon.

BobboinAVL wrote:Yeah... But is it worth the loot?

I think I answered this when I said I was upping my order from 1 to 3 sets.

However, the price/worth question is certainly one that stirs-up quite a bit of concern on this web site. Thus, I will give my 2-cents on the worth of this wine.

At $70 +/- I couldn't afford to buy this nor any wine at this price more than once/year and only for a special occasion. Is it worth ~$70? I don't know. And I mean (not negatively) I don't know. More experienced wine folks would know. It is certainly worth the $35 we at winewoot pay. (point of reference - I have purchased all corison offerings, but can not purchase their wine at $70/bottle even though I love it!)

In the end, purchase one set, drink the '03, cellar the '04, and shoot yourself for not buying 3 sets! Or, if your budget allows purchase 3 sets or join their wine club!

SmilingBoognish wrote:Nice write up and nice food pairing! I've always said that steak is the perfect excuse to open a nice cab.

Yeah, or a Cab is a good excuse to grill a nice steak.

.......im in for one.......for the reasons of drinking a wine made by a legendary wine maker and a well written review........thank you for comparing it with the Silver Oak......

rooboy wrote:I think I answered this when I said I was upping my order from 1 to 3 sets.

I thought so, too. I don't know how else one might read that. However, if you've never tried upping an order before, you might run into difficulty when you email service@woot. Specifically, after this much time has elapsed since you placed your initial order, it may be processed for shipping already. There are ways around that. Put up a post if that happens, and I or someone will come to your assistance.

ddeuddeg wrote:I thought so, too. I don't know how else one might read that. However, if you've never tried upping an order before, you might run into difficulty when you email service@woot. Specifically, after this much time has elapsed since you placed your initial order, it may be processed for shipping already. There are ways around that. Put up a post if that happens, and I or someone will come to your assistance.

Thank you, I will call on the WineWoot community if necessary!

Darn. I finally talk myself into ordering this and see GA is no longer on the list.
Oh well, they cut my overtime(justification) at work anyway.

rooboy wrote:It is certainly worth the $35 we at winewoot pay. (point of reference - I have purchased all corison offerings, but can not purchase their wine at $70/bottle even though I love it!)

Thanks for the excellent report. Can you comment on how this compares to the Corison(s)?

Sadly, it appears we will have no other labrat reports on this wine.

speedoo wrote:Thanks for the excellent report. Can you comment on how this compares to the Corison(s)?

Sadly, it appears we will have no other labrat reports on this wine.

I have had a couple of my 2000 Corison (Saving the 2001). My thoughts first go back to what I stated about Silver Oak. The 2003 Saddleback is made in a different style than the new cabernets. Less fruit forward, milder fruit taste throughout, but it lasts longer. Your palate is satisfied for ~5/10 minutes without having to take another drink within a couple of minutes to hit the tastebuds again as with many of the new style cabs.

I love Corison for the excellent fruit with very little if any heat or tannins. However, I wouldn't want to be forced to compare them (not suggesting you are forcing me) since as I look at it they are in different categories (old vs new style). Until last nights bottle I didn't understand nor appreciate the differences.

If I wasn't on my way in 30 minutes to a wine shop, I would be all over this. Someone woot extra for me.

Krugsters wrote:Thanks for the great rattage rooboy.

You had me at Old World.

I need to learn more about that term...

Well, WD should be in a great mood. His Fresno State Bulldogs beat UCLA in football. Although I'm not sure that's saying very much. A team of grandmothers seems like they could beat UCLA this year .....


So how about a clue?

MarkDaSpark wrote:Well, WD should be in a great mood. His Fresno State Bulldogs beat UCLA in football. Although I'm not sure that's saying very much. A team of grandmothers seems like they could beat UCLA this year .....


So how about a clue?

Unless those grandmothers are from Tennessee

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1063029/Wine-taste-funny-It-contain-cat-litter--Malcolm-Gluck-reveals-unpalatable-truth-wine-industry.html

rooboy wrote:LabRat Report - 03 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

WD – Thank you very much for this opportunity!

This wine, along with the excellent learning environment of winewoot, has greatly expended my understanding of wine, in particular cabernet sauvignon. I now clearly understand old world vs. new world and tannins.

6:30 – uncorked wine:
Smell: dark plum/blueberry
Taste: a touch hot at the start, but quickly disappears, mild tannins, and moderate fruit (this is not a fruit bomb – new world). At this point I rate this as a good to very good wine.

7:00
Smell: dark plum, ash/charcoal
Taste: no heat, slight tannins, light to mild fruit (blueberry?), and light vanilla/oak. At this point I rate this as a delightful wine. This wine slightly reminds me of the 2003 Sadler-Wells Cabernet Sauvignon (in a good way!).

7:30
Smell: light plum
Taste: A bit increase in tannins/heat – now on tip of tongue (before in back of mouth). Mild good fruit taste! Paired well with cracker and olive tapenade. At this point I am set on increasing my original order from 1 to 3 sets.

8:00
Meal: marinated T-bone grilled, grilled sliced potatoes, and salad. Heat returns with moist food, but not in a bad way. The combination of red meat and this wine was excellent! Also, it went well with the chocolate brownie we had for desert!

In the end, I can sum it up by stating what my wife said at the end of the bottle – “Did they only send you one bottle?”

This is an excellent bottle of wine. It is not a big fruit wine. Thus, it doesn’t compare to the likes of Silver Oak – I don’t mean this in a good or bad way. It is just a different style cab, i.e. old world. I very much appreciate it for what it is and am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with you!

Great Labrat report. You described the style and wine wonderfully. A Napa Cabernet of old.

LabRat for Saddleback 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa Valley

Charlie Bucket here - the golden ticket arrived yesterday...first time rat here. To give you an idea of my background, I have ordered a good bit of wine here, been out to Napa a few times, and thoroughly enjoy a nice glass of red wine. But, I'm a novice when it comes to recognizing smells and flavors and recommending what foods to pair this with. Of the wines I've ordered here, I'd say my favorite wine makers have been Ty Caton and Wellington. Recently, I really enjoyed the Zahtila 2004 Cab. So, for the more sophisticated wine tasters out there, maybe that will give you an idea of my tastes.

But here's my take...

7:30pm - uncorked bottle and took a good whiff of the cork. To me, it had a strong but pleasant smell to it, my wife smelled it and said, "tell those Wooters that it smelled like acid" (she was kidding but knows I'm a woot addict) and my 8 year old son smelled it and gave it a 2 thumbs up. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing but he likes to smell the cork whenever I open a new bottle. I think we'll find out in his teen years if this is good or bad :-).

I also poured a small amount of wine into 2 glasses for my wife and I. The bouquet was as strong as the smell from the cork and once again, to me, it was a good smell. But like I said, I couldn't tell you "what" was in that smell, just that it was good for my senses. We both took a drink and the words, "very drinkable" came out of our mouths but we both agreed to decant it for 30 minutes before drinking more.

8:00pm - Our meal last night was sushi as we look forward to Sushi Saturday's. Now, I hate takeout sushi but we couldn't take the bottle of wine to our favorite sushi restaurant (wait, it's our only sushi restaurant) so we compromised. The wine went very, very nicely with our meal. My wife is a 1-glass drinker and I'm usually a 1 to 1 1/2 glass wine drinker and I couldn't believe that I had drank a full glass of wine before I had finished eating. Being that I wanted to fulfill my duty as a LabRat, I went above the call of duty and filled up the glass a 2nd time.

I had about a 1/3 of the glass of wine left when it came time for dessert, fresh, out of the oven, homemade chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, I didn't care for the combination of that wine with the chocolate chip cookies.

But I didn't want to end the evening on a sour note so I poured myself a 3rd glass and glad I did. The 3rd glass of wine had a wonderful smoothness to it and no after taste. Very, very enjoyable. And the fact that I drank 3 glasses says something as I normally wouldn't drink that much.

And for tonight, there's probably enough left in the bottle for a single glass and I plan on grilling a nice steak to go along with it.

The bottom line, is it worth the $70/set? To me, yes, I look forward to the arrival of the other 6 bottles I ordered. I'll drink one set soon and cellar the other 4 bottles. If the wine is this smooth today, I have a feeling it's going to be fantastic in 10 years.

And thank you WD for letting me be Charlie Bucket for a day!

tklempay wrote:
And for tonight, there's probably enough left in the bottle for a single glass and I plan on grilling a nice steak to go along with it.

Nice report. I'm not the "go-to guy" on pairings, but I think the steak idea sounds much better.

tklempay wrote:LabRat for Saddleback 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa Valley

Charlie Bucket here - the golden ticket arrived yesterday...first time rat here. To give you an idea of my background, I have ordered a good bit of wine here, been out to Napa a few times, and thoroughly enjoy a nice glass of red wine. But, I'm a novice when it comes to recognizing smells and flavors and recommending what foods to pair this with. Of the wines I've ordered here, I'd say my favorite wine makers have been Ty Caton and Wellington. Recently, I really enjoyed the Zahtila 2004 Cab. So, for the more sophisticated wine tasters out there, maybe that will give you an idea of my tastes.

But here's my take...

7:30pm - uncorked bottle and took a good whiff of the cork. To me, it had a strong but pleasant smell to it, my wife smelled it and said, "tell those Wooters that it smelled like acid" (she was kidding but knows I'm a woot addict) and my 8 year old son smelled it and gave it a 2 thumbs up. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing but he likes to smell the cork whenever I open a new bottle. I think we'll find out in his teen years if this is good or bad :-).

I also poured a small amount of wine into 2 glasses for my wife and I. The bouquet was as strong as the smell from the cork and once again, to me, it was a good smell. But like I said, I couldn't tell you "what" was in that smell, just that it was good for my senses. We both took a drink and the words, "very drinkable" came out of our mouths but we both agreed to decant it for 30 minutes before drinking more.

8:00pm - Our meal last night was sushi as we look forward to Sushi Saturday's. Now, I hate takeout sushi but we couldn't take the bottle of wine to our favorite sushi restaurant (wait, it's our only sushi restaurant) so we compromised. The wine went very, very nicely with our meal. My wife is a 1-glass drinker and I'm usually a 1 to 1 1/2 glass wine drinker and I couldn't believe that I had drank a full glass of wine before I had finished eating. Being that I wanted to fulfill my duty as a LabRat, I went above the call of duty and filled up the glass a 2nd time.

I had about a 1/3 of the glass of wine left when it came time for dessert, fresh, out of the oven, homemade chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, I didn't care for the combination of that wine with the chocolate chip cookies.

But I didn't want to end the evening on a sour note so I poured myself a 3rd glass and glad I did. The 3rd glass of wine had a wonderful smoothness to it and no after taste. Very, very enjoyable. And the fact that I drank 3 glasses says something as I normally wouldn't drink that much.

And for tonight, there's probably enough left in the bottle for a single glass and I plan on grilling a nice steak to go along with it.

The bottom line, is it worth the $70/set? To me, yes, I look forward to the arrival of the other 6 bottles I ordered. I'll drink one set soon and cellar the other 4 bottles. If the wine is this smooth today, I have a feeling it's going to be fantastic in 10 years.

Added to the Labrat Thread. Great job!

Clue??

MarkDaSpark wrote:Clue??

Ditto.

Oct is our woot B-Day and I have lost the code for the price reduction. Please?
I'm hoping with all the subtle hints from Clay that this is going to be the Woot Cellars week. I need to have my ducks in a row come Mon. Morning!!!
Thanks

Winedavid39 wrote:First wine.wooter guaranteed a labrat. let's stress those papa woot servers.

grumble and bemoan fate.

Can it be first wine.wooter other than mill? I don't have his time machine!

Loweeel wrote:grumble and bemoan fate.

Can it be first wine.wooter other than mill? I don't have his time machine!

Well, if Mill has signed up for the lab rat program (I doubt it) that would be one way of coaxing him out of his wine cave.

debthomas wrote:Oct is our woot B-Day and I have lost the code for the price reduction. Please?
I'm hoping with all the subtle hints from Clay that this is going to be the Woot Cellars week. I need to have my ducks in a row come Mon. Morning!!!
Thanks

Check your PMs.

WD - what are the chances my request to up my saddleback order from 1 to 3 sets was successful?

andyduncan wrote:Well, if Mill has signed up for the lab rat program (I doubt it) that would be one way of coaxing him out of his wine cave.

I have always pictured Mill as a woman. I have no idea why.

rooboy wrote:WD - what are the chances my request to up my saddleback order from 1 to 3 sets was successful?

Depends on if your order has shipped yet (or if there was a sellout). Chances are that it hasn't shipped yet, so you have a good chance of your order being increased.

hey WD - i'm opening the last of my pepperbridge's tonight. any chance for some oregon/washington wines to fill the empty spot in my cellar for tomorrow?

dnasquesttoblack3000 wrote:hey WD - i'm opening the last of my pepperbridge's tonight. any chance for some oregon/washington wines to fill the empty spot in my cellar for tomorrow?

Had my 2nd-last with KKV and ERMD on Friday. It was utterly sublime.

I tried to hold out. Couldn't do it after the comments and the rat reports, especially after just ordering this. Might as well fill it with good juice, right?
The $700 billion bailout hopefully will save my account.
Salud!

andyduncan wrote:Well, if Mill has signed up for the lab rat program (I doubt it) that would be one way of coaxing him out of his wine cave.

if the first sucker is guaranteed to be a rat, wouldn't that preclude signing up for the program? By that logic it could go to anybody, up to and including mill.

My wallet and I fear 1a. Guess that's why I'm working all frakking night on freelance...