Salexis Wines 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2-Pack
$44.99 (Normally $104.15) 57% off List Price
2006 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
CT links above

Winery website

This sounds fairly oaky and low acid. Fans of the cult-style Napa cabs, this one's for you!

Really like to know a bit more about this; given the high brix and pH and unstated ABV, can this really age as claimed...?

klezman wrote:This sounds fairly oaky and low acid. Fans of the cult-style Napa cabs, this one's for you!

rjquillin wrote:Really like to know a bit more about this; given the high brix and pH and unstated ABV, can this really age...?

Had a chance to try the reserve with some friends in CT (the state).
Here are some notes:

Decanted for four hours, and it needed more
Oaky (aged in 100% new oak it turns out)
Dark fruit nose – dark berry and cassis
Strong tannins; seemed dusty reminiscent of a Rutherford wine
Slight bitter finish
This opened up more in day 2; still tannic, but oak had stepped back and let more fruit in
This wine clearly will benefit from some more aging given the long decant. Given how it showed on day 2, this should age to a nice wine.

Not much online on this wine, but what the hell, I'm in for 4!

Sounds like a tannin monster to me... Not a fan of that much oak unless I was one of the 3 little pigs. Some inconsistencies on their website too. The Reserve wine FAQ says aged in 50% new oak (Taransaud barrels), but on the main website, it says 100% new oak and no listing of the ABV?

rjquillin wrote:Really like to know a bit more about this; given the high brix and pH and unstated ABV, can this really age as claimed...?

It is interesting that they give you tons of info. On each wine in the specs tab but don't mention ABV anywhere, not even on the front label.

Edit: where's our designated cab guy to come buy all this up?

I received a bottle of the regular cab as a X-mas gift from a friend and tried it the other day...

Popped and poured a glass and sent the rest to decant for two hours, on the pop and pour the nose was plum's and blackberry and a little oak, taste was plum blackberry cassis, chocolate and a little bit of baking spice, the oak was not overbearing the fruit was out front. The tannin was very mild.

After two hours not much change other than the spice was pretty much gone. I believe the listed ABV was 15.2 but the fruit covered up the alcohol completely. I will say that due to the very mild acid this is a drink em up now wine. It would be a crowd pleaser at party's and at 22 bucks will not break the bank YMMV.

So, interestingly enough, Santa left a bottle of the regular Cab for me in my stocking this year. I happened to decide last week that Thursday night would be a good occasion to try this bottle, and what better to eat with a Cab, then a nice Ribeye. The occasion (and need to drink) become much more appropriate when I found out yesterday that a coworker and fairly close friend was leaving at the end of the month and moving out of town (not a good time to quit for an accountant, more stress and work for me).

Onto the wine. Pulled the cork and was blasted with wonderful dark cherry and currant aromas. My wife kept catching wiffs from the decanter while sauteeing the mushrooms and onions to go with the steak. We had a small taste right after opening and despite the intoxicating aroma, it was fairly muted and tight. Decanting was definitely in order and already in the process (there is some fine setiment that you will want to decant off anyway).

Once the soy (and other spices) marinated steaks and yellow squash were grilled to perfection, it was time to pour another glass. By this time the wine had begun to open up a bit more. It paired perfectly with the meal. Nice dark fruits, hints of leather, tobacco, spice/pepper and just a touch of oak. This wine was very well balanced, though at the time still seemed a bit muted and tight, with a short to medium finish.

After a little more time we each poured a bit more to enjoy with some Candy Basket Cabernet Truffles (WD, GET THESE). At this point, the wine has really opened up. Balanced and complex with the above notes more pronounced. The fruit fades a little and the leather and tobacco take a slight step forward. The finish has really evolved since first opening and is now medium to long, and very pleasant. While I think there is still some good tannin here, this wine seems to be drinking pretty well right now, and I would guess for another 2 years, though I think it would hold up 3-5 with no problem (I am no expert with aging though).

For all of you wooters, this reminded quite a bit of the Wellington Morhardt Ridge Cab I had about 2 months ago. IMHO, this would be great QPR at about $20 and still very good QPR at about $25 (making these notes in random anticipation of future woot offering, to copy and past if/when it occurs).

Based on my above QPR assessment, I had actually hoped the offer would be 2 of regular for $50. The fact that that $50 includes a bottle of the reserve makes this a no brainer for me.

Someone say Cab???
in for 2
Last Wooter to Woot:
fredrinaldi

rjquillin wrote:Really like to know a bit more about this; given the high brix and pH and unstated ABV, can this really age as claimed...?

Cesare posted the notes from our tasting. About a dozen wines, with a large group of people, so notes are not as extensive.

But this will definitely age some. After decanting about 7 hours, we poured the remaining quarter bottle or so back into the bottle and corked over night. I drank it the next evening and it was very nice. Much better balance. So I give the Reserve good aging potential. And would recommend a few years before opening or a long decant.

Had the chance to have the '06 reserve with a couple of friends on Wednesday night, and Thursday night also, even had a sip just now so I could write my opinions with a full picture.

My overall opinion of this wine is two fold... 1) Very high tannins and needs 2+ years before opening. 2) And this will sound odd, but I think it has multiple personality disorder.

Wed: popped the cork; poured. Dark red, thick, heavy coat on glass. Barely any arome could get through the smell of alcohol, but did get a sense of red/black fruit jam. Taste: In a word, awful. After 10 mins in the glass, one friend who admittedly knows a lot less about wine than even I do, said taste was mellow. I tried again and he was right. It was almost tastless.

My apologies, I was just recruited to take my parents dog to the vet, she's feeling really sick. I'll finish this in a couple of hours. Trust me, if you like multiple personality stories, you'll love what I have to share.....

mschauber wrote:Had the chance to have the '06 reserve with a couple of friends on Wednesday night, and Thursday night also, even had a sip just now so I could write my opinions with a full picture.

My overall opinion of this wine is two fold... 1) Very high tannins and needs 2+ years before opening. 2) And this will sound odd, but I think it has multiple personality disorder.

Wed: popped the cork; poured. Dark red, thick, heavy coat on glass. Barely any arome could get through the smell of alcohol, but did get a sense of red/black fruit jam. Taste: In a word, awful. After 10 mins in the glass, one friend who admittedly knows a lot less about wine than even I do, said taste was mellow. I tried again and he was right. It was almost tastless.

My apologies, I was just recruited to take my parents dog to the vet, she's feeling really sick. I'll finish this in a couple of hours. Trust me, if you like multiple personality stories, you'll love what I have to share.....

Cliffhanger. Though this may slow the pace of buying until you return. Hope all goes well.

tytiger58 wrote:I believe the listed ABV was 15.2 but the fruit covered up the alcohol completely. I will say that due to the very mild acid this is a drink em up now wine.

For the regular CS @ 25.6 Bx that sounds about right, but the Reserve @ 26.9 Bx suggests ABV somewhere in the high 15's to mid 16's unless there was some manipulation to lower it.
A couple or few years to smooth things out, sure, but I was questioning that 10~15 year statement. Really? Any chance we'll be getting some producer comments?

CT had the 2005 reserve at a community value of $56, but the 2006 reserve at $27. I know the community value is not exact and is a small sampling, but that seems such a large difference (and i just use that as a point of reference). Was 2006 as good a year as 2005 (in general) for Napa cabs?

polarbear22 wrote:Cliffhanger. Though this may slow the pace of buying until you return. Hope all goes well.

It definitely was nothing like that decanted... I think if you want to drink it now you'll need to pour a glass or so into the decanter, recork, do the power aerate, and then pour the rest into the decanter and leave sit a few hours though.

pfajardo19 wrote:Sounds like a tannin monster to me... Not a fan of that much oak unless I was one of the 3 little pigs. Some inconsistencies on their website too. The Reserve wine FAQ says aged in 50% new oak (Taransaud barrels), but on the main website, it says 100% new oak and no listing of the ABV?

It was oaked in 100% New French...don't let that scare you off! The oak is not over-powering. The fruit is still the all-star player here. John is a phenomenal winemaker and pays much attention to every little detail ensuring a well-rounded wine!

tytiger58 wrote:I received a bottle of the regular cab as a X-mas gift from a friend and tried it the other day...

Popped and poured a glass and sent the rest to decant for two hours, on the pop and pour the nose was plum's and blackberry and a little oak, taste was plum blackberry cassis, chocolate and a little bit of baking spice, the oak was not overbearing the fruit was out front. The tannin was very mild.

After two hours not much change other than the spice was pretty much gone. I believe the listed ABV was 15.2 but the fruit covered up the alcohol completely. I will say that due to the very mild acid this is a drink em up now wine. It would be a crowd pleaser at party's and at 22 bucks will not break the bank YMMV.

Thank you for your lovely notes! -Salexis

free2day33611 wrote:CT had the 2005 reserve at a community value of $56, but the 2006 reserve at $27. I know the community value is not exact and is a small sampling, but that seems such a large difference (and i just use that as a point of reference). Was 2006 as good a year as 2005 (in general) for Napa cabs?

2006 suffered from being sandwiched in between two very good years, 07 being better than 05. 06 was a more restrained year and will, IMO, be better right about now compared to when it was released. It's a tough sell because people remembered 05 and were looking forward to 07. Poor 06.

North316 wrote:So, interestingly enough, Santa left a bottle of the regular Cab for me in my stocking this year. I happened to decide last week that Thursday night would be a good occasion to try this bottle, and what better to eat with a Cab, then a nice Ribeye. The occasion (and need to drink) become much more appropriate when I found out yesterday that a coworker and fairly close friend was leaving at the end of the month and moving out of town (not a good time to quit for an accountant, more stress and work for me).

Onto the wine. Pulled the cork and was blasted with wonderful dark cherry and currant aromas. My wife kept catching wiffs from the decanter while sauteeing the mushrooms and onions to go with the steak. We had a small taste right after opening and despite the intoxicating aroma, it was fairly muted and tight. Decanting was definitely in order and already in the process (there is some fine setiment that you will want to decant off anyway).

Once the soy (and other spices) marinated steaks and yellow squash were grilled to perfection, it was time to pour another glass. By this time the wine had begun to open up a bit more. It paired perfectly with the meal. Nice dark fruits, hints of leather, tobacco, spice/pepper and just a touch of oak. This wine was very well balanced, though at the time still seemed a bit muted and tight, with a short to medium finish.

After a little more time we each poured a bit more to enjoy with some Candy Basket Cabernet Truffles (WD, GET THESE). At this point, the wine has really opened up. Balanced and complex with the above notes more pronounced. The fruit fades a little and the leather and tobacco take a slight step forward. The finish has really evolved since first opening and is now medium to long, and very pleasant. While I think there is still some good tannin here, this wine seems to be drinking pretty well right now, and I would guess for another 2 years, though I think it would hold up 3-5 with no problem (I am no expert with aging though).

For all of you wooters, this reminded quite a bit of the Wellington Morhardt Ridge Cab I had about 2 months ago. IMHO, this would be great QPR at about $20 and still very good QPR at about $25 (making these notes in random anticipation of future woot offering, to copy and past if/when it occurs).

Based on my above QPR assessment, I had actually hoped the offer would be 2 of regular for $50. The fact that that $50 includes a bottle of the reserve makes this a no brainer for me.

Wow. What a review! Thank you for your feedback and eloquent description of the wine. You are right. This deal can't be beat with the Reserve Cab thrown in there. The regular Cab is already a stunner. I hope the wooters read your review. Although the wines are oaky it does not overpower the quality and taste of the fruit. Baby tannins and complex enhanced-fruit! Cheers

mschauber wrote:Had the chance to have the '06 reserve with a couple of friends on Wednesday night, and Thursday night also, even had a sip just now so I could write my opinions with a full picture.

My overall opinion of this wine is two fold... 1) Very high tannins and needs 2+ years before opening. 2) And this will sound odd, but I think it has multiple personality disorder.

Wed: popped the cork; poured. Dark red, thick, heavy coat on glass. Barely any arome could get through the smell of alcohol, but did get a sense of red/black fruit jam. Taste: In a word, awful. After 10 mins in the glass, one friend who admittedly knows a lot less about wine than even I do, said taste was mellow. I tried again and he was right. It was almost tastless.

My apologies, I was just recruited to take my parents dog to the vet, she's feeling really sick. I'll finish this in a couple of hours. Trust me, if you like multiple personality stories, you'll love what I have to share.....

OK, I'm back. A small fortune for some xrays showed my parents dog to have a bronchial infection. Antibiotics and antiinflammatories for 2 weeks and she should be all better. It's amazing how large a 13lbs dogs heart looks on an xray, compared the the rest of her body. Much higher ratio of heart to body size than a human...

Anyway, back to the story... I poured a little more into the glass and it was awful again. And unlike the previous pour, it did not improve this time, even after swirling on and off for 10 mins. Poured another glass and just let it sit for an hour. Didn't want to decant the whole bottle BC it looked like it needed plenty of air time and we'd have it the next day with some nice steak dinners.

An hr later and no real change, other than the aroma was less of alcohol and more jammy. We had dinner an hour later and the aromas has slightly changed. It now smelled like, of all thing, blackberry jam and hot Sake. Yes, sake. Taste on the other hand was still quite hot, seemed pretty simple and my unsophisticated palate could not pick up anything of interest.

So, I left the bottle opened and figured day 2 would be better. In the AM a sniff from the bottle was very encouraging. I could now make out rasberries and i could swear a touch of bluberry pie as well. Poured a tiny amount to test. In the glass, nothing but alcohol again on the nose. (I swear, the wine is psychophrenic, not me!). Taste had not changed from the night before; verry tannic and high alcohol. Maybe a little oak or ceder, but that could have been my desire more than reality.

So I decanted the bottle (BTW, the bottle has been uncorked this whole time,) and left it for the day. Poured a glass before dinner and aromas were nice with a mix of red and black berries, a touch of chocolate and a slight floral scent. Color and consistency had not changed.Taste had not changed much. This really needs more time in the cellar.

Food did make a little difference this time around though. Like previous night, we started with some Vella Monterey jack. I love this cheese. The wine seemed to lose it's harshness, had some leather with dark berry fruit smeared on top taste. Not to my liking, butone friend said it was drinkable. Moving onto ggrilled steaks and the alcohol seemed to return, but now had a nicer fresh rasberies and cocoa taste. Aromas were not changing with food or time.

I left the bottle with my friend as she said it wasdrinkable and would probably have it over the next couple of days. For me, I was disappointed. I've become a big cab fan, no like Fred though ;) and had high hopes for this. It may just be way too young. At this price point though, if you can cellar it for a couple plus years, it may reward you. I'm so over stocked as it is, that I'm not going in for any now, but if I had a half empty locker, I'd probably get 1 for curiosities sake...

free2day33611 wrote:CT had the 2005 reserve at a community value of $56, but the 2006 reserve at $27. I know the community value is not exact and is a small sampling, but that seems such a large difference (and i just use that as a point of reference). Was 2006 as good a year as 2005 (in general) for Napa cabs?

The 2005 Cab were stellar. I would say that the 2006 were still really good. Maybe a 90pt Cab in 06 versus a 95pt Cab in 05. The 06 Cabs can get lost between the stand-out vintages of 05 and 07. Nevertheless, these wines are well-made, created to age and with impeccable wine-making skills. John is hands-on and detail-oriented. Working next to Warren Winarski for ten years during the 83-93 vintages says it all!

Hey Woot Community! Thank you for your active participation in the discussion today. We love us some wine geeks;) To give you some background Salexis is a boutique winery in the heart of Napa Valley. It is a labor of love for John and Ann Gibson. John is a well-known, long-time winemaker of the area. He graduated from UC Davis with a degree in enology and has been working in the Napa wine region since 1981! Clearly, his experience is priceless.

Most notably, John worked alongside Warren Winarski of Stags Leap as their associate winemaker from vintages 1983-1993. From there he went on to be the winemaker at Vine Cliff Winery.

Since then John has had his hand involved in quite a few other wineries. Salexis is his very own boutique and family-owned winery, which focuses on the making of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

John pays impeccable detail to the winemaking process and focuses on the enhancement of the fruit. All the while he does age his wines in French Oak adding toasty notes and tannins. He makes his wines to age. These are the kind of wines you want to decant and re-visit over a few days or allow to sit for a bit in your cellar.

Salexis produces small quantities of hand-crafted wines. This deal will not last long! We will be logging on throughout the day to answer your questions or comment on your feedback.

We thank you for your participation, enthusiasm and curiosity! Happy New Years and Cheers

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON ABV:
2006 Salexis Cab Sauv 15.7%
2006 Salexis Reserve Cab Sauv 15.8%

mschauber wrote:OK, I'm back.

I don't remember all the details, this was a few wines in to things ;)

My experience with the 06 Reserve (had been decanted for 4hrs remember) was nothing like that. It did not smell like alcohol and was quite nice, though still really tight.

It's definitely a different style from, say, a Corison Napa- way more oak. I don't have the experience watching wines age to be able to tell if it will all nit together and make a beautiful CS in another 5-10 years, or if the fruit will fade more quickly then all that oak knits together, but for $30ish it seems like a good risk if you like well oaked CS!

free2day33611 wrote:CT had the 2005 reserve at a community value of $56, but the 2006 reserve at $27. I know the community value is not exact and is a small sampling, but that seems such a large difference (and i just use that as a point of reference). Was 2006 as good a year as 2005 (in general) for Napa cabs?

that's bc some wooters have already updated their cellar from this offer (2006). CT takes the average the community is paying.

Happy New Year to me. In for two,you Silver Tounged Devils you. X

What kind of cellar time is recommended for each of these wines.

Need more specific information than "Allow them to sit for a bit"

Anybody.....Does Woot ship wine to Oklahoma?? I am finding that NO COMPANY will ship to Oklahoma and the wines here...well...suck!

With a pH of almost 4 this wine will never be a good food wine. At this price easy pass

bobrush12866 wrote:What kind of cellar time is recommended for each of these wines.

Need more specific information than "Allow them to sit for a bit"

I would recommend allowing the reserve to age a few years more...as for the regular 06 Cab I would decant for at least an hour to allow the complexity of the wine to open up a bit. Cheers!

jackteal wrote:Anybody.....Does Woot ship wine to Oklahoma?? I am finding that NO COMPANY will ship to Oklahoma and the wines here...well...suck!

Better find a woot legger.

jackteal wrote:Anybody.....Does Woot ship wine to Oklahoma?? I am finding that NO COMPANY will ship to Oklahoma and the wines here...well...suck!

Sorry Oklahoma:/

mschauber wrote:OK, I'm back. A small fortune for some xrays showed my parents dog to have a bronchial infection. Antibiotics and antiinflammatories for 2 weeks and she should be all better. It's amazing how large a 13lbs dogs heart looks on an xray, compared the the rest of her body. Much higher ratio of heart to body size than a human...

Anyway, back to the story... I poured a little more into the glass and it was awful again. And unlike the previous pour, it did not improve this time, even after swirling on and off for 10 mins. Poured another glass and just let it sit for an hour. Didn't want to decant the whole bottle BC it looked like it needed plenty of air time and we'd have it the next day with some nice steak dinners.

An hr later and no real change, other than the aroma was less of alcohol and more jammy. We had dinner an hour later and the aromas has slightly changed. It now smelled like, of all thing, blackberry jam and hot Sake. Yes, sake. Taste on the other hand was still quite hot, seemed pretty simple and my unsophisticated palate could not pick up anything of interest.

So, I left the bottle opened and figured day 2 would be better. In the AM a sniff from the bottle was very encouraging. I could now make out rasberries and i could swear a touch of bluberry pie as well. Poured a tiny amount to test. In the glass, nothing but alcohol again on the nose. (I swear, the wine is psychophrenic, not me!). Taste had not changed from the night before; verry tannic and high alcohol. Maybe a little oak or ceder, but that could have been my desire more than reality.

So I decanted the bottle (BTW, the bottle has been uncorked this whole time,) and left it for the day. Poured a glass before dinner and aromas were nice with a mix of red and black berries, a touch of chocolate and a slight floral scent. Color and consistency had not changed.Taste had not changed much. This really needs more time in the cellar.

Food did make a little difference this time around though. Like previous night, we started with some Vella Monterey jack. I love this cheese. The wine seemed to lose it's harshness, had some leather with dark berry fruit smeared on top taste. Not to my liking, butone friend said it was drinkable. Moving onto ggrilled steaks and the alcohol seemed to return, but now had a nicer fresh rasberies and cocoa taste. Aromas were not changing with food or time.

I left the bottle with my friend as she said it wasdrinkable and would probably have it over the next couple of days. For me, I was disappointed. I've become a big cab fan, no like Fred though ;) and had high hopes for this. It may just be way too young. At this price point though, if you can cellar it for a couple plus years, it may reward you. I'm so over stocked as it is, that I'm not going in for any now, but if I had a half empty locker, I'd probably get 1 for curiosities sake...

I am sorry to hear that you were left disappointed. I have heard an array of odd descriptions but comparing wine to a psych patient is definitely a new one!

Perhaps this just wasn't the wine to pair with a sick dog situation...to each their own I suppose! Cheers

I've never been fan of high alcohol & highly tanning wines, but this offering certainly intrigues me. I have a few bottles of 2006 Solovino Cabernet and 2006 Pina Cellars Diadamo Vineyard Cabernet and both are excellent (yes, very tannic but given some air, both are fruit forward and delicious). My girlfriend bought me a wine fridge for Christmas and I haven't even opened it yet so let me re-arrange the wine racks and I'll contemplate about purchasing some bottles.

Can you tell the fruit source for this wine and vine age? Thanks!

The big orange button is pulsating. Time to make your decision.

mibuwolf83 wrote:I've never been fan of high alcohol & highly tanning wines, but this offering certainly intrigues me. I have a few bottles of 2006 Solovino Cabernet and 2006 Pina Cellars Diadamo Vineyard Cabernet and both are excellent (yes, very tannic but given some air, both are fruit forward and delicious). My girlfriend bought me a wine fridge for Christmas and I haven't even opened it yet so let me re-arrange the wine racks and I'll contemplate about purchasing some bottles.

Can you tell the fruit source for this wine and vine age? Thanks!

The Napa Valley Cab is 65% Coombsville, planted in 1994, and 35% Oak Knoll planted in 1999. The Reserve Cab comes from the steepest section of the Coombsville Vineyard. Hope this helps you push the button! Cheers

I just had the non-reserve bottle and it wasn't any better then a Rodney Strong 2009 Cab, disappointing