Hi-Ho, Sauvignon, Away!
Howdy, there. Some say Nils Venge is just a legend, a myth, a tall tale that vineboys tell each other at night around the campfire. But I’m here to tell you, he’s real. Just ask anybody who saw him ride into Napa Valley back in the ‘70s, when it was still wild country. Somehow, this mysterious stranger knew how to hone a fine Cabernet Sauvignon when most everybody else round these parts thought a Cab was just something that took you to the airport.
Now he rides his ranch up at Oakville Estate, taking dead aim at one Cabernet Sauvignon recipe every year, like he has since ‘82. He never misses. And all the stories they tell about him – about how the ‘88 Cab he made for Groth Winery was first California wine to score 100 from Sheriff Robert Parker, Jr. – well, I reckon they’re all true.
Sometimes, on a night just like this, if you happen to be at just the right online wine hangout, you can still find his Saddleback Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. Maybe it’ll be the 2003, where mostly Nils’s dry-farmed Oakville grapes mix with a little bit of prime Rutherford fruit. The heady allspice and cassis aromas set the coyotes to howling, while the jammy black fruit flavors with hints of almond and caramel send them back to dreamland with a smile on their faces.
Or maybe you’ll find the 2004, where a little splash of Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc put a new wrinkle in the dry-farmed Oakville-meets-Rutherford recipe. He’d never done anything like that before, old Nils. But judging by the bright, fragrant bouquet of blueberries and violets, and the notes of oak, chocolate, coconut, and smoke on the palate, he knew what he was doing. Don’t he always?
And maybe, if the stars are really smiling on you, if the big grape-wrangler in the sky takes a shine to you, you’ll find both the 2003 and 2004 in one night. (That’s a 90 and a 92 in Wine Advocate, if you’re the type to cipher up such things.) If that happens, you want to grab ‘em both like the reins of a mustang and hold on for the ride. Since these Cabs are only gonna get better over the next 10 years, the ride might be a long one.
Features
2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
- Napa Valley
- Racked into both French and American oak barrels and left to age for two years
- 1693 cases were bottled on Dec 1, 2005
- Average Sugar24.8 BRIX
- Acidity: 0.6 g/100ml
- pH: 3.45
2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
- Napa Valley
- Racked into 65% new French and American barrels and left to age for two years
- 1693 cases were bottled on December 1, 2006
- Average Sugar: 23.8 BRIX
- Acidity: 0.6 g/100ml
- pH: 3.38 units
Specs
03 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon04 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Specs
03 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon04 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Sales Stats
- Speed to First Woot:
- 0m 10.000s
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