Last weekend was my 5th wedding anniversary. My wife and I drove up to
McCall -- a small resort-type town on Lake Payette, in the central part of
western Idaho. It was beautiful and relaxing, etc. McCall is in the middle
of some serious game hunting and cattle raising land so we were hoping to
get some high quality game or beef. Sadly, we couldn't find anything too
exciting. We grilled some lamb chops and split a bottle of 1996 Napanook --
it's the second wine from Dominus Estate in Napa Valley. It's mostly
cabernet sauvignon. Here are my notes:

Medium to light ruby in color, with a little browning at the edges.
Immediate and strong nose of cedar, cherry liqueur, and some kind of mixed
spices I couldn't identify. Eventually, I noticed a bit of a menthol type
note which didn't last more than 20 minutes. It made me think of the
eucalyptus characteristic some people describe in older vintages of Heitz
Martha's Vineyard -- except it was not real strong and was more menthol.
But that's what it made me think of.

The tannins were maturing and softened -- faded from the mid-palate but more
noticeable as the fruit faded from my palate.

On the palate, the fruit was fairly intense but not as pure as a finer
cabernet would be. With time, maybe a half an hour or 45 minutes, the fruit
became richer and what I described as "dusty". I don't really know how to
describe it other than that it reminded me of the term "Rutherford Dust" --
it was all Napa Valley and would never be mistaken for a Bordeaux. I mean
that as a compliment to Napa and not a jab at Bordeaux. The wine had real
character in it. Overall, it reminded me of a 1989 BV Georges de Latour I
had about two years ago.

The Napanoook is drinking very well right now and seems like it has plenty
of time left. If I had more I'd drink now and over the next 4 or 5 years.

I paid USD37 for the Napanook at an Albertson's grocery store here in Boise.
They have a few more so I think I'll pick up another bottle. Maybe I'll buy
the Dominus Estate someday.

Rob Adelson

Thanks Rob for the notes. I don't think I've ever bought the Napanook, but at
tastings I've generally thought it a pretty decent example of California Cab.
In general I find that a lot of the standard 1996s (if not the "marquee"
bottlings) are entering a nice drinking window now. You may have inspired me to
open one soon. Anyone had a recent experience with Sebastiani, Clos du Val, or
BV Rutherford?
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
: Thanks Rob for the notes. I don't think I've ever bought the Napanook, but
at
: tastings I've generally thought it a pretty decent example of California
Cab.
: In general I find that a lot of the standard 1996s (if not the "marquee"
: bottlings) are entering a nice drinking window now. You may have inspired
me to
: open one soon. Anyone had a recent experience with Sebastiani, Clos du
Val, or
: BV Rutherford?
: Dale
:
: Dale Williams
: Drop "damnspam" to reply

I don't have anything constructive to add about the 96s, but I'm wondering
if anyone has experience with the Kenwood Artist Series Cab. I have one
bottle of the 96 and a couple of bottles of the 97.

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