2007 Myriad Cellars, Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
In Lecce, California wines are hard to come by. 6 months ago when I moved here from San Francisco, I didn't mind so much, but now I'm a bit Cabernet and Pinot-starved. Luckily, my friend Andrew, software engineer extraordinaire, visited us from Palo Alto, California, and brought along an incredible bottle of California Cab with him. It took my girlfriend Kristin and I on a quick sip back home.Andrew grew up on a cattle ranch in the Central Coast, and he grilled up a few Italian-raised steaks to accompany the wine. Kristin whipped up a parmesan polenta and I made balsamic-marinated vegetable skewers. It was my first time pairing steak and Cabernet Sauvignon, but that makes sense since I've only eaten steak twice: I was raised vegetarian. Back in my veggie days, I always noticed a strange gleam that would creep into the eyes of animal eaters when they talked about STEAK. Quite simply, it's like no other flavor on earth, just like the Myriad Cellars's Cab.
The nose was dark, dark, dark with chocolate, tobacco, and a hint of vanilla. The first sip revealed that wine needed more time to breathe--even after 30 minutes. The mouthfeel was pure silk and it was medium bodied. As the wine opened up it was intensely mineral: It had chalk on the finish and a slight metallic tinge in the front of the mouth. Other flavors were cola and cedar. The most striking component of the wine was an encompassing finish of spice and tannin. The tannins were particularly even, reminding me of why Cabernet Sauvignon is such a wonderful grape.
The Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard in Napa Valley is gaining a huge following from winemakers and consumers alike. Myriad Cellars, of course, has its own believers.
Comments
The way I rate wines on this blog is based on bang for your buck. Some of the best scoring wines are not necessarily the best wines on earth, instead they show excellent qualities and excellent prices. See http://bythetun.blogspot.com/2009/07/best-of-best-wines-of-puglia.html
for more.
This is the only 2007 I tasted, as my friend brought it with him in his suitcase from California to Italy. Scores 30 probably. Great finish and well balanced, but $95 price tag leaves me with my jaw on the floor. Thanks for the comment.
This is the anonymous from above. I liked your link to the other wines looks like you have a 10 point scoring system. Everyone has their own approach. To me $95 is a little on the high side but compared to Bryant and Araujo ect.. which are $300 plus it doesn't seem so bad. My approach to scoring is not knowing the price at all and just rate the wine for what it is. That is why I usually blind taste score my wines. Thanks for the note though sounds promising. So if you wiped away price lets say all the wines you had on your 1 to 10 score were $5.00 what would you score the Myriad Dr. Crane. That should give me a better idea. Thanks again for posting I had yet to see any notes on this wine and I have a couple dozen coming.
Irrelevant of price and my person flavor preferences: 85 for being well crafted and consistent.