WARNING: This content may contain bias, snobbery, and iconoclastic views.
Almost every time I roll into Napa Valley, I'm struck by several things. The first is how "privileged" I should feel to have the opportunity to taste their wines. Lo, I should pay for the privilege of being in California! I call up one winery (of whom I've never heard) to make a tasting appointment and they have the unmitigated arrogance of exclusivity to require that I pay $100 per person to taste their wines. It made me want to puke. When this wind of superiority and elitism blows across my path, I feel the urge to cut through it with my $90K Jaguar and yell "Go F#&k Yourself!" out the window. {Ironic, I know. That's why it's funny.}
You know, I don't really mean to drop this entire load on Cakebread and, truth be told, there are a good number of wineries in Napa Valley for whom I have a great deal of respect. (Freemark Abbey, Conn Creek, Cuvaison, to name a few) Today, however, Cakebread set me off, because this whole self-effacing image that they tried to portray - characterizing themselves as the biggest small winery - just comes across as disingenuous and haughty. Don't stand there and tell me the owner characterizes his annual production of 145,000 cases as "small". There are reputable wineries with better price points on their wines who won't produce that much wine in their family's generation! AARRGH! ...enough already.
Everything the pourer told us ran contrary to what we’ve learned over the years. For example, he indicated that the smooth creaminess of a chardonnay mouthfeel is attributed to the malolactic fermentation (or conversion, as he put it). Funny, the rest of us have been told that it's attributed to the measure of French oak being used in the fermentation process. Having personally consumed chardonnays from 100% French oak next to chardonnays from 100% stainless steel, I have empirical data to support my position. Moreover, he indicated that their chardonnay was more consistent with the French style (meaning lighter and having more minerality), which it wasn’t (because it didn't). It was early in the tasting series where he lost me as he tried to impart to us the notes of green apple on the "small production of 90,000 cases" of chardonnay. Nobody in the group got those notes, either.
I'm strangely amused by their wine club discount of 12%. Not 10%, nor 15%...not even something standard, like 20%. More dumbshit Napa Valley antics... They come in all forms. But, enough ranting...
2011 Sauvignon Blanc $24/$22/$10
Intense lemon zest on the palate. No acidity.
2010 Napa Valley Chardonnay $37/$34/$24
Buttery lemon nose. Medium viscosity. The palate is smooth,
creamy, and welcoming with little-to-no acidity. The lemon peeks through on the
palate.
2009 Chardonnay Carneros $55/$49/$29
Very tropical, melony aromas (perhaps even some pineapple).
Extremely smooth with no acidity, but no creaminess like the previous wine.
There is a little oakiness to it. The
palate comes across with a tart finish but no apple to it.
2009 Merlot $54/$49/$32
95% merlot/5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Bright black currant, cherry,and blackberry flow freely over
the lip of the glass. The fruit is
thinner on the palate than it is on the nose, leaving a slight disappointment.
It’s carried well enough with a subtle oak note that leaves a dusty finish. The
light-to-medium body that this wine has allows the alcohol to dominate.
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon $60/$53/$42
Bright raspberry notes, again, with notes of plum. The fruit
is deep on the palate, but there’s very little-to-no tannic backbone. This has
a red currant and mildly velvet finish. The body is thinner than I prefer in a
Cabernet Sauvignon but it’s not so thin that it’s considered delicate. The nose is reminiscent of a zinfandel fruit
bomb.
2009 Napa Valley Syrah $55/$49/$35
Carneros syrah. Very
deep black currant bouquet. No real spice to it.
The little bit of earth is not enough to make this a good full syrah. It
has a full body with a simple blackberry and earth palate.
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