Beth Nickel was in town last night introducing her 2007 Cabernet line- up. All were impressive but these were my favorites:
2007 N&N Sullenger Ranch-The home vineyard for Nickel and Nickel. Smooth ripe and lush, black cherries over a medium frame. Nice fine tannins. Drink now for the next 8-10 years.2007 Branding Iron Vineyard-Blackberry and cassis with a minty finish. Smooth and supple can be pleasing now or layed down for a few years.
2007 Voght Vineyard-Howell Mountain fruit. A bit chewy compared to the other two. Deep black fruit core. More complexity with tobacco notes and a strong menthol note on the finish.We drank 7 cabs, the 2008 Serby Chardonnay from Nickel and Nickel which was bright clean, lemony and mineral driven. Russian River complexity in the fruit. and we also had the 2008 Pinot Noir from N&N called En Route. A bit oaky for me at first but the oak blew off showing nice red fruit especially red raspberry. It reminded me a little bit of Volnay with a frim acidity and substantial mineral note.
A nice evening.