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