O'Shaughnessy Howell Mountain 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, $51.74-$79.99, 95 points, doesn't display the color of crushed black currant and blackberry until it laps at the leggy glass wall (almost black throughout) where it terminates with a transparent rim; you might want to decant or let this wine stand upright for a day or two before opening (debris).
With a magnificent bouquet of warm brownies, flowers, marzipan, and sea breezes, this is a fragrance to "bottle".
Full bodied, luscious, opulent and so much more, O'Shaughnessy Howell Mountain 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon improved over night. This Cabernet was more a tactile experience than a flavor experience, though deep black fruit and blueberry were rich and cola notes lively, the acids were good and the tannin blanketed like a down comforter.
Finished long on the trailing palate and climaxed with spice and a perfectly integrated 14.8% alcohol.
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I have to get up to O'Shaugnessy for a tasting, have been meaning too for the past 2 years!!! But always find some other chore or errand, on my days off, that keep me down valley...
ReplyDeleteThis CS sounds delightful.
My son loved it too, and I gave him a glass of one of the other cabs I'm tasting and he called it trash in comparison; it's very difficult to drink some of these REALLY good Cabs and then open a far inferior one which just seems to fall flat!
DeleteThis was the last bottle anywhere around here, and because I didn't know a thing about this winery, it took that big discount to move me, and now I wished I'd had bought more when they were available.
Oh well, there are always future vintages to look forward to.
DeleteA lot of people criticise the high cost of some Napa Cabs, but really with Napa Valley Cabernets you generally get what you pay for (this cannot be said of other varietals).
Vinogirl, I've never tasted so many really good Cabs as I've been tasting in this series, and you sure are right about getting what you pay for; at $52, you'd be hard pressed to find as good a Bordeaux for that price as this Cab., though the Château Cantemerle, Grand Cru Classé en 1855, Haut-Médoc 2010 red Bordeaux would be an exception, and of this Bordeaux I bought 2 for the cellar.
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