TASTING NOTES
Our blind tasting included over 30 Napa cabernets, almost entirely from the 2001-2003 vintages. (Vintage depended on current release and availability.) Below is our list of the 10 best. A couple other wines scored nearly as well, including the Beringer 2002 Private Reserve and the Fisher Vineyards 2001 “Coach Insignia.”

Flora Springs 2003 Napa Valley ($30): This top contender, from the St. Helena winery founded in 1978 by Jerry and Flora Komes, and developed by their children, John Komes and Julie Garvey, has the benefit of being one of the most affordable bottles we tasted. It even beat out its more expensive sibling, the Flora Springs 2003 Rutherford Hillside Reserve ($100). Defined by a dusty, dry-wood character from 24 months in oak, it’s a chewy wine that still needs time to unfold. Black fruit wraps around a forceful structure, with raspy tannins on the end.

Chateau Montelena 2002 “Montelena Estate” ($95): Montelena’s current incarnation dates back to 1972, when owner James Barrett hired winemaker Mike Grgich. Its crowning moment came when the Montelena 1973 chardonnay took top honors in Paris, a triumph for which both men, now estranged, continue to claim credit. Tougher times came two years ago, when the Wine Spectator alleged that Montelena’s cellars were rife with the compound that causes corked wine. The Calistoga winery spent months defending its long-established reputation. Their latest estate bottling is rich, dense, peppery and perfumed, with scents of dry herbs and graphite. Tastes a bit light up front, with a tart finish but terrific presence and definition. Savory, elegant and ready to evolve over the years.

Clos du Val 2002 Stags’ Leap Oak Vineyard ($62): The pricier of Clos du Val’s bottlings harnesses the supple, wind-cooled fruit and loamy soils of the Stags Leap area. A heavy oak presence, despite just 50 percent in new barrels, but there are also scents of fresh dried branches and graphite (one taster wondered if there was cabernet franc in the mix; there isn’t). A dense, complex structure overshadows any clear fruit flavors, but the style offers a big nod to left-bank Bordeaux, and shows great aging potential.

Clos du Val 2003 Napa Valley ($30): The winery’s cheaper bottling was no slouch either. Rich, filled with herbal complexity (and, again, an unmistakable dose of oak), it finishes bright and long. Still wound a bit tight and coming together, but it’s evolving into a beauty.

Rubicon 2002 Rutherford ($100): The Rutherford estate’s history dates back to 1880, when Gustave Niebaum purchased the Ingleno ok property. But this top-level bottle so defines Francis Ford Coppola’s winery that what had been Niebaum-Coppola was renamed Rubicon Estate. The latest incarnation is built around 90 percent cabernet sauvignon, with cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot accounting for the rest. It’s thick and silky, with zesty overtones above the dark ripe fruit and a well-concealed use of 100 percent new French oak. Full of finesse, though almost too soft.

Mt. Veeder Winery 2003 Napa Valley ($40): Now owned by major player Constellation Brands, this hilltop winery outside Napa got its start in the mid-‘60s, with a first commercial vintage in 1973. Napa’s mountain wines often have a reputation for tough tannins, but they’re under control here. Full of blackberry and toasted oak, it’s a bit obvious at moments, but with beautiful thickness, terrific purity of fruit and a fine finish. “Classic Pauillac,” noted Pratt.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 2002 S.L.V. Napa Valley ($110): Warren Winiarski’s winery has been a Napa pace-setter ever since his 1973 took honors in Paris. At a time when Napa faces endless corporate pressures, Winiarski has retained his relatively small boutique status. The current S.L.V. hails from the same Stags Leap District vineyard that produced the famed ’73, though for the ’02 vintage the plot was in the midst of replanting. It’s weighty and fragrant with burnt herbs and dusty cherries, with a bright core of acidity and slightly grainy tannic punch that lingers pleasantly on the finish.

Silverado Vineyards 2002 Napa Valley ($40): This majestic-looking Silverado Trail winery opened in 1981 and makes my frequent Napa-Disney comparison more literal than figurative: Its founders were Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, her husband, Ron Miller, and Walt’s widow Lillian. Their 300-plus acres include impressive swaths of Stags Leap land. The wine reveals massive licorice and menthol scents, with hints of cassis, a precisely defined structure and fine gripping tannins. Not the most profound bottle, but hardly a Mickey Mouse effort. (Knew that was coming.)

Freemark Abbey 2001 Napa Valley ($35): Until 1939, this St. Helena winery was known as Tychson Cellars, the first California winery operated by a woman. Ownership has traded around ever since, though its current holding company, Legacy Estate Group, filed for Chapter 11 last November. Opinion was split on this relative value pick, with its elegance, rich fruit and subtle, perfumed nose as selling points, but also a slightly musty note and a sharp finish detracting from the package.

Beaulieu Vineyard 2002 “Georges de Latour Private Reserve” Napa Valley ($85): It’s hard to find a more pedigreed Napa winery than the 106-year-old Beaulieu, founded by Georges de Latour and cemented in history when in 1938 de Latour hired winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff, soon to be a legend in American winemaking. Now owned by Diageo, the winery often known as BV is better known for its value wines. But this namesake reserve has long been its hallmark, a sign of the best Napa could produce. Opinions were sharply split, with one taster gushing over its “explosive” potential, but several of us taking issue with a reductive, drab quality. Alluring, but also pungent and merlot-like, despite being 100 percent Cab. (N.B., The more affordable Beaulieu 2003 Rutherford ($25) tied for the lowest slot in our tasting.)
   

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