There are a lot of “show” wines out there (as in, wines styled to wow the critics), but one of the things many of these wines lack is drinkability. The most highly-praised wines are often the “biggest,” wearing their ultra-ripeness and expensive oak aging like badges of honor. They blow away competitors at professional tastings, but what happens when you actually drink the wine, at dinner—does it blow you away, along with everything on the table?
For me, the story of this 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet from Carte Blanche is not its technical perfection, impeccable vineyard sourcing, or even its elegant star winemaker, Helen Keplinger—it’s the fact that, long after first tasting it, I kept going back to it. It’s a powerful wine, sure, but not so monolithic that I tired of it after one glass. When Napa Cabernet is “on” like this, it’s hard to imagine any wine delivering more pure pleasure. It’s not merely “impressive,” it’s drinkable, and isn’t that paramount? I sure think so. In my opinion, this wine is a near-perfect expression of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It is not to be missed!
This wine checks all the boxes when it comes to luxury-level Napa Cabernet, including 18 months’ aging in 100% new French oak, but as I noted above, its sense of proportion sets it apart. In the glass it is opaque and almost black in color, with magenta highlights at the rim. Though it is buttressed with small percentages of Petit Verdot (6%) and Cabernet Franc (1%), this wine is a master class in Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics: blackberry, blueberry, lots of cassis, wet violets, clove, pencil lead, tobacco, and loamy earth all show up on the nose, and on the full-bodied palate as well. What really attracted me to this wine—and kept me going back to it—was its pitch-perfect balance of sweet and savory elements and its grainy, polished tannins. So many wines at this level skew sweet and syrupy; this one not only avoided that fate, it has real energy that suggests a long life ahead. If you are opening one now, decant it at least an hour before serving at 60 degrees in Bordeaux stems (the slightly cooler temperature will tame any alcohol heat and allow the wine’s chewy texture to shine). I expect that this wine will enter its peak drinking years around its 10th birthday, and should reward cellaring well beyond that. But, perhaps most important of all, this will actually complement—rather than dominate—food. Check out this recipe for balsamic-glazed steak rolls; there are a lot of kindred flavors going on there. Bravo to the whole Carte Blanche team!