Confusion and Mystery Surround Magic Door (Napa Valley) Cabernet Sauvingon
Magic Door Napa Valley Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Ninety-Plus Cellars assign a 'Lot Number' to each label to identify that distinctive offering and to follow that label from vintage to vintage. They break from that convention here and as a result that method of tracking or following a particular source of product is lost.
Here, Magic Door Napa Valley Cabernet 2017 is different from the 2105 release in that this is attributed to be sourced from Rutherford while the latter was said to be sourced from Oakville.
If they set upon this approach to add clarity, they've achieved the opposite in their less precise branding. I can only imagine they did this to add a sense of cache or elan to the brand, a premium level vs. the standard Ninety Plus Cellars.
However, if that were their objective, why would they associate the new Magic Door branding with the old Ninety Plus Cellars? I'm paying attention, I am in the dark as to their strategy. Hopefully this will be clarified through further research, correspondence or disclosures.
Of the 2015 Magic Door Cabernet they write, "This full-bodied Cabernet comes from a top producer in one of Napa's most elite AVAs. We were able to put together a small allocation of this wine under the Magic Door label, and at a price point that's just a fraction of what the source winery sells it for. Napa Cab lovers: prepare to indulge." The same could be said for the 2017 release, yet one is from Rutherford and the other from Oakville. Go figure.
As I research this further in Cellartracker, which often is a source of vast data with their millions of bottles in the collective cellar inventory of more than a hundred thousand collectors, the confusion or lack of clarity regarding this label is even more than I alluded to or imagined. Cellartracker shows Magic Door Cabernet Sauvignon represented in thirteen different labels from eight different vintages from 2010 to 2017 from four different regions or appellations - Columbia Valley, Red Mountain, Oakville and Rutherford.
I hope and expect Ninety Plus Cellars and Magic Door endeavor to clear this up.
Once again, the charter and mission of this unwindwine.blogspot.com blog is intended and directed at situations just such as this, studying, researching, unpicking and sorting, and hopefully clarifying - unwindwine - branding, labeling, marketing and distribution.
This was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, nicely structured blackberry and black currant fruits were accented by tones of mocha, cassis, hints of eucalyptus or cedar leading to soft smooth tannins on a lingering finish.
RM 91 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=341218
Ninety-Plus writes: "Oakville is one of the preeminent wine regions in America. It sits just north of the Yountville Mounts, a large hill which acts as a barrier to the cooling coastal influence of the San Pablo Bay. In Oakville, the wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon are less austere than examples made from grapes grown in Yountville to the south, but with more structure than wines made from fruit grown in Rutherford to the north."
C'est la vie; hopefully more to follow!
http://www.magicdoorvineyards.com/
Magic Door Napa Valley Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Magic Door is a collection of Napa Valley or other regional wines sourced from various producers and marketed under the private branded label under the negociant portfolio also more widely known as Ninety-Plus Cellars. Of Magic Door, they write, "Magic Door is a collection of small-production wines from esteemed wine regions and acclaimed vineyards around the globe. All wines are selected by the wine team behind 90+ Cellars."
Here, Magic Door Napa Valley Cabernet 2017 is different from the 2105 release in that this is attributed to be sourced from Rutherford while the latter was said to be sourced from Oakville.
If they set upon this approach to add clarity, they've achieved the opposite in their less precise branding. I can only imagine they did this to add a sense of cache or elan to the brand, a premium level vs. the standard Ninety Plus Cellars.
However, if that were their objective, why would they associate the new Magic Door branding with the old Ninety Plus Cellars? I'm paying attention, I am in the dark as to their strategy. Hopefully this will be clarified through further research, correspondence or disclosures.
Of the 2015 Magic Door Cabernet they write, "This full-bodied Cabernet comes from a top producer in one of Napa's most elite AVAs. We were able to put together a small allocation of this wine under the Magic Door label, and at a price point that's just a fraction of what the source winery sells it for. Napa Cab lovers: prepare to indulge." The same could be said for the 2017 release, yet one is from Rutherford and the other from Oakville. Go figure.
As I research this further in Cellartracker, which often is a source of vast data with their millions of bottles in the collective cellar inventory of more than a hundred thousand collectors, the confusion or lack of clarity regarding this label is even more than I alluded to or imagined. Cellartracker shows Magic Door Cabernet Sauvignon represented in thirteen different labels from eight different vintages from 2010 to 2017 from four different regions or appellations - Columbia Valley, Red Mountain, Oakville and Rutherford.
I hope and expect Ninety Plus Cellars and Magic Door endeavor to clear this up.
Once again, the charter and mission of this unwindwine.blogspot.com blog is intended and directed at situations just such as this, studying, researching, unpicking and sorting, and hopefully clarifying - unwindwine - branding, labeling, marketing and distribution.
This was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, nicely structured blackberry and black currant fruits were accented by tones of mocha, cassis, hints of eucalyptus or cedar leading to soft smooth tannins on a lingering finish.
RM 91 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=341218
Ninety-Plus writes: "Oakville is one of the preeminent wine regions in America. It sits just north of the Yountville Mounts, a large hill which acts as a barrier to the cooling coastal influence of the San Pablo Bay. In Oakville, the wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon are less austere than examples made from grapes grown in Yountville to the south, but with more structure than wines made from fruit grown in Rutherford to the north."
C'est la vie; hopefully more to follow!
http://www.magicdoorvineyards.com/
