Mayacamas Mt Veeder Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
For midweek dinner in, we selected this legendary Napa Valley Cabernet from the cellar.
This follows a recent blogpost about Mayacamas when we selected a Mayacamas Chardonnay for a similar setting, midweek dinner in. In a replay of highlights from that blogpost I wrote:
For a weeknight dinner, Linda prepared a smoked turkey breast with mash
potatoes, gravy, and mixed vegetables. For a wine pairing, I opened one
of Linda's favorites, Mayacamas Mt Veeder Chardonnay.
We tasted this wine at the historic old winery and vineyards high atop Mt Veeder at the
south end of the Mayacamas mountain range that separates Napa and Sonoma
valleys during our
Mt Veeder Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2011. We obtain and keep a half dozen vintages in our cellar ever since.
We
pulled this from the cellar for tonight's pairing, the oldest vintage
release for this label, as part of effective cellar management.
The
mountain terroir at Mayacamas ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 feet in
elevation and the estate spans 475 acres, only 50 of which are dedicated
to vines.
The modern era Mayacamas dates back to 1968 when the property was taken over by Robert Travers who had worked at
Heitz Cellars. He and his wife Elinor continued to focus on Cabernet
Sauvignon and Chardonnay striving to make wines of great character,
depth, complexity, and longevity.
In July 2013, Mayacamas was purchased by Charles and Ali Banks in
partnership with Jay Schottenstein and his son, Joey. Andy Erickson
took over the Estate’s winemaking duties, and Phil Coturri took over
farming and vineyard development. This release was crafted by Winemakers Andy Erickson and Braiden Albrech.
The old vines of the Terraces vineyard had been deteriorating, so after a
long and productive life many were retired with the 2013 Harvest being
their last.
Since then, many of the vines from the old historic vineyards have
been replanted with only a few plots remaining from the old historic vines.
In 2017, the Schottenstein family of Columbus, Ohio,
took over the remainder of the 100% ownership of Mayacamas Vineyards to
become sole proprietors of the estate and brand.
As noted above, Jay
Schottenstein and his son Joey had been partners in Mayacamas Vineyards
since it was purchased from
long-time owner Bob Travers in 2013.
A month later in October 2017, the Nuns Fire reached Mayacamas Vineyards. One of the property’s historic buildings
burned to the ground but the historic stone winery building constructed
in 1889 survived intact.
The burned structure, was a building they called “the
residence.” that served as the hospitality center for the winery (though
Mayacamas is generally
not open to the public for tastings). That
building was completely destroyed.
Mayacamas has been on a roll with their estate Cabernet Sauvignon with the 2015 vintage having been awarded #2 on Wine Spectators Top 100 wines in 2019 with a 96 point score. The 2018 vintage was awarded 98 points by Vinous and 97 points by Wine Spectator.
Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Winemaker's Comments: Deep,
brooding blackberry and black cherry aromas, along with a sage-like
dimension, on the nose. The acidity on the tongue balances the
surprisingly supple tannins. Red currants and plums on the palate
finish very long. Will age gracefully for many years.
This is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Merlot.
This release was awarded 96 points
by Vinous and 94 points
by Decanter.
At seventeen years, this is likely at the apex of its drinking and not to improve further with additional aging, nor does it show any signs whatsoever from aging.
In 2018 AG at Vinous wrote that "Readers lucky enough to own the 2005 can look forward to
several decades of exceptional drinking from this powerhouse, old school
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon."
Wine buddy and fellow Pour Boy and Cellartracker Bill C was with us when we visited the estate and also wrote about this wine recently last summer. He wrote: "Wow! Great depth and
complexity. Deep garnet color with no signs of aging. Nose of cassis and
graphite. Blueberry, plum and cassis on the front palate with layers of
green pepper, mint and tobacco on the mid palate. Big and full bodied
with ample tannins yet. Layered and complex. Tannin and
savory notes were most prevalent upon first tasting. Fruit took front
stage at about 90 minutes. Tannins became more sedate at 2 hours and the
balance, elegance and layers revealed themselves at about 2 and a half
hours. A real treat." He gave it 94 points.
Regarding the bottle from our cellar, the fill level, foil and label, and importantly, the cork were all in ideal condition.
Upon opening it exhibited some funkiness but that dissipated over the course of about an hour after opening. It should be decanted as it had a fair amount of sediment in the bottle.
Bright garnet colored, medium full bodied, rustic rich round concentrated intense black berry and plum fruits with notes of earth, leather, smoke, licorice and tobacco on a lingering moderate tannin finish.
RM 91 points.
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