CLONYC 33- A few of Napas new releases with Merrill Lindquist

About a month ago Merrill Lindquist emailed me to tell me she will be visiting NY for a holiday after harvesting her 2012 EMH Black Cat wine. She asked if we had a CLONYC scheduled for that week she was visiting that she can join in on, to which I replied ‘no, but I can make one’. I did.


I thought to keep it simple in theme and just make it a new release thing, since Merrill herself would be bringing her new releases, the 2010 duo of Cabernet Sauvignons. Reason more to enjoy friends, wines and food is never needed.



As it turned out, we were 10 men and a lady. It was a fun evening. As usual, the food was great and the wines, although youthful showed pretty good indeed. The youngest cabenet was a 2008. We did have a 1996 Champagne starter (thanks Brent).
Let me get to it. Please keep in mind these are more of an impression than a formal notes with the consensus of who liked what at the end of the flights.

2010 Maybach Materium- Quite possible the best Materium to date, and there have been some doozies (spelling?). Tremendous black fruits profile. The nose was slightly less expressive from my half ounce taste when I opened it and quickly recorked at noon. The palate showed more cohesiveness though. Pure and elegant with so much plush fruits amidst a superstructure. And a super long pure finish. Simple marvelous. The group loved it too.

2010 Maybach Amoenus- An interesting sibling to the Materium, this showed a bit more edgy and tight. Tannins giving up little. More of a red fruit profile, I firmly think these are made for the distance while you are enjoying the Materiums in the here, now and handful of years ahead. A beautiful drink of wine she is and promises to be.

Flight 2

2008 Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Incubo - This started strong with a pretty nose of flowers and reddish black fruits. Palate showed a big tannic wine that belied the nose. This handled food nicely. Not sure what the makeup of this wine is. I sense there may be some cab franc in the mix. As it sat it became more fleshed out and approachable. I continue to be a fan and want to experience the complete lineup at some point as I only had the Acteon to compare it to which I though had slightly more grace.

2008 Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon Annum- This started out a bit one dimensional with a dry streak right down the middle. Some nice black fruits of blackberries and currants shown through. As it sat in the glass it just blossomed into a pretty and nicely balanced Cab that added a dimension and a smile from me. This needs lots of time DOH!

2008 Bacio Divino Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen Missouri Hopper Vineyard- this one seemed a bit outclassed tonight. I got an immediate greenness cutting across the middle. Some seemed to get a eucalyptus, and I think as it sat it certainly gained some weight and the mint tone. In all fairness it became dump number 1. Too bad.

The group put the Pott in the number 1 spot with 5 votes. The Ramey got 4 and the Janzen received 2 which prove I really have no clue.

For my vote it was the Ramey that edged out the Pott with the additional glass time I gave it.

Flight 4

2008 Hourglass Cabernet Sauvignon- When it comes to this label, I usually gravitate toward the Blueline bottling. This showed great blackberries, black plum and some kirsch. It also seemed to get lost in this crowd tonight. A pretty wine that showed some gracefulness and balance, just not achieving the greatness I expected. Settings like these are really unfair toward wines like this, one that begs to be your only date for the night.

2008 Gemstone Estate Red - aka ‘G’- Another label that I have had some hit and misses with in the last bunch of years. Large boned and dark as night, this had some wonderful notes of fresh flowers, crème de cassis and framboise. Balance was lilty and finish long. It took some glass time but then this really became more fragrant and pure. A nice long finish, I was loving it.

2008 Kobalt – pretty flamboyant nose of red fruits. Think raspberries and cherry liquor. Plushy and silky, this also seemed a bit outclassed tonight.

The group pretty much split this one with 5 votes Hourglass and 5 votes for Gemstone. The single lone-wolf being the Kobalt. Interesting flight. My WOTF was the Gemstone.

Notice how the sparse notes fall apart here? Eight wines with 1 dump will do that to you.

Merrills flight

2010 EMH Black Cat Cabernet Sauvignon (opened earlier that day)- CLONYC hosted Merrill and her wine three years back. That night I met her 2007 EMH Black Cat. This one seems somewhat in line with that vintage---to me. It had the boisterousness I enjoy. Nicely balanced with some minerality and notes graphite and cola. Certainly a different style than many on the table tonight, to me more in sync with a more classically structured Cabernet, one made for aging. What you don’t get is the big plushy round stuff but you do get pure cassis driven reddish black fruits and the minerality.

2010 EMH Black Cat Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection - larger boned and slightly more austere, again one made for the cellar. Would love to try this in about 5 years.

2010 EMH Black Cat Cabernet Sauvignon (Pop-N-pour)- A little science project we had going here. See if there is a more rambunctious nose on this on sans slow-ox. It was brighter and slightly more primary. Interesting. My WOTF and 5 others agreed. Thanks for bring these Merrill.

Flight 6 …things so slightly sideways.

2008 Buccella Cab Cuvee Katrina Eileen -Ok, so here we are at wine number 12. Now, if this was the number 2 or even 10 wine tonight, it may have battled the Materium for first place. May have. It was super pure, ultra plushy and pillow like with so much to like. It screamed drink me. I yelled back ENOUGH!

2009 Kapscandy Grand Vin- this was the most Euro-like tonight. I got a bit of dirt amidst some nice black cherry and plums. Do we call it terroir in Napa? If so, too much. Dump.

2009 Outpost Cabernet Sauvignon True Vineyard- This is one of the more consistent labels out there. I have always been a fan of the True vineyard Cabernet Thomas produces. Somewhere between old and new world for sure--- at least to me. The mountain fruits is evident. And in my estimation these do benefit from some cellar time. Maybe the most contentious on the table tonight, but hey, it’s like wine number 40 or something. Give it a break.

Blind wine- As if we needed more wine, Steve was gracious enough to bring a blind wine. It was certainly cooler climate Cabernet , that much I can still tell. Beyond that I knew it was pretty great and it was a 2009 Quilceda Creek.

WOTN voting commenced with the 2010 Materium garnering 8, possibly 9 votes (Howard left just before the vote, he did choose Materium in flight #1)

Thanks to everyone for a great night. Today I move….slowly.