Mount Veeder Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Howdy all, welcome back for another installment of your favorite little wine blog.  I just want to start by saying Happy California Wine Month to everybody.  Gov. Terminator passed a bill? I guess and passed on September as California Wine Month, so drink up!  As some of you may know, or figured out by now I like old world wines and I like Pinot Noir.  But I grew up in California and love a lot of the juice that comes out of this place, see exhibit A: California Family Winemakers Tasting.  But let us move forward and visit the grape that really put California on the map, Cabernet Sauvignon. 
After Prohibition the wine industry in the US was looking pretty brim.  Only a few wineries satyed open growing grapes and even those were not doing too well.  But it was Cabernet that got the ball rolling again in the 60's into the 70's.  Remember now that the Paris Wine Competition of 1976 ( Bottleshock movie) was a success for whites and reds, Stags Leap Wine Cellars.  Nowadays the grape is by far the dominant grape in California and is known worldwide for its quality.  Screaming Eagle Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon sells for about $1800 a bottle if you can get any.  Of course its the most extreme of the examples, but expect to pay well in excess of $100 for the more rare bottles. 
Today we look at Mount Veeder Winery in Napa.  Originally founded and planted in the 1960's, it is now a property owned by Franciscan WInery and still produces quality Cabernet.  The think to remember here is that this wine is 100% Mountain fruit, which is more stressed than valley floor fruit.  This means deeper darker flavors.  For usually under $40 a bottle on the retail side and its wide avaliability I like the quality that is delivered here.  Its 82% Cab and 15% Merlot, with Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec rounding out the blend.  French Oak for 2 years with a lot of new oak.

This is a wine that I tasted a few months ago and recently revisited the 2006 vintage

Day bright with a deep garnet color, deep pigmented concentration and the wine is clear.  The rim variation is focusing with a bit of softening to the color there.  The tears are high viscous with heavy staining to them.
There is a ripeness to the fruit here, which definitely leads the high intensity of these aromas.  Blackberry and currants, very warm at the same time.  An array of spices are wrapped in the vanilla from the French oak with a bit of black tea lingering with oak shavings on the back.
The wine is dry with big tight tannins.  Again the fruit here is very big and ripe and dark, a little dehyrdrated red currant kind of lingers.  The spices and the oak influence softens and integrates and the wine is in balance.  My feeling about this wine when tasting the 2005 and recently the 2006 is that this is a classic example of a Napa Valley Cabernet based blend that needs time to soften in the bottle.  It is tasty, but I would be willing to bet the 1994-2003 vintages are drinking wonderfully here.

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I also opened and shared a 2002 Burrell School Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Reserve Cabernet last night.  100% Cab matured in American oak.  It was good, aging quite well.  Very spicy and the fruit here was very ripe and fleshy.  Wonder what their Bordeaux blend 'Valedictorian' 2002 is tasting like???....

If drinknig a young vintage of this wine, like the 06 on shelves, then be rough with it and don't be afraid to throw lots of flavors its way, but AVOID a lot of heat/spice.  Grilled meat anyone?  An older vintage of this would like more of like lamb and a mint/chimichurri sauce to accompany.  Salute!