Winery - Carter
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Ripeness obviously wasn’t a problem here, to judge by the spectacularly forward cherry and cassis flavors. The winemaker put a lot of oak on top. The result is a huge wine that lacks a bit of finesse. After all, size isn’t everything. But it could surprise with a few years in the cellar.
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Carter Merlot - 2002
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Plush-textured, with ripe, firm tannins and plenty of classy blackberry, black cherry, cassis, vanilla, spice, herb and cinnamon notes. The wine is complex, yet disarmingly easy to enjoy now. Should do well in the cellar, too.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Big, bright and beautiful, with bing cherry, blackberry, chocolate, vanilla, spice, cedar and herb flavors, all seamlessly integrated. The acidity is a bit bright--the result of a cool year--but the wine is still a top-notch first release for Eureka hotelier Mark Carter.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is an extraordinarily rich and rewarding Cabernet to drink now. Drenched in all new French oak, it’s elaborate in spicy, charred wood and vanillins, but the underlying wine easily supports that weight. It’s flamboyant in blackberries, cherries, chocolate, red licorice and cola. The alcohol seems high, but that’s in the modern style, and there’s no denying the sheer lusciousness.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
As rich as Napa Cab gets. Made solidly in the modern style, it’s soft, elaborate and flamboyant, suggesting ultraripe blackberry pie, currant, mocha-choca and sweet oak flavors. The all-important tannins are smooth as velvet. Few Cabs are more delicious for drinking now, but longterm prospects are entirely unpredictable.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is a big, rich, dramatic Cabernet. The underlying fruit is spectacular, offering tiers of blackberries, black currants and cocoa, while 100% new French oak aging lends strong, but balanced, layers of toast. The tannins are ripe and sturdy, yet very finely ground. Really a beautiful example of the modern style, and should develop over the next six years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Very rich, with tons of toasty oak courtesy of 100% new French, and plenty of fruity berry, cherry and spice flavors. Feels a bit jagged and angular now, but it’s pretty tannic, and could develop in the cellar. No guarantees.
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Carter Red Blend - 2007
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
New oak dominates this wine, with a rich eruption of toasted meringue, vanilla, burnt butter sauce and woodspice aromas and flavors, yet beneath that elaborate veneer is a wine that easily supports it. The fruit is fantastically concentrated, suggesting cherries and black raspberries baked into a pie—pie crust, and dusting of cinnamon sugar and cocoa included. For all that, the wine is thoroughly dry. Whoever says Merlot is dead should taste this beauty.
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Carter Merlot - 2007
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Class shows in this dry, tannic, elegantly structured Cabernet. The pedigree of its terroir shows in the perfectly smooth tannins and overall balance. Flavors of blackberries and black currants perfectly mix with new French oak. The vintage was not Napa’s finest, and the wine is just a bit short, but extraordinarily refined. Drink now–2014.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This Cabernet comes from the Soda Canyon region of Napa Valley, which is a cool area in the Vaca Mountains, northeast of the city of Napa that is not an official appellation. The wine shows excellent structure, with firm tannins and a bite of acidity, and is very dry. The pure Cabernet flavors are of blackberries, cherries, cassis and green olives, with a kiss of oak. Seems like a wine to put away in the cellar.
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