The Grapes of Worth . . . California’s North Coast Cabernet Sauvignons

First the conclusion: Despite the hype that 1985 California Cabernet Sauvignons are the best ever and despite rave reviews for many 1984s, I feel that 1986 Cabernets will eventually top both vintages in terms of overall quality.

After evaluating 1986 Cabernets from California’s North Coast counties for more than a year, I am struck by the fact that there is more depth, complexity and classical structure here than may be apparent on first blush.

More about the vintage after a few words about how this all came about.

In most areas of the wine world, the harvest of grapes is orderly. As grapes ripen, the wine maker takes sugar samples and tastes berries from various areas of the vineyards to determine when to pick. When maturity is believed to be optimum, picking is ordered.

Sometimes the crop is picked a few days early to beat an expected storm that could create problems if it hit while the grapes are still on the vine.

Sometimes an optimum sugar content is reached before the grapes taste mature, so they are left on the vine a little longer. By this, the grower gambles that the grapes will gain more flavor without getting an overripe character.

When it’s time to begin picking, the grower usually brings in pickers (often farm workers) who are told to start picking at one end of a vineyard and pick to the other side.

The 1986 growing season in Napa and Sonoma counties was more erratic. Intermittent rains throughout the year disrupted the orderly development of the grapes; and after each rainfall, clouds and a warm humidity, more enemies of maturity, hung around to confound the grower.

But Cabernet is a hardy, rugged vine that can hold its own against the worst that nature can dish out, as evidenced by the fact that the word sauvignon can be translated to mean “savage” or “wild,” indicating a stubborn independence.

Cabernet ripened slowly and when normal harvest time came, most wine makers wanted more time on the vine. Yet more rain was expected, so most wine makers decided to start picking early to assure that at least some of the crop was in just in case the worst happened.

But instead of asking pickers to pick left to right, many chose to pick only the ripe blocks of vineyards. This crazy-quilt sort of picking, confusing to some picking crews and requiring more supervision, apparently paid off.

It permitted the grower a feeling of some comfort, knowing that some grapes were being picked while others needing more maturity were still on the vine. And when no more rain came, the harvest wound up quite orderly with superb, naturally high acidity and exciting, deep flavors from full maturity.

Each time I have tried two vintages of a winery’s Cabernet, 1985 and 1986, side by side, the ’86 always seems to have slightly better natural acid, but slightly lower aroma. The ‘86s aren’t as fleshy and round, certainly not as immediately appealing or instantly gratifying as the ‘85s. The mid-palate is leaner and the wine a little less generous.

After tasting through 86 of these 1986 Cabernets at the recently concluded San Francisco Fair wine competition at the Parc 55 Hotel, I was convinced this is an even greater vintage than ’85 for one key reason: lower tannins and better overall structure.

A problem with making this statement, however, is that many of these wines are not as obviously attractive at present as the ‘85s because of the slightly more reticent nature of the ‘86s. (But the ‘85s were far more tannic.)

Still, after we had awarded medals to the ’86 wines, there was agreement among all four panel members: myself; Alan Phillips, wine maker at Monticello Vineyards in the Napa Valley; Fred Dame, master sommelier now with Seagram Classics Wine Co., and Nick Ponomareff, editor/publisher of the California Grapevine newsletter. All of us said the major difference between this vintage and the past few was better structure, especially the lower levels of tannins that will not cause any concern as these wines age.

At the San Francisco judging, 30 of the 86 wines, 35%, received medals, a high percentage in any competition. And the breakdown was even more impressive--10 silver medals, two gold medals and five double-gold medals. Some of the wines listed here are not out yet, but will be released in a few weeks.

Best wine of the 1986 class, in the estimation of the judges, was Shafer Vineyards Cabernet ($17), which offers a deep cherry aroma and extremely long, complex flavors in the aftertaste.

Other double-gold winners were Kenwood Jack London Vineyard ($18)--great complexity, but a touch hard; Peju Province ($15)--an approachable, soft wine from a tiny Napa Valley producer; St. Francis ($20)--youthful fruit, herbal complexity and a cassis-blackberry finish, and Forman ($20)--a virtually unobtainable wine of intensely deep, spicy flavors, yet with an understated elegance in the finish.

Best values, all of which received silver medals and which came within an eyelash of the gold, were J. Lohr ($6)--a round, complex wine that needs little bottle age; Stratford ($11)--delicate and restrained with subtle depth, and A. Rafanelli ($10) of Sonoma County.

The Rafanelli, one of the bargains of the year, won the sweepstakes award earlier this year at a wine competition in Reno and a gold medal at the San Diego National competition. This rich, complex wine has a toastiness from aging in new French oak and a slight dill element to round out superb cherry fruit.

Other wines I enjoyed immensely included Chateau Julien Private Reserve ($12), a dense, compact wine bursting with fruit and spice, and Hess Collection ($13.50), a lean, delicate wine of Bordeauxlike structure, with potential to grow.

A number of producers whose house styles I much admire also showed well, though a few of these wines are closed in at present and need bottle age to develop. Among these are Lambert Bridge Library Selection ($14), a Bordeauxlike wine with an earthy spice and classic structure needing years in the bottle, and Robert Pecota Kara’s Vineyard ($16), which offers extremely deep, violet-tinged berrylike fruit as well as cassis, and a potent, rich finish. Also lovely was the Eberle ($12) from Paso Robles, which has an intriguing spice aroma but which is lean and needs time to expand.

After the San Francisco competition, I was impressed by the new Cafaro Cabernet ($18) from Joe Cafaro, the longtime Napa Valley wine maker (Keenan, Acacia, now Sinskey). The wine displays the familiar toasty quality of French oak, a slight chocolaty note, and deep, understated fruit.

I also recently tasted the unreleased 1986 Arrowood Cabernet (about $19), a marvel of depth and complexity with cassis and a lean, Bordeauxlike crispness in the finish. The wine will be out in September.

In past weeks I have praised such magnificent 1986 Cabernets as Laurel Glen ($20) with stunning fruit and harmony; Silverado ($13.50), with perfect delicacy and complexity; Gan Eden ($18), with toasty chocolate/vanilla/mint elements, and Mazzocco ($20), with spicy, herbal notes and dense fruit.

Last year, at a special advance tasting in San Francisco of then-unreleased 1986 wines, the best wines were Mondavi Reserve, Dunn, Spottswoode, Laurel Glen, Grace Family and Beringer Reserve. Tasters said then that even though the wines were so young, many of them were approachable.

This lack of excessive tannins was considered a bonus by those attending the event (and the group was made up of numerous wine makers). They said excess tannin did not in any way help a wine age, that if anything too much astringency simply kept the wine hard for a longer period of time.

Ponomareff, writing in his California Grapevine weeks after that event, wrote that the ‘86s “may not be quite as ‘showy’ as many of the 1984s and 1985s, but the wines have excellent acidity.”

This perceptive comment remained with me for a year and it has been affirmed recently in discussions I’ve had with a dozen wine makers. I sense broad though low-key enthusiasm for the ‘86s. (They are low-key because they fear the public won’t believe a third great vintage in a row.)

You may yet read more about the greatness of the 1985 Cabernets from California, and certainly many of them are mighty impressive. The richness in them is combined with a faint element of Bordeaux complexity.

But classicists would do well to look carefully at the 1986s. In years to come, they may prove to be the better vintage of the two.

Wine of the Week: 1987 Bodegas Montecillo Cumbrero Blanco ($5)--What wine lovers love is a clean, uncomplicated, inexpensive white table wine, and this is an example. Made entirely from the Viura grape, this attractive wine has freshness and still offers depth and richness in the finish.