Taste Test: 26 Cabernet Blends

The great red wines of Bordeaux are based mostly on Cabernet Sauvignon, but nearly all the chateaux of the Medoc region, including Latour, Lafite and Mouton, blend in other varieties harvested from the same fields. Many people have suggested that California growers should also add Merlot, Cabernet Franc and other so-called Bordeaux grape varieties to Cabernet Sauvignon.

A lot of California wineries are now making such blends, known as meritage wines. They include Opus One, Dominus, Insignia, Trilogy and other less well-known names.

The result is different from Cabernet on its own and certainly more “complex,” but this is a game I am not convinced is worth playing. If you have great Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, I’m not sure blending in a whole lot of other stuff makes for a better wine.

One thing marks almost all of these wines: They are expensive; many cost $20 or more a bottle. Are they worth the price? That depends on what you want, how much you have to spend and what your expectations are.

In late March, I staged a blind tasting of 30 of the most expensive meritage wines, with a few straight super premium Cabernet Sauvignons tossed in because they were in the same price range. The tasting was done by a panel in three flights. The best wines were re-evaluated and ranked by a system that included whether the wines tasted good.

The evaluators gave wines credit for having potential to age but counted flavor of the present and the immediate future more heavily in scoring. The reason is that although all these wines are supposed to age well for a decade, in practice scarcely anyone ages them that long--if at all. Most of these wines are certain to be consumed within the next two or three years.

The following results speak for themselves; wines were judged on the Davis 20-point system and are listed in order of rank. Please note the very low scores of three of the most heralded--and expensive--wines around: 1986 Stag’s Leap Cask 23, 1986 Dominus and 1986 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard. These wines are odd-tasting and lack the typical character of top-quality Cabernet-type wines. All the panel members felt they are not worth anywhere near the prices being charged for them.

1986 Super Premium Red Wines

1. Lyeth, Alexander Valley ($22.50)-- Lovely cherry and raspberry fruit without excessive oak to cloud it; a delicate taste and long, attractively tart finish. An excellent wine to consume soon, but it will age nicely for a decade.

2. Shafer Hillside Select, Stag’s Leap ($32)-- A spicier, racier wine than the above, deeper and more complex, with hints of cherry and cedar. Slightly closed in, but with ample length in the aftertaste. Will be even better in two years.

3. Clos du Bois, Alexander Valley ($19.50)-- A lighter-styled wine, but one that shows the blending (50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petite Verdot). A sweet entry and fleshy texture with lovely cherry-like aftertaste.

4. Merryvale, Napa Valley ($22)-- A hint of olives in the aroma adds interest to this otherwise deep, fairly concentrated wine. Better in two years, but drinkable with rich foods now.

5. Rombauer Le Meilleur du Chai ($35)-- The best Rombauer to date, a sweet, oaky, cherry-like and dusty aroma (with a trace of what I thought was cumin); hard tannins but ample potential.

6. Gustav Niebaum Reserve, Napa Valley ($20)-- The mint/menthol aroma with cherries and cedar is interesting, but the taste is muted and the aftertaste not very complex. Nice wine, better with aeration.

7. Optima, Alexander Valley ($19.50)-- Fairly dense fruit, with a blackberry aroma but a lot of oak flavoring that masks the more subtle elements. Nicely balanced, with potential to age.

8. Dry Creek Meritage, Dry Creek Valley ($22)-- Cherry-like aroma, attractive entry, elegant taste, fairly soft. An elegant wine for near-term consumption.

9. Cutler Cellar Satyre, Sonoma Valley ($20)-- Very dark and dense with a jammy quality; fairly hard and tannic.

10. Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard, Napa Valley ($60)-- Excellent fruit is marred by a persistent musty quality that gives a faint impression of cough syrup. Otherwise, the wine is concentrated and rich, needing time to age. But the tasters questioned whether any aging would cure the mustiness. Not a meritage wine: nearly 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

11. Stag’s Leap Cask 23 ($50)-- Not as strange or awkward as the 1985 Cask 23, the 1986 is curious in its own right. It smells a lot older than an ’86 (and the fading color indicates it too), and there’s a whiff of prunes in the aroma. The taste is lush and full, although the wine seemed to fade in the glass. Although the label doesn’t say so, this vintage is predominantly (more than 75%) Cabernet Sauvignon.

12. Dominus, Napa Valley ($47) --A dense, opaque wine with undeniable depth, but it is not Cabernet-like. There is a cola-syrupy aroma with a trace of rotting leaves and a tannin level absolutely out of proportion to the meager fruit; the wine is so hard it’s actually bitter. This is the fourth wine from this property I have felt was made more by formula than by an incisive concept of wine making.

A 13th wine in this flight was corked and so was not scored.

1987 Super Premium Red Wines

1. Etude, Napa Valley ($24)-- Stunningly rich, with a mint or basil component wrapped around black cherry and cedar elements. Beautifully structured, ample acidity to age and a wine with flesh but no excessive tannins. Predominantly (75%) Cabernet Sauvignon in this vintage.

2. Phelps Insignia, Napa Valley ($35)-- Floral with a faint but not detracting note of wet tree bark. Deep, fairly complex and less tannic than past vintages. Stylishly made, complex wine that should age nicely. Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon in this vintage.

3. Cain 5, Napa Valley ($30)-- Black cherry and cedar elements with an herbal quality that should fade into complexity with time. An attractive, deeply concentrated wine with ample potential to age.

4. Sterling Reserve ($43)-- Herbal (dill) and cherry-scented, this wine is fairly complex and dense but has a certain grace. The hard finish is a bit disappointing, and at the new higher price some tasters questioned its value.

5. Sterling Three Palms ($30)-- Toasty oak, delicate but elegant cherry-like fruit, very ripe and hard.

6. Langtry Meritage, 52% Lake County, 48% Napa County ($35)-- Deep, complex aroma, sweet and warm, with an elegant, easy-to-like taste. Not as rich and complex now, but it could develop complexity.

7. Franciscan Meritage, Napa Valley ($17)-- A simpler wine than some in the tasting, but with lovely, deep tastes and nice, complex finish. Not a big wine, but certainly well priced and well made.

8. Estancia Meritage, Alexander Valley ($14)-- Violet and cedar aroma, trace of dill and a flavorful deep aftertaste. Excellent value.

9. Antares, Sonoma County ($28)-- Cedar and currant aroma with a faint earthiness; elegant, citrusy taste with a trace of hardness in the finish. Potential to improve during the next two years.

10. Benziger, Tribute ($25)-- Faint herbal quality adds interest to a wine with lighter fruit; relatively flavorful but seems to be a tad shy right now. Another year should tell if it has potential for the future.

Other wines evaluated (no ranking) : 1988 Brander Bouchet; 1987 Konocti Meritage; 1987 Justin Reserve; 1987 Orlando St. Hugo (Australia); 1987 Pindar Mythology (New York); 1987 Pahlmeyer. The last three are 75% or more Cabernet Sauvignon. One bottle corked, not scored.

I have tasted and liked other meritage wines, such as the 1987 Opus One ($58) and 1987 Trilogy ($30), although I have to admit that the best wines I have tasted recently include 1986 Caymus Vintage Selection ($60), Beringer Private Reserve ($35), and 1987 Mondavi Reserve ($43)--and all are predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon.

Meritage wines have a place, to be sure, but great Cabernet needs no help.

Wine of the Week

1989 Gundlach-Bundschu Zinfandel ($8) --Grapes from an ancient vineyard, owned by grower Pete Mancuso near Kenwood, were made by wine maker Lance Cutler into a substantial wine with an exciting aroma of violets and blackberry jam, graced with the faint dill components of American oak. The wine has a lush, full, spicy taste and is perfect for matching with hearty foods such as steak, pastas and stews. It should also go well with cheeses after dinner. The winery sold out of this wine in three weeks, but it’s still available at most retail outlets that carry this Sonoma Valley winery’s products. This Zinfandel is not much different from a number that sell for as high as $12 to $14 a bottle. It is a great value, worth seeking out.