De Gustibus Degustation

A caller complained: I had recommended 1991 Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon and he and some of his friends disliked it.

Interesting he would pick that wine, since it’s one of my favorites of the vintage, and a great vintage it was.

I told him that Silverado is one of the top producers of Cabernet in the Napa Valley and every year its Cabernet is highly regarded by wine lovers; collectors line the walls of their cellars with it, and it sells out soon after release.

The caller admitted that maybe he wasn’t used to a wine like that. As he spoke, for the thousandth time I relived one of the pitfalls of writing a column in which you put your palate on the line. De gustibus non est disputandum --there’s no arguing about taste. Not every reader will like every wine I do.

Even Siskel and Ebert’s two-thumbs-down films are liked by some people. But film reviewers have an edge over wine writers. They don’t have to evaluate a film in the dark, so to speak; they know the names of the producer, director and actors even before the lights go down. When I evaluate wines, I do so in a blind tasting, so I don’t know which wine is in which glass. Usually I do this double-blind, meaning that I don’t even know what wines we’re tasting that day.

But pangs of conscience are inevitable in this job, and the caller’s complaint, duly noted, prompted me to assemble another series of tastings of recent California Cabernets, Merlots and similar wines to see if I could have been wrong about the Silverado the first time around.

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Evaluated double-blind, in three sessions spanning 11 hours, the following wines (all Cabernet Sauvignons unless otherwise noted) got high scores from all judges and were rated as having potential to age well. They are listed in approximate rank of scores:

1991 Clos du Bois, Sonoma County ($12.75)--Smoky notes from oak aging, but with loads of fruit and complexity. Exceptional winemaking.

1991 Silverado Vineyards Merlot, Napa Valley ($17)--Excellent cherry-like fruit and notes of oak that aren’t too strong. A rich and rewarding wine to drink soon.

1991 Girard Winery, Napa Valley ($22)--Huge red currant fruit and rich flavors, offset by a layer of tannin that will subside with some aging. The best Girard Cabernet yet.

1991 Silverado Vineyards, Napa Valley ($17)--Gorgeous herbal/cherry notes and generous fruit in a compact wine, with graceful texture and a long way to go before reaching a peak.

1990 Cosentino Cellars, Napa County ($16)--Violet-laced fruit and deep flavors; a wine to age. May be difficult to find.

1991 Shafer Vineyards, Napa Valley ($21)--Exceptional fruit and elegance; a sweet entry with perfect balance. A wine to drink soon or in a decade.

1991 The Gainey Vineyard Merlot “Limited Selection” ($18)--Oak notes in first whiff, but then you get mint, blackberry and a myriad of flavors. Needs a year or two to smooth out.

1991 Geyser Peak Winery “Reserve Alexandre” ($24)--Rich scents of black cherry and toasted oak. A bit one-dimensional, but with great fruit in the mouth. A wine to age a decade.

1991 Cafaro Cellars Merlot, Napa Valley ($20)--Very young and dense wine, a lot of oak and fruit that needs time to knit. Powerful.

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The following wines all scored well and are rated as wines to consume soon because they are lighter in weight and probably won’t age very long:

1992 Round Hill Cellars Merlot, California ($7)--Trace of herbs and cherry, with perfect texture. Stunning example of Merlot flavors in a perfectly balanced wine.

1991 Callaway Vineyards, California ($8)--Tarragon notes interplay with elegant fruit and fine finish. Delightful flavors.

1991 J. Lohr Winery “Cypress,” California ($7.75)--Loads of fruit and deep, concentrated, complex flavors. Good value.

1992 Kendall-Jackson Vineyards “Vintner’s Reserve” Merlot, California ($9)--Fruity/grape-y aroma and simple taste, but fresh, lively and balanced.

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Panel members differed about which wine was best, but one wine scored worst on all cards: the 1990 Dominus Estate, Napa Valley ($47). My notes read: “Powerful aroma of wet horse blanket and earth intermingled with some fruit and cedar-y notes. The texture was odd--lower acid made the wine taste ‘soft’ on first taste, but the lasting impression was of very high tannins and an almost gritty finish.”

The wine improved with a lot of aeration and when tasted the next day wasn’t as astringent or coarse, with some fruit still evident.

I called Daniel Baron, general manager of Dominus, to chat about the wine. Baron pointed out that like all great works in progress, Dominus was evolving into a decidedly distinctive product, loved by some, disliked by others.

He said that since its 1983 inception, Dominus has been a pretty tough wine in tannin structure, but that the vision of the owner, Christian Moueix, was to develop a consistency from the same Yountville-area fruit and to make for a wine that ages well. That, he said, has been achieved.

As for the controversy Dominus has created, he suggested an analogy to art:

“Take the art critic,” he said. “He says of a painting: ‘This is one of the greatest artists, you need to have one of these paintings in your home.’ Then you have the art dealer, who says: ‘I need to sell it at this price because it’s a world-class painting,’ and then you have the artist, who is just expressing his or her vision of the world.

“Well, that’s how I see Christian Moueix, the artist. One may argue with the critic, or with the agent over the price attached to the work, but they are separate from the artist and his integrity and his interpretation of his vision.

“If you disagree with the critic, don’t hold it against the artist.” He said each wine lover should judge the wine on his or her own terms.

Over that I have no quarrel. I agree with Baron that Dominus is Moueix’s personal statement. And I agree with Moueix’s aging of the wine in older oak barrels as well as the fact that he doesn’t add acid, a tactic that might make them too tart. The aroma and sandpaper-y texture of Dominus is what I find too challenging to spend a lot of money on--yet I realize that some people simply love this wine.

Oh, well, de gustibus . . . .