Enjoying WW's 1994 Cal Cabs

[wondersofwine]

First one out of the box (and bottle) was a winner. A MARKHAM product. Very nice aroma and taste. Purple brown edge. Plum, blackberry and a little cinnamon in the flavors. Next up, a LIPARITA, Howell Mountain. A little darker and denser than the Markham. More muted nose than the Markham. Not my style (those Howell Mountain wines can have killer tannins).
Third was the ROBERT CRAIG AFFINITY, a Meritage blend. I found this to have a bitter finish and it was still quite tannic. I prefered the 1994 HESS COLLECTION but didn't write down notes on it other than to say that it was very mellow and viscous. As WW says, the 1994 GALLO OF SONOMA FREI RANCH CABERNET SAUVIGNON shows what Gallo can produce with good grapes. It was impressive and one of my favorites. A profound nose to start things off. This was followed with the ETUDE, clear Bordeaux in color shading to brown and viscous like the Hess Collection. I liked this one also.

The first half-dozen of WW's case of Cal cabs was followed up with a funky smelling 1987 Guigal Hermitage provided by KC. If you could get past the barnyard smell, it tasted somewhat better than it smelled.

(to be continued later)--time for lunch now