1996 Cult CA Cab Tasting -- Are they worth the bucks?

[Bucko]

Well, first off, my senses were not overwhelmed. There were ONLY 12 wines -- a walk in the park. Granted, there were 30+ starter and finishing wines. I can tell good from bad (for my palate), in spite of the inevitable comparisons. The Bryan sucked, be it alone or with a thousand other wines.

AFA CA Cab being dominated by hedonistic this and that, and wealth to afford it, I say horse hockey. Karl Lawrence or Ritchie Creek Cab would have matched any of these high dollar wines at less than $40 a bottle. Ya gotta know where to look and not be a Wine Spectator or Parker lemming....

Finally, AFA expanding one's taste, I have to tell a story on myself. When I was stationed in Hawaii, I became fast friends with a wonderful fellow, Lyle Fujioka, who has the best wine stores on Oahu. After we had been friends for over a year, he confessed to me one night that he got all excited when I first came into his store. "Some redneck is out there buying about three cases of wine and it is not Cab, Chard, or Merlot!" We had a good laugh. I have one of the most diverse palates that I know of among my wine circles (not bragging on myself -- you all know old simple farm boy Bucko). I get very bored with the same old wines. I drink everything from Loire to Alsace to Rhone to Champagne to Germany to Portugal to Spain to OZ to Greek to even South America.

Bottom line -- these cult wines are highly overrated and highly overpriced -- IMHO!

Bucko