2019 de Négoce Lot 100 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
The Cabernets of the Rutherford Bench have long been amongst my favorites for their chiseled frames, ethereal elegance, and gorgeous fruit achieving a near-perfect balance of structure, texture, and weight.
OG N.100 comes to us from one of the true icons of the Rutherford. The estate is located at the southern end of the appellation yet in the heart of the Oakville and Rutherford Bench complex of alluvial fans that drain out of the Maycamas Mountains. Here twenty-foot-deep, well-drained, gravelly, as well as volcanic soils, produce small clusters of intense fruit long considered the Grand Cru of Napa Valley. Prices at the winery start at well over $100/bottle.
Dark ruby in the glass, a shade off of opaque. The nose is archetypal Rutherford, gorgeously ethereal and energetic with raspberry and cherry fruit dancing with damson plum and the quintessential Rutherford Dust. Decadent dark fruits swim below while a kiss of maple syrup sweetens the purple lilac top notes. Elegantly structured and beautifully balanced on the palate with the supple red fruits melded nicely onto minerally tannins that unwind to show the darker fruit notes underneath. The wine has fantastic weight to it and unfurls beautifully on your palate despite its youth. Should age beautifully for another 10-15-years.
Specs
Varietal: 100% Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Barrel Regime: 40% new French oak
Alcohol: 15.2%
Bottled May 18th, 2021
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2019 de Négoce Lot 100 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
Case:
12x 2019 de Négoce Lot 100 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
Since the end of Prohibition, layer-upon-layer of government-mandated middlemen and cumbersome state-by-state distribution policies have created the world’s most inefficient wine market. Only in the USA does a wine that costs $10 to produce end up costing you $50.
Enter de Négoce. With 20+ years of global wine sourcing experience, we have become the #1 direct-to-consumer wine brand in the country in just one year of business. How? We source excess exceptional wine from icon and boutique wineries and sell it directly to you at incredible prices. Simple.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY
2019 OG de Négoce No. 100 Napa Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
We were very excited to get a rat notification last week to brighten up the (hopefully last) Midwest cold and snow event. As luck (or Alice’s skill) would have it, we were in for the November 2020 “de Négoce 2018 Mixed Reds” case offer, and we still have most of them safely ensconced in the cellar. We did enjoy what we had opened from that case, and had high hopes for the 2019.
Since I’m just back from two days of round trip, non-interstate, cornfield driving from IL to OH featuring wind/snow/ice, this was a real treat to sample up on Sunday. We’ve got a bit left in the bottle for a Monday recap that we’ll add.
Presentation: Quietly elegant, understated bottle, no capsule, with a nice synthetic cork.
Appearance: a very inky plum/purple that goes a bit maroon at the very edge. Mrs Rat very aptly called it eggplant (aubergine to the foodie crowd and better fits the wine).
Nose: dried dark fruit (raisins/berries) and some violet flower for first impressions. Mrs Rat rightly also noted some slight earthiness and butterscotch. Very pleasant. We really need to get that wine aroma wheel from UC Davis.
First taste, from pop and pour at 63°: plum/some oak/smoke to dark fruit with a long finish. Nice firm tannins, finish on the tongue of black tea/sweet tobacco. Nice full body, swirled to show quickly developed long legs. Despite the 15.1% alcohol, it was not on the forefront. Complex with a number of flavors detected over the first hour. At that point, we bailed out on a true blind test and checked out the de Négoce site write up, where the description included a reference to a “hint of maple”, which definitely was evident, and added a nice complement.
Food: We paired this up with some very dark chocolate, where it did well, as with our dinner of gnocchi/prosciutto/kale and garlic bread. The acidity and strong flavors really held up.
Final notes for this evening’s tasting after some air time: this is a wine with multiple layers of savory/ fruit/ earth to it as well as light cedar and hints of eucalyptus and licorice in there as well.
This bottle definitely has differences from the 2018 mixed case CS wines (no #100 in the prior offer), but that is not a bad thing at all.
Overall Day One take – we liked it very much. Best quote of the evening “You could pull this out for an evening with a wine snob and feel good about it.”
Price last time was stellar, and even given current market and shipping situations, we still think this will be an offer well worth your consideration. Hope to hear from some additional rats.
We will get a follow up post for Day Two. Thank you, Casemates, for the rattage opportunity!
DAY 2 Update Enough left for almost a glass each for us. Somewhat more soft and blended flavors today. Room temp brought up the alcohol a bit, but not overwhelming. Flavors were still on target from Day 1. It will be interesting to see how this wine matures with a couple more years on it.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2019 de Négoce Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon - $20 = 8.00%
Bought a case of this on the first release - this price is slightly better. I’ve drank 3 bottles (yeah, for science) and Cam’s notes are fairly accurate. Day 2 is way better as this is young and needs air - and more time for sure. I do like it and am happy with my earlier purchase.
Same here, but I’ve only had two so far. Second one was last week and it has really settled down and is drinking very well. It does need air, but I didn’t notice a great difference on day 2. I’ve got way too much wine, and more on the way, but this is way too good a deal to pass up. In for a(nother) case.
This was On-Deck for yesterday evening, but…
A “friend” came over who really loves Menage a Trois Silk, and drinks everything up indiscriminately. So…we’ll try N.100 tonight and report back. Gonna go and aerate it into glasses now to drink with dinner later.
@FritzCat Yeah, buy this, buy a whole case. Much better than the Turnbull Estate we had the other day. Kind of reminds me of a fresh Chappellet Signature…on a good day (for 1/3 the price). Actually I tried it in December and bought another case. now I’m sitting on 2 1/2 cases -2 bottles, and I have “no regerts”.
Interesting. Nearly the opposite of my recent experience with this wine. Mine was nearly opaque, with an incredibly aromatic nose. Nice fruit on the palate, and no noticeable alcohol. I enjoyed it enough to buy another case.
@bent80@Springbank Sounds like your bottle was bad. I just rattled the Rioja and had a sour, alcohol, no nose while the others had fruit and florals. Like my experience, what the others described wasn’t what was in our bottles!
For science I opened one of mine from the tranche one (futures) release… definitely more like @Springbank’s – the nose is a bit tight on first swirl, but the flavors explode and last longer than it has taken me to write this… In for another case w/ my mates, this is a fabulous deal.
Visited a local locker I have and found that case I was wondering about.
PnP young fruit nose, something hinting at a bit of candy, didn’t really notice the higher AbV.
Plenty of dark fruits on initial taste, that candy again. Not sure if it’s RS or just an abundance of fruit. Barrel, tannins, acid seem like they will, with time, meld and develop.
Wish I’d have found, or known the offer was upcoming, a couple days earlier so I could see what some extended air would do.
Happy with the case I have and don’t need another; but if you have some time, at this price grab one and watch it develop.
2019 de Négoce Lot 100 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
295.80/Case for 12x 2019 de Négoce Lot 100 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Apr 4 - Friday, Apr 8
2019 de Négoce Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
6 bottles for $124.99 $20.83/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $229.99 $19.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2019 OG de Négoce No. 100 Napa Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
We were very excited to get a rat notification last week to brighten up the (hopefully last) Midwest cold and snow event. As luck (or Alice’s skill) would have it, we were in for the November 2020 “de Négoce 2018 Mixed Reds” case offer, and we still have most of them safely ensconced in the cellar. We did enjoy what we had opened from that case, and had high hopes for the 2019.
Since I’m just back from two days of round trip, non-interstate, cornfield driving from IL to OH featuring wind/snow/ice, this was a real treat to sample up on Sunday. We’ve got a bit left in the bottle for a Monday recap that we’ll add.
Presentation: Quietly elegant, understated bottle, no capsule, with a nice synthetic cork.
Appearance: a very inky plum/purple that goes a bit maroon at the very edge. Mrs Rat very aptly called it eggplant (aubergine to the foodie crowd and better fits the wine).
Nose: dried dark fruit (raisins/berries) and some violet flower for first impressions. Mrs Rat rightly also noted some slight earthiness and butterscotch. Very pleasant. We really need to get that wine aroma wheel from UC Davis.
First taste, from pop and pour at 63°: plum/some oak/smoke to dark fruit with a long finish. Nice firm tannins, finish on the tongue of black tea/sweet tobacco. Nice full body, swirled to show quickly developed long legs. Despite the 15.1% alcohol, it was not on the forefront. Complex with a number of flavors detected over the first hour. At that point, we bailed out on a true blind test and checked out the de Négoce site write up, where the description included a reference to a “hint of maple”, which definitely was evident, and added a nice complement.
Food: We paired this up with some very dark chocolate, where it did well, as with our dinner of gnocchi/prosciutto/kale and garlic bread. The acidity and strong flavors really held up.
Final notes for this evening’s tasting after some air time: this is a wine with multiple layers of savory/ fruit/ earth to it as well as light cedar and hints of eucalyptus and licorice in there as well.
This bottle definitely has differences from the 2018 mixed case CS wines (no #100 in the prior offer), but that is not a bad thing at all.
Overall Day One take – we liked it very much. Best quote of the evening “You could pull this out for an evening with a wine snob and feel good about it.”
Price last time was stellar, and even given current market and shipping situations, we still think this will be an offer well worth your consideration. Hope to hear from some additional rats.
We will get a follow up post for Day Two. Thank you, Casemates, for the rattage opportunity!
@benguin986 thank you for the rattage
DAY 2 Update Enough left for almost a glass each for us. Somewhat more soft and blended flavors today. Room temp brought up the alcohol a bit, but not overwhelming. Flavors were still on target from Day 1. It will be interesting to see how this wine matures with a couple more years on it.
In for a case!
/giphy heated-rustic-mailbox
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2019 de Négoce Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon - $20 = 8.00%
CT shows my direct case is still pending.
Likely incorrect. I really should look to see…
Good price, better than the first tranche direct.
@rjquillin exactly. don’t be fooled by the % discount. this starts at a great SRP price. any further discount is gravy.
smoking deal here. please share with friends.
don’t forget splits. if you show interest in your area, we’ll see what we can go about getting the word out.
thanks.
WD
Bought a case of this on the first release - this price is slightly better. I’ve drank 3 bottles (yeah, for science) and Cam’s notes are fairly accurate. Day 2 is way better as this is young and needs air - and more time for sure. I do like it and am happy with my earlier purchase.
Same here, but I’ve only had two so far. Second one was last week and it has really settled down and is drinking very well. It does need air, but I didn’t notice a great difference on day 2. I’ve got way too much wine, and more on the way, but this is way too good a deal to pass up. In for a(nother) case.
/giphy chubby-fashionable-lark
This was On-Deck for yesterday evening, but…
A “friend” came over who really loves Menage a Trois Silk, and drinks everything up indiscriminately. So…we’ll try N.100 tonight and report back. Gonna go and aerate it into glasses now to drink with dinner later.
@FritzCat Yeah, buy this, buy a whole case. Much better than the Turnbull Estate we had the other day. Kind of reminds me of a fresh Chappellet Signature…on a good day (for 1/3 the price). Actually I tried it in December and bought another case. now I’m sitting on 2 1/2 cases -2 bottles, and I have “no regerts”.
Putting up such tempting offers here has got to stop!
/giphy liberal-tantalizing-camp
@Mark_L why thank you!
This is an excellent wine. Its come a long way in the last 5 months. I would like to see Casemates get more de Negoce cabernets.
/giphy loving-embarrassed-gerbil
I’m a bad rat today. This morning did not go to plan, and that included posting this; then I had a 12hr drive and just realized I forgot to post…
More translucent than expected for Cabernet, with pink/mauve undertones
Long, fast, thin legs
Not much on the nose, faint spiciness
Thin mouthfeel
Peppery alcohol up front and behind, unable to taste any distinct flavors. Long spicy finish with some tannins
Cherry and strawberry sour plum finish
After breathing for ~4 hours faint cherry and plum are coming through, the pepper is still there but not quite as strong.
Day 2
Mostly pepper again. Hasn’t opened up at all. Even the venturi didn’t do much to help. It just tastes like alcohol.
Day 3
Can taste the plum more, Cherries are more sour, alcohol/pepper is muted quite a bit
This needs a long cellaring and a long decant but has promise.
@bent80
Interesting. Nearly the opposite of my recent experience with this wine. Mine was nearly opaque, with an incredibly aromatic nose. Nice fruit on the palate, and no noticeable alcohol. I enjoyed it enough to buy another case.
@bent80 thank you for the report
@Springbank
Day 2 I had three other tasters, they wouldn’t even finish their pour because all they could taste was alcohol.
@bent80 @Springbank Sounds like your bottle was bad. I just rattled the Rioja and had a sour, alcohol, no nose while the others had fruit and florals. Like my experience, what the others described wasn’t what was in our bottles!
@bent80 @msten
I was thinking maybe travel shock, but the description here goes way beyond that. I guess a bad bottle
For science I opened one of mine from the tranche one (futures) release… definitely more like @Springbank’s – the nose is a bit tight on first swirl, but the flavors explode and last longer than it has taken me to write this… In for another case w/ my mates, this is a fabulous deal.
Excited to try this out
/giphy fictional-neurotic-weasel
Visited a local locker I have and found that case I was wondering about.
PnP young fruit nose, something hinting at a bit of candy, didn’t really notice the higher AbV.
Plenty of dark fruits on initial taste, that candy again. Not sure if it’s RS or just an abundance of fruit. Barrel, tannins, acid seem like they will, with time, meld and develop.
Wish I’d have found, or known the offer was upcoming, a couple days earlier so I could see what some extended air would do.
Happy with the case I have and don’t need another; but if you have some time, at this price grab one and watch it develop.
@rjquillin
Oh, I do wonder how/if that syn cork will allow for graceful aging…