2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake County
Tasting Notes
Diamond Ridge Vineyards is located at the southeast corner of Clear Lake in Lake County. This remarkable site enjoys a cooling lake effect due to its close proximity to water. Its 2,000-foot altitude and clean, traffic-free air allow its fifteen clones of Cabernet Sauvignon to bathe in sunlight high in UV, resulting in brilliant color, firm tannins and rich fruit aromas. Clone 15 is characterized by rich black cherry aromas and substantial tannins, while Clone 4 contributes finesse and brightness.
The vineyard’s stony volcanic soil provides great drainage to restrain the foliar canopy and also imparts energetic mineral energy and surprising longevity. Accordingly, the wine was allowed 82 months in 20-year old neutral French oak which developed seductive tobacco nuances greatly enhanced its complexity, adding elements of mysterious and intriguing “come hither” aromatics.
The mouth possesses a rich, generous core of black cherry and a lively mineral finish. Tannin structure, once quite hard, has evolved to a pleasant roundness: velvety on the back palate but still with a firm grip up front, indicating both drinkability and further aging potential of perhaps a decade, but entirely enjoyable right now.
Our vineyards are located on the volcanic hillsides above the eastern shores of Clear Lake. Our grapes are some of the most sought after in Lake County. Cooling lake breezes preserve berry flavors, while our soils confer a refreshing minerality.
While certainly a peppered steak would suit, you really must try it with grilled duck breast.
Specs
Vintage: 2013
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Clone 15 and Clone 4
Diamond Ridge Vineyards, Clearlake
Harvested 12 October 24.9 Brix
Fermentation techniques:
Anchor NT112 yeast
7.5 g/L Bois Frais Alliers chips
14-day maceration
Elevage details:
Four weeks microbüllage pre ML
82 months in neutral French oak
Alcohol sweet spot 14.5%
pH 3.73 at bottling
198 cases produced
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake County
Case:
12x 2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake County
My name is Jacob S. Stephens III, but everyone calls me Jake. I represent the third generation in our family to embrace the life of a farmer, following in the footsteps of my grandfather Jacob, and my father Jake II.
The Diamond Ridge Vineyards name derives from the Lake County diamonds found on the property. Diamond Ridge is located on the volcanic hillsides north of the town of Clearlake, with the eastern shores of Clear Lake just over the hill. Elevations range from 500 to 800 meters. At this elevation, there is never any fog, and the bright cool sunlight creates conditions ideal for deeply expressive Bordeaux varieties as well as Petite Sirahs of unrivaled color, grace and aroma.
Our site allows us to grow fruit that is comparable, sometimes superior, to our downhill neighbor Napa County, at a fraction of the cost of land. Many experts contend that the quality of fruit produced in mountain vineyards rivals that of the valley floors. We agree! As one of our avid grape clients remarked, “Diamond Ridge is without question the diamond in Lake County’s crown.”
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
3 bottles for $74.99 $25/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $249.99 $20.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Well, it was on-again-off-again with UPS on delivery timetable, again! Email notice on 6/30: “Your package will be delivered on 7/1/2021, between 12:00pm and 2:00 pm.” Nice!
2 hours later: “Your delivery status has changed. Check tomorrow for an update.” Grrrr.
Checking the next day – (now paraphrasing), “We have no earthly idea when we’re going to deliver your package. Check with us tomorrow.” GRRRRRRR!!
On 7/2: “Your package will be delivered tomorrow.” (Do I trust you, Men (and Women) in Brown??
Yes! they did come through – and in time to thoroughly sample and rate this offering from Two Jakes of Diamonds. And as coincidence would have it, it was my birthday! Thank you, Alice! We had friends and near-family visiting for the occasion, so extra perspectives and opinions were in store for this report.
It is the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, and of special note, it is from their Reserve line. The notes on the back of the bottle are impressive: “… Clone 15 is the most destined for greatness.” “Clone 4 contributes brightness and finesse.” “82 months maturing in old French oak…” “…generous berry flavors… refreshing minerality…”. Sounds interesting indeed!
So, with moderate temperatures during shipment, an early afternoon delivery, and excellent packaging, it arrived at approximately room temperature. I decided to open for that first pop-and-pour experience to see what was in store.
The cork was in great condition – proper, even staining of the edge. No invasion of wine up the cork, tight texture, no crumbing.
This was a little disappointing. The picture may not quite convey the brick color and brownish tint on the edge. Structure was not as “robust” as I expected, given the build-up from the label. It’s opaque, but not dense. Not a hefty Cabernet by any means, which is fine, and one can certainly be fooled by appearances.
On the nose: cherry, black cherry, blackberry, currant, and a little leather. And heat! Another look at the bottle shows 14.7% alcohol. Every bit of that was front and center.
A quick sip – cherry still leads, blackberry second, and the heat is quite prominent. No hint of minerality. A brief bit of smoke on the finish is as close as it came on the mineral spectrum. So, a soft aeration, decanting (leaded crystal decanter), and wait till dinner.
Dinner was a smoked pork shoulder, on at 8:00 am, pulled at 5:30, sliced (fell apart!), with all the typical sides. No way would this Cab hold up to that (almost none would, IMHO!), so a couple of Lodi reserve Zinfandels fit the bill better.
Afterwards (four hours later), we revisited the Two Jakes for a proper evaluation. A big surprise was the color – it had lost some (but not all) of the brown, but still a decidedly brick tone. The heat had dissipated only slightly. And the astringent nature, and tart-to-sour finish is still apparent, if not more pronounced. Not your typical Cab dryness. This was the unanimous consensus of the group.
The next day fared no better. Little change after an overnight rest (returned and corked in bottle). In fact, the sourness has escalated to an imbalanced experience with this wine.
I wanted to like 2 Jakes; I really did. And I remembered a previous offering of a 2012 Cabernet. I found the Rat report for that selection, and was somewhat vindicated by the notations there of “lack of minerality”, “not a complex wine”, and no real evidence that increased cellaring would significantly improve this wine. Given the brick-to-brown coloration of the 2013 Reserve, with no complexity, little structure/tannins, I do not see any more longevity in its future. Eight years may be young for some Cabernets, but not for this one. Sorry. I call ‘em like I see ‘em. And I trust that all will appreciate the honest report.
Cheers!
@Kraxberger As happens so frequently, I think we must be using the term “minerality” differently. Many use it to describe the aroma of wet stone so treasured in white Bordeaux and old vine Zinfandels. This wine has none of that.
What I mean is the palate energy, particularly in the finish, that this wine has in abundance. It’s a characteristic of volcanic soil and is also found on limestone (Burgundy) and schist (Douro ports). This wine is both well evolved and surprisingly youthful, and its presence here is one of the reasons I think it has considerable staying power.
We don’t know what minerality is, but it does seem to contribute to ageworthiness - witness my Faux Chablis Chardonnays, which are at their best 15 years after vintage.
@Kraxberger@rjquillin I think that’s the principal problem here. This wine should be served around 65 - 70F. Any warmer will certainly bring out the heat.
It’s a great priviledge to offer this Reserve Cab Sauv from the vineyard many of you know well. This is the same wine I sell as the WineSmith '13 Cab, only with an additional couple of years in neutral oak and only bottled last month, which explains the unstained cork.
I adore this wine. All this time in barrel has given it consideable complexity, but the black cherry fruit center is still the primary resonant note. It is certainly true that there is a brick edge to the color given seven+ years in barrel, but I believe it still has many years ahead of it, though it’s probably near middle age and quite ready to go now. What I love, which you so rarely see, is the complex barrel bouquet that’s developed.
It’s true that this wine has more alcohol than I normally offer. This is an unavoidable artifact of lengthy cellaring in our low-humidity California cellars, which preferentially evaporate water and over many years raise alcohol content. I think the balance is very good. I appreciate kraxberger’s take, but I’m confident the wine just needs to settle down a bit from its recent journey into bottle and the tender graces of UPS.
@winesmith@Kraxberger
In the Rat above, based on the observations, I asked about serving temperature, as my first thought based on the comments was this may have just been served too warm.
Your thoughts?
@klezman I see why you would say that. Ethanol has a lower boiling point, so an open glass of wine or whisky will lose alcohol content in all conditions.
A barrel skin is essentially a reverse osmosis membrane, which is to say a small-porosity size-selective semi-permeable membrane. Volatility plays no part in membrane, which is controlled by molecular weight and equilibrium. H2O weighs 18 daltons, while CH3CH2OH weighs 46 daltons, so water is favored when there is none in the atmosphere surrounding the barrel. At low humidity, alcohols go up
If, as in a cave, the relative humidity in the cellar’s air is 80-100%, little or no water movement is experienced and ethanol passes preferentially, so the ABV of the wine goes down.
@klezman@winesmith How much do you then plan ahead for the evaporation when you’re dealcoholing? Is there a point at which you taste and say “14.2% is the sweet spot” but you know you’re wanting to put 60+ months in barrel so you pull it down to mid-13s just to get it to go back up after aging?
@klezman@radiolysis It’s pretty unpredictable. We try to humidify the cellar to prevent this effect. Perhaps that system went astray during the COVID year when the cellar had a skeleton crew? Dunno. As is well studied in whisky warehouses, the exact placement of a barrel stack changes these effects substantially and erratically.
In the end, you taste the wine near to bottling and decide if you’re on a sweet spot. This happens about one time in six. In this wine, Jake and I agreed that it was quite harmonious and didn’t show the alcohol. It’s very non-linear. A wine just 0.1% higher than a sweet spot, even down around 13%, can seem hot and bitter. Faux Chablis is usually 12.9%, but one drop of vodka will make it severely hot and astringent. Weird as this is, weirder still is that there is broad agreement among tasters as to where the sweet spots are.
Another factor that’s impossible for the winemaker to control for is the environment in which the wine is consumed. Things you wouldn’t imagine such as the type of lighting or the color of the wallpaper can alter taste. The effect of wine and music is especially strong, both positive harmonic resonance and negative dissonance. It’s powerful.
It’s very useful for the winelover to pay attention to these environmental effects. Generally, wines like this Cab don’t like bright sunlight and taste much better at night, especially with candles or other firelight. Bottom line: the quality is not actually in the bottle. Similarly, a painting will look entirely different in a different frame or hung in a different light.
Philosophy professor Dwight Furrow and I are just completing an ebook called A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music. It will be on Amazon very soon for $9.99. Dwight’s Edible Arts blog is always worth a read.
Can’t say about this one, but my recent experience with newly bottle wine shows a need for a long rest in the bottle before the wine is enjoyable. If I wasn’t so overloaded, I’d be in for a case, but I would be in for a split one if anyone in the “North of Atlanta” area is interested. Keeping in mind you need to let this sit for at least 6 months, and maybe a year.
Clark, usually I’m all-in for your wines, but this time I just got a 3-pack. Gonna put these up with the top shelf wines and drink over the next few years. I admire your patience and your dedication to our enjoyment.
Golden ticket! As always, thank you Alice, WD, Clark, and Jake(s). I feel a little silly ratting a wine where you know the winemaker participation is going to be off-the chart. Pardon my layman review when dealing with an industry expert.
Opened the box to find a known vineyard, producer, and perfectly shipped with no heat damage. The first thing you notice it is has the reserve label; evidenced by the “2” artfully done in the background, this, unlike the Roman Reserves, is simply a Reserve designation.
Glancing at the back label, a Cabernet that was on oak for 82 months! Leave it to Clark to do that. 14.7% and two clonal varieties with explanation of why they were chosen. What a treat for a holiday weekend! The only slight drop in excitement was conditioning to think “infanticide!” Foil is tight with no sign of leakage, to assuage possible fears from some of the St. Laurent complaints. (My case was perfectly fine, FWIW.)
Pop and pour:
The natural cork was certainly in there, wow. Has a nifty little DIAM2 logo you would miss if you weren’t looking carefully. There is absolutely no staining on the sides,only the top. I guess you think a 2013 would have more, but then I remembered the wine has spent most of its life in oak and was probably bottled only recently.
It pours a beautiful dark garnet color with bricking around the edges. It is a color I never have seen in a Cabernet. It was far lighter than I have come to expect—usually much darker—and it was quite translucent. I can see my fingers through the glass. This isn’t to say it looked watery or diluted, just unique. Thick, viscous legs seem to cling forever
You are instantly hit with bright cherry. All 3 people that tried this instantly recognized it. Once again, not something I expect in a Cab. This is certainly interesting. My girlfriend detected mushroom!? I thought there was a little menthol sage. Neighbor picked crimson raspberry. Maybe some leather on top of the noticeable—but not overpowering oak. Which did not impart any noticeable vanilla that we detected. No alcohol smell for nearly 15%.
The first sip is very dry, medium bodied, slight tartness with tannins and acidity combining to create that “mouthwatering juciness” and palate cleansing properties that scream “I want paired with food (and music)” I felt the finish was quite long lived, where my girlfriend thought it was shorter, but she said not abrupt or too short, just where we differed in our opinions.
My neighbor is a wine broker who grew up in wine country in California, and although I have no experience with them, he said it sort of reminded him of an older Rioja where they age the wine in massive barrels for many years.
I poured two glasses and left alongside uncapped bottle to try later.
2 hours later with food
Even though I had this wine the day before we tried, and was going to seek out foods to pair, a gift of huge salmon fillets showed up. Red wine and fish, what am I thinking?
Believe it not, it worked. I attribute this to this wine’s remarkable ability to clear the fat away (especially after eating the belly section) and it’s overall lightness. I wouldn’t go seeking out fish for this, but if you do, make sure its fatty so you experience where this excels. As for the wine itself, nothing seems to have changed in 2 hours in a glass.
8 hours later with food
Time for another odd food pairing: tri-color pasta, homemade spinach walnut pesto, and Gardein meatless pork bites; my girlfriend is pescatarian. This was another surprising combo. I cannot stress enough this wine’s ability to make every bite taste like the first, washing away that coating of olive oil. I started to get some more traditional Cab fruits: darker, deeper, but still that cherry was there.
23 hours later
I have not capped the bottle and it has been at room temperature (albeit in a very cold bedroom right by the AC); I poured myself a glass after pasta, and it sat opened until trying.
Finally, I am seeing the wine’s evolution. The cherry has become more muted giving way to leather, blackberries, crimson raspberry, boysenberry.
It no longer hits me with the same tartness as it did yesterday, perhaps could be enjoyed more without food, even though that mouth-watering quality is present.
What is this wine trying to teach me?
My preconceived notions of what Cabernet should look like and taste like have been challenged. That substantial years on oak does not automatically impart a vanilla component or out of balance tannins. That I am going to be disappointed next time I pair a wine with food that doesn’t have this wine’s ability to cleanse the palate. Finally, that I know I know nothing.
I like this wine very much. It should have many years left as it has been in open air for a day as I am submitting this review, and it is changing, but drinking wonderfully. The case price is great for a wine that has this much age, this much uniqueness, and potential for longevity.
Thanks for this fun bottle and chance to rat. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.
@WCCWineGirl Thank you for the opportunity. I just poured myself another small glass (lunch wine, yay!) after 49 hours uncorked at room temp, which is roughly 65 according to thermapen.
It is so far from vinegar this wine has lots of life left. It is losing a bit of that tart edge and obvious cherry, to a more mature contemplative wine. Smoother, fruits still there, picking up more herbs–especially that sage eucalyptus note. That lively what I termed acidity, but he corrected me minerality is still present.
I have never left a bottle uncorked at room temp for two days (even his roman reserve I put a stopper in), and I am surprisingly impressed. I have a few ounces left that I am going to keep for myself–sale will be over–to try tomorrow. This is good stuff. Thank you.
Thanks for such a studious review. The red fruit aroma notes you report are common in Cabs grown at altitude on ricky soils with thin, clean air, particularly clones 4 and 15. You see them is the Cabs of Mt. Veeder and Mayacamus, but never on the valley floor. Two reasons for this. Valley floor soils have heavy clay and too much water availability, especially when grown in bare soil without cover crops. The resulting heavy canopies shade the fruit and stimulate pyrazines (bell pepper) which mask the bright fruit aromas. More important, the grape’s wax cuticle absorbs the diesel exhaust from millions of Mercedes, giving the wines a darker aspect - cassis or black olive.
Believe it or not, this wine is quite low in titratable acidity - about 5 grams per liter. Acidity ruins the grace of Bordeaux varieties because it stimulates salivation, and the proteins contained react with tannins to produce a coarse precipitate like sandpaper. The palate energy you’re perceiving is from minerality. We don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s characteristic of volcanic soils. You can tell the difference in that minerality is strongest in the finish and also because it does not stimulate salivation, so the tannins remain graceful and elegant.
This characteristic seems to impart unexpected ageworthiness to wines, and I think this one will be with us for a good long while.
@winesmith Wow what interesting stuff! And it all makes sense, except maybe for the millions of Mercedes part.
Though on the other hand I live near a state highway with truck traffic, and a heavy equipment place on the other side. Some mornings when the air is still, I’ll walk outside and think “Mmmmm, Diesel!” Though cassis and black olives never came to mind… (in full disclosure I did have one of the the old-gen Mercedes Diesels for a while)
Folks, we are dying here. That one sincere but to me off-base review is killing our sales. I’m telling you that this is one of the best deals we’ve ever offered. I will personally stand behind a no-questions-asked return policy, but I don’t expect many takers.
As has been suggested, let the wine simmer down from its travels and serve at cool room temperature and I guarantee you’ll be glad you got in on a deal of a wine that worth every penny of $50 for $20 and change.
I appreciate your trust and faith in me, and I really don’t want to let Jake down on this one, as I assured him it would fly.
@winesmith
I’m in!
I will admit to being a bit put off by the first review…but I also know well that wines often need to “settle down” after shipping…and that Clark’s wines always seem to come around. I have no space but generally can’t resist Clark’s offers. Looks like I’ll be starting on that second “wine box sofa” very soon. Who needs real furniture!!! What kind of cushions/upholstery do y’all recommend?
@winesmith et al,
Please allow my one additional comment and semi-rebuttal, and with all sincere and due respect to Mr. Smith and his vast and in-depth expertise of winemaking - I certainly cannot hold a candle to that.
Sir, my review was not “off-base”; it was the result of careful and thoughtful evaluation by myself and 3 others that day. There was solid, unanimous opinions on the results.
I had, and have no intentions to “flame” a wine offering, and certainly not one with the Smith reputation. Please bear in mind that we as Lab Rats do not have the luxury of waiting 6 months for a wine to settle down, nor two weeks’ minimum to overcome bottle shock, nor sometimes to even chill down to cellar temperature. We’re “paid” to provide a competent, honest, and equally important, a timely review for the wine presented.
I am no sommelier, but I also bring 40 years of experience with the grape, admittedly under a variety of circumstances and expertise. I believe I can discern a good wine, one that needs to “grow up”, when it needs to open up more, and when it’s past its prime.
If, as has been alluded to, that temperature, time to settle, more time between bottling and release (1 month appears to be way too soon), then either a disclaimer should be presented, or the Casemates logistics is not the venue for a such a unique wine. I saw nothing in over 30 hours interaction with this sample that would lead me to believe that any of the above qualifications would have made a significant difference in the outcome.
My sincerest apologies if my review caused such an impact on sales. Again, that was not my intention. Sometimes, objectivity rules. If that bars me from Lab Ratting, then so be it.
@Kraxberger I am a little offput with @winesmith trying to dismiss your review. The whole point of labrat, to me, is to give everyday people the ability to put their opinion out there. If the purpose of labratting is to help push wine, that is crap.
I already have felt burned by the mystery box just a shot time ago and now we have the complaining about a single labrat hurting sales, that is just pretty lame IMO.
Thanks @Kraxberger for being willing to put a tough opinion out there.
@Kraxberger There is no doubt in my mind of your sincerity. It’s a very studious and respectful review, and I would definitely want you maintained on the lab-rat recommended list.
I have built my reputation on this platform not just through wine quality but through candor and willingness to talk about what happens behind the scenes. I expect no less from my casemates homies, and I treasure the relationship with all of you.
Nearly all the time, the system works for all of us. It is, in fact, the only flash sale venue where my unusual wines stand a chance. This is because we have here a free and open discussion where I get to say my say as do you and the other labrats and the group in general.
You are right that the wine shows more alcohol than the group expects from me, and perhaps I should have employed reverse osmosis to bring the level down - after all, I invented the process. The difference in our perceptions of this wine is partly explained in that I am tasting under ideal conditions, and I thought the balance worked. My bad.
I do not think your review was the main reason we had poor sales the first day. I think the main factor was that only a handful of loyal crazies were looking in on CM instead of drinking beer with family and watching fireworks.
Anyhow, please accept my apology. I’m trying to feed my family and I guess I kind of panicked. The respect and appreciation of this community means more to me than a few sheckles.
Constructive feedback/criticism has always been an expectation and hallmark of ratting going back to the old days. Correct me but this entire concept of providing an honest opinion was never meant to be a rubber stamp type deal. I’m not sure I ever remember a rat being questioned by the winemaker for their feedback.
@winesmith Mr. Smith,
Thank you for your reply.
It would take a total ignoramus to not recognize the depths of your passion and expertise and immersion into the wine industry, and we are all benefactors of your labors. Your dedication to winemaking is clearly evident, and has broadened our collective experiences.
We are good - and I’m grateful for the exchange.
@winesmith I can personally attest to Clark’s policy and his commitment to the quality of his wines. Bad bottles happen to every winery. I have had bottles of 20 year old First Growth Bordeaux - perfectly stored by an importer friend - which have had bad corks or were just ‘off’. Similarly with a young Romanee-conti at a professional tasting a few years ago. The key is the integrity of the winery/wine merchant. Clark is the best in this regards.
Nice to see you back on Casemates with a new wine. Would you compare this to the recently offered 2012 Two Jakes Cabernet? That one, by your recommendation, needed more time in the bottle.
What else do you have up your sleeve for future offerings? Did I see that you made a zin?
$20/btl for this wine seems like a no brainer. Sorry I wasn’t ratting this one, This should have been tasted at cellar temp. Sometimes shipping does weird things as well in the short term. Hopefully this offering will turn around!! How about some music pairing recommendations?
The 2012 Two Jakes Cab Sauv was from clone 15 and has tons of black cherry but it was only two years in barrel, the rest in bottle. It’s full of sweet fruit but simple and straightforward.
An analogy might be the difference between a Vintage port, which by law has 2-3 years in neutral wood and takes a long time to come around, vs a wooded ruby or tawny, which has much more developed complexity. I know I’m not supposed to, but I prefer the wooded ports to the declared vintage ports in general.
It is the custom to select the best wines for the Vintage program and the inferior wines for the wooded programs, but I was treated in 1989 by the winemaker of Quinta do Noval to wooded versions of the 1963 vintage compared to the wine still in wood 26 years later – OMG, what a wine. Then he treated me to a taste of the 1940 vintage still in wood, which was never bottled because it was bricked away to hide it from the Nazis. That’s a wine I’ll never forget.
This and other experiences have informed my winemaking choices in this odd niche I have chosen. You guys were treated to the 2008 WineSmith Pinot Noir, which received 10 years in neutral wood, a crazy-good, very complex and completely un-contemporary-Californian style.
This Reserve Cab is a supreme example of what can be done in this style.
@wnance Yes, we have a 2016 Cab Franc coming up soon. We do have a wonderful Grist Vineyard Dry Creek Zin we’re trying to squeeze in, but for now, you can get it on winesmithwiness.com.
@SoSmellyAir It’s not a lot different. Same wine with an additional two years in neutral wood, so even more developed for the same price. They are both very soulful wines.
@kitkat34 I think the WineSmith 2013 CS (Diamond Ridge Vineyards, Lake County) is quite good. Soft tannins, very refined. Predominantly cherry nose, the dark cherry kind. Delicious, but not as dense or full bodied as many great 2016 cabs which I have recently tried. Do not run Clark’s older wine through an aerator. Use a wine disc or spout to splash pour it into a glass so it opens up more naturally. (There was a slight brick tinge on the perimeter which went away within 10 minutes.) A good buy at the above case price but I still have 6 or 7.
Let me weigh in on review-gate. I check casemates every night, sometimes a wine catches my eye, sometimes it doesn’t. When it does catch my eye, if it’s over 150$ for a case I don’t even consider buying it, just out of my price range. If its under $150, I’ll read the comments and then decide. I rarely, if ever, even read the labrat review. I just assume it’s biased. So the review has no bearing on whether I buy or not.
@CalJo707 They are far from biased. I have been lucky to rat so many bottles. Some I absolutely love. Some, I don’t really care for the style: Santa Lucia Pinot, for example. But, the wine was good. Not my style.
You want to see review-gate then look at the cooked wine I got when I asked casemates should I really post this? I am going to trash this wine. It was not good.
I didn’t hear back in time and up it went. It was obviously cooked during shipping but I told it like it is.
If you don’t read the rats reviews then you are missing out. You start to know whose palates are similar to yours. That is the point. Not just marketing or biased.
@CalJo707@KNmeh7 100% agree with KNmeh. Having been a rat a good number of times I’ve had wines that have both over and under performed expectations. And some that have looked like amazing deals and some that the deals were just meh.
You are missing out of you don’t read the reports. Even though only maybe 50% of them are nicely detailed they all give you information.
That’s also how I broke out of my $20/bottle price limit ages ago. The rats convinced me to buy an “expensive” wine called Corison and another called Victory. Wish they’d convinced me sooner!
I’m on a buying break to recover from a bad run of not good purchases on this site, but none of those had anything to do with the Rats.
I’ve been a rat too and was anything but “biased.” You do have to read the reviews closely. People tell you, on the line and in between them, what they really think about the wine.
@pupator Yeah I have always enjoyed the Rat reports and take them as honest representations of what that person experienced on that one bottle after that one long truck-ride at whatever situation and meal pairing might have occurred at that moment. Or ideally maybe a few moments over 24-48 hrs.
And as for that “bad run” you may be speaking of, I would predict part of it had no Rats at all, otherwise it wouldn’t have been a mystery (and an International one, at that). Honestly that experience a few weeks ago probably soured a lot of people to just trusting anything that much anymore, like the “most will receive a $50+ premium bottle” when we mostly got $5 plonk. And Summer temps >100 everywhere aren’t helping sales either.
But yeah, the Rats here I still appreciate and trust.
Some of Clark’s wines are in my “special” category of my wine fridge. Whenever one of them comes up and I am reluctant to buy (seeing that my storage space has not improved since moving to Missouri almost 2 years ago) I suffer from FOMO, so I am just getting 3 this time (to be sure I get some and to support a fellow Sandcrab @winesmith, even if the only thing he has done for me is take my money!).
/giphy muddy-unzipped-straw
If anyone is still on the fence I have this to say:
2006 Cabernet Mokelumne River
And you can pry my remaining bottles from my red stained hands
Clark thought that need EXTENDED time in neutral oak and it continues to amaze. YMMV
I’ve had some misses with Casemates but they’ve all been the cheaper wines. Every one that was over $200 a case has been great and this one sounds very interesting so I’m in for a case.
Ok. With Clark’s satisfaction guarantee, I’m in. And I mean that sincerely. I’ll do everything “right” and give this two bottles. If I don’t like it, I’ll request a refund for the other 10. I had nothing but good experience with Clark’s wines until my last two purchases.
@pupator Just to close the loop on this - I’m keeping the case. Buddy and I split the first bottle, slightly fridge cooled. Aerated pour into a decanter. Enjoyed the first glass and the second.
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake County
Tasting Notes
Specs
Fermentation techniques:
Elevage details:
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $600/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
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Estimated Delivery
Monday, Jul 19 - Wednesday, Jul 21
Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
3 bottles for $74.99 $25/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $249.99 $20.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
That’s a whole lot of time in oak!
@klezman But with Clark, it’s neutral.
Well, it was on-again-off-again with UPS on delivery timetable, again! Email notice on 6/30: “Your package will be delivered on 7/1/2021, between 12:00pm and 2:00 pm.” Nice!
2 hours later: “Your delivery status has changed. Check tomorrow for an update.” Grrrr.
Checking the next day – (now paraphrasing), “We have no earthly idea when we’re going to deliver your package. Check with us tomorrow.” GRRRRRRR!!
On 7/2: “Your package will be delivered tomorrow.” (Do I trust you, Men (and Women) in Brown??
Yes! they did come through – and in time to thoroughly sample and rate this offering from Two Jakes of Diamonds. And as coincidence would have it, it was my birthday! Thank you, Alice! We had friends and near-family visiting for the occasion, so extra perspectives and opinions were in store for this report.
It is the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, and of special note, it is from their Reserve line. The notes on the back of the bottle are impressive: “… Clone 15 is the most destined for greatness.” “Clone 4 contributes brightness and finesse.” “82 months maturing in old French oak…” “…generous berry flavors… refreshing minerality…”. Sounds interesting indeed!
So, with moderate temperatures during shipment, an early afternoon delivery, and excellent packaging, it arrived at approximately room temperature. I decided to open for that first pop-and-pour experience to see what was in store.
The cork was in great condition – proper, even staining of the edge. No invasion of wine up the cork, tight texture, no crumbing.
This was a little disappointing. The picture may not quite convey the brick color and brownish tint on the edge. Structure was not as “robust” as I expected, given the build-up from the label. It’s opaque, but not dense. Not a hefty Cabernet by any means, which is fine, and one can certainly be fooled by appearances.
On the nose: cherry, black cherry, blackberry, currant, and a little leather. And heat! Another look at the bottle shows 14.7% alcohol. Every bit of that was front and center.
A quick sip – cherry still leads, blackberry second, and the heat is quite prominent. No hint of minerality. A brief bit of smoke on the finish is as close as it came on the mineral spectrum. So, a soft aeration, decanting (leaded crystal decanter), and wait till dinner.
Dinner was a smoked pork shoulder, on at 8:00 am, pulled at 5:30, sliced (fell apart!), with all the typical sides. No way would this Cab hold up to that (almost none would, IMHO!), so a couple of Lodi reserve Zinfandels fit the bill better.
Afterwards (four hours later), we revisited the Two Jakes for a proper evaluation. A big surprise was the color – it had lost some (but not all) of the brown, but still a decidedly brick tone. The heat had dissipated only slightly. And the astringent nature, and tart-to-sour finish is still apparent, if not more pronounced. Not your typical Cab dryness. This was the unanimous consensus of the group.
The next day fared no better. Little change after an overnight rest (returned and corked in bottle). In fact, the sourness has escalated to an imbalanced experience with this wine.
I wanted to like 2 Jakes; I really did. And I remembered a previous offering of a 2012 Cabernet. I found the Rat report for that selection, and was somewhat vindicated by the notations there of “lack of minerality”, “not a complex wine”, and no real evidence that increased cellaring would significantly improve this wine. Given the brick-to-brown coloration of the 2013 Reserve, with no complexity, little structure/tannins, I do not see any more longevity in its future. Eight years may be young for some Cabernets, but not for this one. Sorry. I call ‘em like I see ‘em. And I trust that all will appreciate the honest report.
Cheers!
@Kraxberger
Curious, did this ever get chilled down to a proper cellar temperature?
@rjquillin No, it didn’t. The delayed delivery and the availability of the panel of guests didn’t allow for much wiggle room.
@Kraxberger As happens so frequently, I think we must be using the term “minerality” differently. Many use it to describe the aroma of wet stone so treasured in white Bordeaux and old vine Zinfandels. This wine has none of that.
What I mean is the palate energy, particularly in the finish, that this wine has in abundance. It’s a characteristic of volcanic soil and is also found on limestone (Burgundy) and schist (Douro ports). This wine is both well evolved and surprisingly youthful, and its presence here is one of the reasons I think it has considerable staying power.
We don’t know what minerality is, but it does seem to contribute to ageworthiness - witness my Faux Chablis Chardonnays, which are at their best 15 years after vintage.
@Kraxberger @rjquillin I think that’s the principal problem here. This wine should be served around 65 - 70F. Any warmer will certainly bring out the heat.
@Kraxberger Thank you for the review & the pics. Hope you had a nice bday.
Hi gang,
It’s a great priviledge to offer this Reserve Cab Sauv from the vineyard many of you know well. This is the same wine I sell as the WineSmith '13 Cab, only with an additional couple of years in neutral oak and only bottled last month, which explains the unstained cork.
I adore this wine. All this time in barrel has given it consideable complexity, but the black cherry fruit center is still the primary resonant note. It is certainly true that there is a brick edge to the color given seven+ years in barrel, but I believe it still has many years ahead of it, though it’s probably near middle age and quite ready to go now. What I love, which you so rarely see, is the complex barrel bouquet that’s developed.
It’s true that this wine has more alcohol than I normally offer. This is an unavoidable artifact of lengthy cellaring in our low-humidity California cellars, which preferentially evaporate water and over many years raise alcohol content. I think the balance is very good. I appreciate kraxberger’s take, but I’m confident the wine just needs to settle down a bit from its recent journey into bottle and the tender graces of UPS.
Let’s hear some other lab rat observations.
@winesmith @Kraxberger
In the Rat above, based on the observations, I asked about serving temperature, as my first thought based on the comments was this may have just been served too warm.
Your thoughts?
@winesmith I’d have thought alcohol evaporate more easily than water at most temperatures relevant to barrel ageing. Why the counterintuitive result?
@klezman I see why you would say that. Ethanol has a lower boiling point, so an open glass of wine or whisky will lose alcohol content in all conditions.
A barrel skin is essentially a reverse osmosis membrane, which is to say a small-porosity size-selective semi-permeable membrane. Volatility plays no part in membrane, which is controlled by molecular weight and equilibrium. H2O weighs 18 daltons, while CH3CH2OH weighs 46 daltons, so water is favored when there is none in the atmosphere surrounding the barrel. At low humidity, alcohols go up
If, as in a cave, the relative humidity in the cellar’s air is 80-100%, little or no water movement is experienced and ethanol passes preferentially, so the ABV of the wine goes down.
@rjquillin Serving temperature was in the room temperature realm. Excellent packaging, morning delivery… I don’t think 10* would make the difference.
@klezman @winesmith How much do you then plan ahead for the evaporation when you’re dealcoholing? Is there a point at which you taste and say “14.2% is the sweet spot” but you know you’re wanting to put 60+ months in barrel so you pull it down to mid-13s just to get it to go back up after aging?
@klezman @radiolysis It’s pretty unpredictable. We try to humidify the cellar to prevent this effect. Perhaps that system went astray during the COVID year when the cellar had a skeleton crew? Dunno. As is well studied in whisky warehouses, the exact placement of a barrel stack changes these effects substantially and erratically.
In the end, you taste the wine near to bottling and decide if you’re on a sweet spot. This happens about one time in six. In this wine, Jake and I agreed that it was quite harmonious and didn’t show the alcohol. It’s very non-linear. A wine just 0.1% higher than a sweet spot, even down around 13%, can seem hot and bitter. Faux Chablis is usually 12.9%, but one drop of vodka will make it severely hot and astringent. Weird as this is, weirder still is that there is broad agreement among tasters as to where the sweet spots are.
Another factor that’s impossible for the winemaker to control for is the environment in which the wine is consumed. Things you wouldn’t imagine such as the type of lighting or the color of the wallpaper can alter taste. The effect of wine and music is especially strong, both positive harmonic resonance and negative dissonance. It’s powerful.
It’s very useful for the winelover to pay attention to these environmental effects. Generally, wines like this Cab don’t like bright sunlight and taste much better at night, especially with candles or other firelight. Bottom line: the quality is not actually in the bottle. Similarly, a painting will look entirely different in a different frame or hung in a different light.
Philosophy professor Dwight Furrow and I are just completing an ebook called A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music. It will be on Amazon very soon for $9.99. Dwight’s Edible Arts blog is always worth a read.
Can’t say about this one, but my recent experience with newly bottle wine shows a need for a long rest in the bottle before the wine is enjoyable. If I wasn’t so overloaded, I’d be in for a case, but I would be in for a split one if anyone in the “North of Atlanta” area is interested. Keeping in mind you need to let this sit for at least 6 months, and maybe a year.
I have loved all the other Two Jakes offerings and was ready to jump but Kraxberger has me hesitating. Is there another rat?
Clark, usually I’m all-in for your wines, but this time I just got a 3-pack. Gonna put these up with the top shelf wines and drink over the next few years. I admire your patience and your dedication to our enjoyment.
Golden ticket! As always, thank you Alice, WD, Clark, and Jake(s). I feel a little silly ratting a wine where you know the winemaker participation is going to be off-the chart. Pardon my layman review when dealing with an industry expert.
Opened the box to find a known vineyard, producer, and perfectly shipped with no heat damage. The first thing you notice it is has the reserve label; evidenced by the “2” artfully done in the background, this, unlike the Roman Reserves, is simply a Reserve designation.
Glancing at the back label, a Cabernet that was on oak for 82 months! Leave it to Clark to do that. 14.7% and two clonal varieties with explanation of why they were chosen. What a treat for a holiday weekend! The only slight drop in excitement was conditioning to think “infanticide!” Foil is tight with no sign of leakage, to assuage possible fears from some of the St. Laurent complaints. (My case was perfectly fine, FWIW.)
Pop and pour:
The natural cork was certainly in there, wow. Has a nifty little DIAM2 logo you would miss if you weren’t looking carefully. There is absolutely no staining on the sides,only the top. I guess you think a 2013 would have more, but then I remembered the wine has spent most of its life in oak and was probably bottled only recently.
It pours a beautiful dark garnet color with bricking around the edges. It is a color I never have seen in a Cabernet. It was far lighter than I have come to expect—usually much darker—and it was quite translucent. I can see my fingers through the glass. This isn’t to say it looked watery or diluted, just unique. Thick, viscous legs seem to cling forever
You are instantly hit with bright cherry. All 3 people that tried this instantly recognized it. Once again, not something I expect in a Cab. This is certainly interesting. My girlfriend detected mushroom!? I thought there was a little menthol sage. Neighbor picked crimson raspberry. Maybe some leather on top of the noticeable—but not overpowering oak. Which did not impart any noticeable vanilla that we detected. No alcohol smell for nearly 15%.
The first sip is very dry, medium bodied, slight tartness with tannins and acidity combining to create that “mouthwatering juciness” and palate cleansing properties that scream “I want paired with food (and music)” I felt the finish was quite long lived, where my girlfriend thought it was shorter, but she said not abrupt or too short, just where we differed in our opinions.
My neighbor is a wine broker who grew up in wine country in California, and although I have no experience with them, he said it sort of reminded him of an older Rioja where they age the wine in massive barrels for many years.
I poured two glasses and left alongside uncapped bottle to try later.
2 hours later with food
Even though I had this wine the day before we tried, and was going to seek out foods to pair, a gift of huge salmon fillets showed up. Red wine and fish, what am I thinking?
Believe it not, it worked. I attribute this to this wine’s remarkable ability to clear the fat away (especially after eating the belly section) and it’s overall lightness. I wouldn’t go seeking out fish for this, but if you do, make sure its fatty so you experience where this excels. As for the wine itself, nothing seems to have changed in 2 hours in a glass.
8 hours later with food
Time for another odd food pairing: tri-color pasta, homemade spinach walnut pesto, and Gardein meatless pork bites; my girlfriend is pescatarian. This was another surprising combo. I cannot stress enough this wine’s ability to make every bite taste like the first, washing away that coating of olive oil. I started to get some more traditional Cab fruits: darker, deeper, but still that cherry was there.
23 hours later
I have not capped the bottle and it has been at room temperature (albeit in a very cold bedroom right by the AC); I poured myself a glass after pasta, and it sat opened until trying.
Finally, I am seeing the wine’s evolution. The cherry has become more muted giving way to leather, blackberries, crimson raspberry, boysenberry.
It no longer hits me with the same tartness as it did yesterday, perhaps could be enjoyed more without food, even though that mouth-watering quality is present.
What is this wine trying to teach me?
My preconceived notions of what Cabernet should look like and taste like have been challenged. That substantial years on oak does not automatically impart a vanilla component or out of balance tannins. That I am going to be disappointed next time I pair a wine with food that doesn’t have this wine’s ability to cleanse the palate. Finally, that I know I know nothing.
I like this wine very much. It should have many years left as it has been in open air for a day as I am submitting this review, and it is changing, but drinking wonderfully. The case price is great for a wine that has this much age, this much uniqueness, and potential for longevity.
Thanks for this fun bottle and chance to rat. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.
@KNmeh7 Thank you for the report. Interesting notes over the 24 hour period.
@WCCWineGirl Thank you for the opportunity. I just poured myself another small glass (lunch wine, yay!) after 49 hours uncorked at room temp, which is roughly 65 according to thermapen.
It is so far from vinegar this wine has lots of life left. It is losing a bit of that tart edge and obvious cherry, to a more mature contemplative wine. Smoother, fruits still there, picking up more herbs–especially that sage eucalyptus note. That lively what I termed acidity, but he corrected me minerality is still present.
I have never left a bottle uncorked at room temp for two days (even his roman reserve I put a stopper in), and I am surprisingly impressed. I have a few ounces left that I am going to keep for myself–sale will be over–to try tomorrow. This is good stuff. Thank you.
Thanks for such a studious review. The red fruit aroma notes you report are common in Cabs grown at altitude on ricky soils with thin, clean air, particularly clones 4 and 15. You see them is the Cabs of Mt. Veeder and Mayacamus, but never on the valley floor. Two reasons for this. Valley floor soils have heavy clay and too much water availability, especially when grown in bare soil without cover crops. The resulting heavy canopies shade the fruit and stimulate pyrazines (bell pepper) which mask the bright fruit aromas. More important, the grape’s wax cuticle absorbs the diesel exhaust from millions of Mercedes, giving the wines a darker aspect - cassis or black olive.
Believe it or not, this wine is quite low in titratable acidity - about 5 grams per liter. Acidity ruins the grace of Bordeaux varieties because it stimulates salivation, and the proteins contained react with tannins to produce a coarse precipitate like sandpaper. The palate energy you’re perceiving is from minerality. We don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s characteristic of volcanic soils. You can tell the difference in that minerality is strongest in the finish and also because it does not stimulate salivation, so the tannins remain graceful and elegant.
This characteristic seems to impart unexpected ageworthiness to wines, and I think this one will be with us for a good long while.
@winesmith Wow what interesting stuff! And it all makes sense, except maybe for the millions of Mercedes part
.
Though on the other hand I live near a state highway with truck traffic, and a heavy equipment place on the other side. Some mornings when the air is still, I’ll walk outside and think “Mmmmm, Diesel!” Though cassis and black olives never came to mind… (in full disclosure I did have one of the the old-gen Mercedes Diesels for a while)
@pmarin @winesmith Agreed - super interesting!
@winesmith
I have almost no idea what Clark is saying but it’s enough to make me pull the trigger. Nice work!
Folks, we are dying here. That one sincere but to me off-base review is killing our sales. I’m telling you that this is one of the best deals we’ve ever offered. I will personally stand behind a no-questions-asked return policy, but I don’t expect many takers.
As has been suggested, let the wine simmer down from its travels and serve at cool room temperature and I guarantee you’ll be glad you got in on a deal of a wine that worth every penny of $50 for $20 and change.
I appreciate your trust and faith in me, and I really don’t want to let Jake down on this one, as I assured him it would fly.
@winesmith
I’m in!
I will admit to being a bit put off by the first review…but I also know well that wines often need to “settle down” after shipping…and that Clark’s wines always seem to come around. I have no space but generally can’t resist Clark’s offers. Looks like I’ll be starting on that second “wine box sofa” very soon. Who needs real furniture!!! What kind of cushions/upholstery do y’all recommend?
@winesmith
I’m in! It’s a long holiday weekend so hopefully you’ll see more traction tomorrow…
/giphy dizzy-irrational-goat
@winesmith made me pull the trigger
@winesmith et al,
Please allow my one additional comment and semi-rebuttal, and with all sincere and due respect to Mr. Smith and his vast and in-depth expertise of winemaking - I certainly cannot hold a candle to that.
Sir, my review was not “off-base”; it was the result of careful and thoughtful evaluation by myself and 3 others that day. There was solid, unanimous opinions on the results.
I had, and have no intentions to “flame” a wine offering, and certainly not one with the Smith reputation. Please bear in mind that we as Lab Rats do not have the luxury of waiting 6 months for a wine to settle down, nor two weeks’ minimum to overcome bottle shock, nor sometimes to even chill down to cellar temperature. We’re “paid” to provide a competent, honest, and equally important, a timely review for the wine presented.
I am no sommelier, but I also bring 40 years of experience with the grape, admittedly under a variety of circumstances and expertise. I believe I can discern a good wine, one that needs to “grow up”, when it needs to open up more, and when it’s past its prime.
If, as has been alluded to, that temperature, time to settle, more time between bottling and release (1 month appears to be way too soon), then either a disclaimer should be presented, or the Casemates logistics is not the venue for a such a unique wine. I saw nothing in over 30 hours interaction with this sample that would lead me to believe that any of the above qualifications would have made a significant difference in the outcome.
My sincerest apologies if my review caused such an impact on sales. Again, that was not my intention. Sometimes, objectivity rules. If that bars me from Lab Ratting, then so be it.
@Kraxberger I am a little offput with @winesmith trying to dismiss your review. The whole point of labrat, to me, is to give everyday people the ability to put their opinion out there. If the purpose of labratting is to help push wine, that is crap.
I already have felt burned by the mystery box just a shot time ago and now we have the complaining about a single labrat hurting sales, that is just pretty lame IMO.
Thanks @Kraxberger for being willing to put a tough opinion out there.
@Kraxberger There is no doubt in my mind of your sincerity. It’s a very studious and respectful review, and I would definitely want you maintained on the lab-rat recommended list.
I have built my reputation on this platform not just through wine quality but through candor and willingness to talk about what happens behind the scenes. I expect no less from my casemates homies, and I treasure the relationship with all of you.
Nearly all the time, the system works for all of us. It is, in fact, the only flash sale venue where my unusual wines stand a chance. This is because we have here a free and open discussion where I get to say my say as do you and the other labrats and the group in general.
You are right that the wine shows more alcohol than the group expects from me, and perhaps I should have employed reverse osmosis to bring the level down - after all, I invented the process. The difference in our perceptions of this wine is partly explained in that I am tasting under ideal conditions, and I thought the balance worked. My bad.
I do not think your review was the main reason we had poor sales the first day. I think the main factor was that only a handful of loyal crazies were looking in on CM instead of drinking beer with family and watching fireworks.
Anyhow, please accept my apology. I’m trying to feed my family and I guess I kind of panicked. The respect and appreciation of this community means more to me than a few sheckles.
@jleonar78 - A pretty spot on comment.
Constructive feedback/criticism has always been an expectation and hallmark of ratting going back to the old days. Correct me but this entire concept of providing an honest opinion was never meant to be a rubber stamp type deal. I’m not sure I ever remember a rat being questioned by the winemaker for their feedback.
What a shame!
Good for you @jeonar78 and @Kraxberger
@winesmith @winesmith
I’m in too - repulsive-incompetent-hen
@winesmith Mr. Smith,
Thank you for your reply.
It would take a total ignoramus to not recognize the depths of your passion and expertise and immersion into the wine industry, and we are all benefactors of your labors. Your dedication to winemaking is clearly evident, and has broadened our collective experiences.
We are good - and I’m grateful for the exchange.
@winesmith I can personally attest to Clark’s policy and his commitment to the quality of his wines. Bad bottles happen to every winery. I have had bottles of 20 year old First Growth Bordeaux - perfectly stored by an importer friend - which have had bad corks or were just ‘off’. Similarly with a young Romanee-conti at a professional tasting a few years ago. The key is the integrity of the winery/wine merchant. Clark is the best in this regards.
Hi Clark!
Nice to see you back on Casemates with a new wine. Would you compare this to the recently offered 2012 Two Jakes Cabernet? That one, by your recommendation, needed more time in the bottle.
What else do you have up your sleeve for future offerings? Did I see that you made a zin?
$20/btl for this wine seems like a no brainer. Sorry I wasn’t ratting this one, This should have been tasted at cellar temp. Sometimes shipping does weird things as well in the short term. Hopefully this offering will turn around!! How about some music pairing recommendations?
@wnance @winesmith
Music pairings are always appreciated. I believe he made a few suggestions in the recorded video…
@wnance
The 2012 Two Jakes Cab Sauv was from clone 15 and has tons of black cherry but it was only two years in barrel, the rest in bottle. It’s full of sweet fruit but simple and straightforward.
An analogy might be the difference between a Vintage port, which by law has 2-3 years in neutral wood and takes a long time to come around, vs a wooded ruby or tawny, which has much more developed complexity. I know I’m not supposed to, but I prefer the wooded ports to the declared vintage ports in general.
It is the custom to select the best wines for the Vintage program and the inferior wines for the wooded programs, but I was treated in 1989 by the winemaker of Quinta do Noval to wooded versions of the 1963 vintage compared to the wine still in wood 26 years later – OMG, what a wine. Then he treated me to a taste of the 1940 vintage still in wood, which was never bottled because it was bricked away to hide it from the Nazis. That’s a wine I’ll never forget.
This and other experiences have informed my winemaking choices in this odd niche I have chosen. You guys were treated to the 2008 WineSmith Pinot Noir, which received 10 years in neutral wood, a crazy-good, very complex and completely un-contemporary-Californian style.
This Reserve Cab is a supreme example of what can be done in this style.
@wnance Yes, we have a 2016 Cab Franc coming up soon. We do have a wonderful Grist Vineyard Dry Creek Zin we’re trying to squeeze in, but for now, you can get it on winesmithwiness.com.
@wnance That’s winesmithwines.com
@winesmith I just had a bottle of your 2013 Cab last night, also Diamond Ridge Vineyards in Lake County; how is this different?
@SoSmellyAir It’s not a lot different. Same wine with an additional two years in neutral wood, so even more developed for the same price. They are both very soulful wines.
@SoSmellyAir unofficial rat report?!!
@kitkat34 I think the WineSmith 2013 CS (Diamond Ridge Vineyards, Lake County) is quite good. Soft tannins, very refined. Predominantly cherry nose, the dark cherry kind. Delicious, but not as dense or full bodied as many great 2016 cabs which I have recently tried. Do not run Clark’s older wine through an aerator. Use a wine disc or spout to splash pour it into a glass so it opens up more naturally. (There was a slight brick tinge on the perimeter which went away within 10 minutes.) A good buy at the above case price but I still have 6 or 7.
@SoSmellyAir that’s great, thank you!
OK I’m in-my past experience with Two Jakes has been wonderful!
Any takers for a split near Atlanta?
Any PDX splits?
@douglasp60 I’m up for a split. Will take up to 1/2. I’m in Olympia but travel to Portland a few times a month.
Let me weigh in on review-gate. I check casemates every night, sometimes a wine catches my eye, sometimes it doesn’t. When it does catch my eye, if it’s over 150$ for a case I don’t even consider buying it, just out of my price range. If its under $150, I’ll read the comments and then decide. I rarely, if ever, even read the labrat review. I just assume it’s biased. So the review has no bearing on whether I buy or not.
@CalJo707 They are far from biased. I have been lucky to rat so many bottles. Some I absolutely love. Some, I don’t really care for the style: Santa Lucia Pinot, for example. But, the wine was good. Not my style.
You want to see review-gate then look at the cooked wine I got when I asked casemates should I really post this? I am going to trash this wine. It was not good.
I didn’t hear back in time and up it went. It was obviously cooked during shipping but I told it like it is.
If you don’t read the rats reviews then you are missing out. You start to know whose palates are similar to yours. That is the point. Not just marketing or biased.
@CalJo707 @KNmeh7 100% agree with KNmeh. Having been a rat a good number of times I’ve had wines that have both over and under performed expectations. And some that have looked like amazing deals and some that the deals were just meh.
You are missing out of you don’t read the reports. Even though only maybe 50% of them are nicely detailed they all give you information.
That’s also how I broke out of my $20/bottle price limit ages ago. The rats convinced me to buy an “expensive” wine called Corison and another called Victory. Wish they’d convinced me sooner!
I’m on a buying break to recover from a bad run of not good purchases on this site, but none of those had anything to do with the Rats.
I’ve been a rat too and was anything but “biased.” You do have to read the reviews closely. People tell you, on the line and in between them, what they really think about the wine.
@pupator yes!
I try to separate my personal enjoyment of the wine from my evaluation of it. For whatever that’s worth.
@pupator Yeah I have always enjoyed the Rat reports and take them as honest representations of what that person experienced on that one bottle after that one long truck-ride at whatever situation and meal pairing might have occurred at that moment. Or ideally maybe a few moments over 24-48 hrs.
And as for that “bad run” you may be speaking of, I would predict part of it had no Rats at all, otherwise it wouldn’t have been a mystery (and an International one, at that). Honestly that experience a few weeks ago probably soured a lot of people to just trusting anything that much anymore, like the “most will receive a $50+ premium bottle” when we mostly got $5 plonk. And Summer temps >100 everywhere aren’t helping sales either.
But yeah, the Rats here I still appreciate and trust.
Just about finished with Clark’s book, “postmodern winemaking,” which is a very good and interesting read. Need some of this to go along with it.
/giphy mushy-absorbed-bushbaby
/giphy domineering-squalid-mite
In for a three pack!
Here’s a clip on grilling duck breast with a Philips Air Fryer from my YouTube cooking show, Gracious Living in the Time of Corona:
As I explain in the video for this Cab, its bright fruit and lively palate make it almost Burgundy-like and a perfect accompaniment for duck breast.
I’m in. I really enjoyed their Cab Franc on an earlier deal.
Some of Clark’s wines are in my “special” category of my wine fridge. Whenever one of them comes up and I am reluctant to buy (seeing that my storage space has not improved since moving to Missouri almost 2 years ago) I suffer from FOMO, so I am just getting 3 this time (to be sure I get some and to support a fellow Sandcrab @winesmith, even if the only thing he has done for me is take my money!).
/giphy muddy-unzipped-straw
If anyone is still on the fence I have this to say:
2006 Cabernet Mokelumne River
And you can pry my remaining bottles from my red stained hands
Clark thought that need EXTENDED time in neutral oak and it continues to amaze. YMMV
@greeneggsanham The 2006 Mokelumne River Cab was amazing.
@greeneggsanham Yes, I miss that wine. One of the best dea;s ever. 9% Crucible had something to do with it. I still have a couple bottles.
@winesmith Your office manager said you drank it all at your wedding except for the couple she found and sold to me! That one set the bar.
I’ve had some misses with Casemates but they’ve all been the cheaper wines. Every one that was over $200 a case has been great and this one sounds very interesting so I’m in for a case.
Ok. With Clark’s satisfaction guarantee, I’m in. And I mean that sincerely. I’ll do everything “right” and give this two bottles. If I don’t like it, I’ll request a refund for the other 10. I had nothing but good experience with Clark’s wines until my last two purchases.
/giphy usual-boiling-bard
@pupator Deal. Thanks for your faith - I’ll hold up my end.
@pupator @winesmith Clark you always do. Love your wines. We had your Cab Franc tonight. Simply devine. Wish we had bought more Tannant.
@pupator Just to close the loop on this - I’m keeping the case. Buddy and I split the first bottle, slightly fridge cooled. Aerated pour into a decanter. Enjoyed the first glass and the second.
@winesmith has never let me down!
/giphy discordant-offbeat-sand
In for a case…