Napa Valley, California
14.8 % Alcohol
Tasted 2015-06-30
Deep and clear. Medium cherry red. Still very present tannins. Explicit cedarwood aroma. Cold coffee ground paired with an aromatic tobacco tone; also young black currants. On the palate at the beginning aggressive, but only for a very short moment. Then extremely fruity paired with a bunch of spices culminating in a wonderful fresh finish with a touch of vanilla. A masterpiece for this difficult, but in my opinion underestimated vintage. Cudos!
The next day. One small glass left. I used a wine vacuum the day before. Now all aggressive and bitter tones are gone. The Darioush is wonderfully smooth and velvety. Extremely balanced. A real pleasure to taste this Cab which obviously finds the perfect balance between the high alcohol and aristocratic elegance.
In 2011 I visited the winery the first time. We had an outstanding tasting presented by wine historian Nina Wemyss. The great thing was to taste the 2006 and 2007 Cabernets in parallel over more than two hours. And at this time I observed something similar for these two wines as for the 2011. The Darioush Cabernets interact more with air than the most other Cabernets I drunk so far. During our tasting at the winery we changed every half an hour our opinion. Sometimes we liked more the 2006, then the 2007. No final decision at this day.
The wine is of course too young. But the described behaviour gives you the opportunity to drink a wonderful young Cabernet without the "child murderer" thing in your mind. The wine will remain two more years on this level. And then you will have a perfectly balanced Cab for another five years. Pair it with lamb steaks. Delicious!
Saturday, July 4. 2015
2011 Darioush Cabernet Sauvignon (94/100)
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