Good Morning Gentle Readers,
The 2004 Arns Cabernet is what I expect Napa cabs to taste like. This is a brilliant presentation of Cabernet Sauvignon and I'm really not clear as to why Parker and Spectator would offer up a stingy 87. It just shows to go that you can't always rely on the opinions of others. Yes I know that those guys consider an 87 rating to be a good wine. But, I don't think they mean it. Take a look at some of the other wines that have garnered an 87 and you'll see where I'm going with this.
For those who don't know, estate grown means that all the grapes that went into the bottle were grown on Arns 160 acre property, most of which is not cultivated. As an aside, the stone caves at the old Christian Brothers winery, now home to the Culinary Institute of America, were constructed from stone that was quarried on the Arns estate.
I've a soft spot in my heart for Brother Timothy's old time Christian Brothers cabernet because it was the first good red wine I'd enjoyed. For some, a taste for red wine is acquired. For moi, it was colpo di fulmine, described best by J.M. Darhower.....
Colpo di fulmine. The thunderbolt, as Italians call it. When love strikes someone like lightning, so powerful and intense it can’t be denied. It’s beautiful and messy, cracking a chest open and spilling their soul out for the world to see. It turns a person inside out, and there’s no going back from it. Once the thunderbolt hits, your life is irrevocably changed.
The Arns is a lovely Old World style wine. Bone dry. Very integrated. I did not taste the wine when it was young, but nine years into the process, it is mature, an earthy wine with hints of leather and smoke. No big fruit, but some black currants and plums left behind. Very nice on the palate with a smooth, long finish. One of those wines that leaves one a bit sorrowful when the bottle is empty.
This wine is outstanding with standing rib roast, or any grilled steak. The Boy and I were bachin' it a couple of weeks ago and I grilled us some tri-tips over mesquite with veggies & horseradish. Horseradish is as amazing with tri-tip as it is with prime rib. The veggies: grilled yellow squash, asparagus, and New Mexico Big Jim Peppers. Truth is, I couldn't interest Jacob in the veggies. OK, he tried the yella squish and didn't gag. Teen-age boys want meat. The palate is less developed than it one day will be, yet he's moving in the right direction.
As Ever,
TWC
