2011 Kongsgaard Cabernet Sauvignon
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The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is classy, elegant and super-polished. Still quite fresh, the 2011 has aged spectacularly well. At ten years of age, it remains an infant! Bright acids and firm, insistent tannins give the 2011 its distinctive personality, while savory Cabernet aromatics add nuance to a core of dark fruit. There is a bit of vintage 2011 austerity, but no green notes at all. The only question is if the tannins might soften a bit further from here. After a cool, rainy summer,. John Konsgaard waited until November 2 to bring in this fruit, and did it all in one day!
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Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
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(15% alcohol; blended with 10% merlot; from 30+-year-old vines on Atlas Peak): Full red-ruby. Complex, expressive aromas of cassis, black raspberry, licorice, shoe polish, fresh herbs and leather. Not as deep as the best recent vintages of this wine but supple and nuanced, with plum and dark berry flavors complicated by bitter chocolate and spices. Nothing weedy about this 2011. Finishes juicy and firmly tannic, with lingering flavors of black fruits and minerals. I'd give this three or four years in the bottle to absorb some of its tannins. This cabernet was harvested on November 2!
Savory herbs, tobacco, black fruit, pencil shavings, mint, licorice, new leather and cedar all flesh out in the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon. Statuesque and wiry, the 2011 impresses for its energy, class and pure nuance. I very much like the sense of tension here. The 2011 is going to require a few years to fully meld together, but all the elements are in the right place. In 2011, this fruit wasn't picked until November 2!
The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa is much more compact and linear without the intensity of the 2012, but still a very good effort for the vintage. These all look like impressive wines, but they are so limited in availability, I’ve kept my tasting notes short. The brilliant John Kongsgaard – part winemaker, part opera devotee, and part mystic – has a few new items up his sleeve for release. Of course, he is still offering his Chardonnays and Syrahs, which are among the very best made in California. Over recent years Kongsgaard has branched out to produce Cabernet Sauvignon from Atlas Peak. He has two cuvees now that come from these volcanic soils, cropped at very tiny yields of one ton of fruit per acre. The wines come from relatively old vines for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, 35 years of age as of 2012. Kongsgaard’s newest baby, which he started making in 2009, is only two to four barrels of co-fermented Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in a 50/50 blend from the Atlas Peak site. Fax (707) 226-2936