Taste: This gorgeously black wine with a powerful structure and great fruit density was drinking very well a few weeks ago, but my tasting last week saw it a little out of sorts. So, I imagine the wine is at the tail end of bottle shock.
Structurally, Lot 74 is Lot 35 Yountville Cabernet on steroids and more akin to Lot 73 Chalk Hill Cabernet. Both of these wines hail from the cooler climates of the North Coast, and it is reflected in their Bordeaux-meets-California attitude. The wines are typically tight in their youth but with some bottle age will open up to reveal fruit complexities you don't get in warmer climes. Lot 74 is certainly a cellar selection with integrated tannins and its tightly wound core of fruit. Leave this puppy in the cellar for at least another year, probably more, and look to drink it up in another 3 to 10 years though it'll go longer. Think classic cassis fruit, dark chocolate, espresso/mocha flavors—all tightly wound together for now.
Cameron Confidential: Lot 74 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet is the "reserve" quantity we bought in a much larger Oak Knoll deal (about 1,300 cases of the 6,000 were Cabernet) for Merlot and Cabernet. If you haven't heard of the Oak Knoll District, don't be surprised: It achieved appellation status only in 2004 (for more on the appellation click here and for an at-a-glance map of all Napa Valley appellations click here). If you look at the 13 appellations on the map, you'll see that Oak Knoll is even farther south than Yountville. Next to Carneros, this is the coolest growing region in Napa Valley with exceptional hangtimes (growing cycle is approximately 8 months). The results are powerfully structured, dark wines with excellent aging potential. Lot 74 comes to us from a legendary family in the wine business who, having recently sold their winery, decided to keep the vineyards and make the wines at a custom crush facility. They have not decided yet whether to launch their own brand, and we hope they won't and will continue to make wine for us!
Lot 74
2006 Oak Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon
- Vintage: 2006
- Appellation: Oak Knoll
- Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alcohol by volume: 14.9%
- Production: 1,440 cases
- Online availability: Sold out
Downloads
- Lot 74 8.5 x 11 (pdf)
- Lot 74 small notes (pdf)
- Lot 74 sell sheet (pdf)
