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Staglin Family Vineyard Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley, 2002

20th Anniversary Selction 

Working at the most well respected wine bar in one of the richest counties in the country certainly carries its little perks. My favorite of these is the opportunity to taste all of my friendly neighborhood millionaires’ leftovers. Normally I wouldn’t shell out the $150 for this wine unless I was planning on putting it in my cellar, but since I didn’t have to, please enjoy the following review.

This wine is a big wine from a big vintage in Napa. First impressions on the nose are the characteristic dusty, earthy Rutherford bouquet, along with dark fruits like plum, cassis and black raspberry. Blueberries and mushrooms on the palate give way to a long finish of chocolate covered cherries, pipe tobacco and black tea. All new French oak imparts a distinctive roasty, toasty caramel flavor in this wine. While the tannins are apparent, and the wine was a little tight, it did open nicely in a decanter and the glass. The true solution to this is the 12 to 15 years in the cellar this wine needs.

As for pairing, this is a big wine and requires some big food. Beef and portabella stroganoff is my first thought, perhaps followed by a hunk of stinky stilton. I wish I’d had a pipe handy to accompany this wine, but I settled for a short, fat torpedo Padron cigar. Both the wine and cigar were anniversary selections which I thought was cool.

Bottom line, this wine is well worth the price tag. Open it for a special occasion; just wait a decade or more.