Last Friday will go down in the history of Graileys as the night we all survived a 20-year onslaught of Seavey Vineyard Cabernets and lived to tell the tale.
Twenty five brave members started trickling in around 6pm for a night of serious libation. With Winemaker Jim Duane on hand to lead the tasting, we had some work to do sniffing and sipping through Seavey Cabernets from 1990 through 2009 harvests. This line-up showcased everything that Seavey has ever produced. They typically hold back 20% of each harvest for their library and all the wines came straight from the winery.
From the decade of the 1990s, there was a general consensus that 1991, 1993, and 1995 were knockouts!
The 1991 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was elegant and complex weaving a layered bouquet and flavors of tobacco, earth, spices, incense, and dried flowers. It was wonderfully fresh on the palate with a nice thread of acidity that kept the wine’s finish going for a few seconds. I enjoyed the vibrant quality to this wine.
The 1993 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon showed more seductive, black fruited aromatics reminiscent of plums, black cherries, blackberries, licorice, and a touch of eucalyptus/menthol. Next to the 1991, this showed more chewy tannins and greater density on the palate.
The 1995 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon showed structure and richness and a healthy dose of firm tannins. Ripe cassis, blackcurrants with sweet oak nuance (mocha/roasted espresso beans), cedar, and loamy earth coated the palate with the sappy tannins getting you on the finish. This is still youthful with all that primary fruit soaking the remarkable structure of this wine. I’d like to see this in another 3-5 years.
Both the 1994 and 1997 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon had a touch of brett, not completely off but nevertheless, it seemed tainted. I was a bit disappointed with the showing of the 1994 as we’ve had incredible experience from this vintage of Napa Cabernets. Colgin Herb Lamb, Harlan, and Dominus all come to mind as phenomenal examples from Napa’s 1994 harvest.
The 1999 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon was a baby with a tight, firm tannic structure currently burying the wine’s smoky cedar, blackberries and plum notes. The concentration and structure are evident in this wine; it just needs to shed some of that awkward baby fat to allow the rich fruitiness to come through.
Of the 2000s, I was impressed by the 2003 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon with its rich crème de cassis, vanilla, tobacco, licorice, and toasty oak flavors coating the palate. It was opulent, lush and almost creamy in texture. Supple tannins and great acidity. Great balance. This showed really well for a young Seavey Cabernet.
The 2004 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon was equally expressive with crushed blackberries, blackcurrants, gravelly notes, cedar, roasted coffee undertones and a hint of eucalyptus. I thought the 2004 showed more complexity and elegance relative to the 2003 bottling. The tannins were more pronounced here. Sappy finish marked by cedar/eucalyptus. This is a mouthful of a wine that has the stuffing and balance to age another decade or so in the cellar.
The late 2000s Seavey Cabernet Sauvignons are simply massive wines that require patience and further bottle age to show their true character. Right now, the 2007 Seavey Cabernet Sauvignon, although showing beautiful perfume (dark chocolate, black raspberries, and dried flowers) would need to be decanted at least 2-3 hours to relatively soften all those youthful, drying tannins and allow some of that fruit/chocolatey notes to peek through.
As everyone started suffering palate fatigue, I started seeing a parade of Champagnes being popped open presumably to cleanse everyone’s Cabernet-tainted palates. I saw a 1988 Cristal, a 1990 Dom Perignon and a 2002 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elizabeth getting passed around.
And amid the growing conversational murmur in the room, there was a palpable feeling that all is well in the world of Graileys members. It doesn’t take much – only a 20-year vertical and a few Tete du Cuvees.