WTN: 1994 Staglin Family Cabernet Sauvignon

[Brad Ballinger]

1994 Staglin Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford. My experience with some of the Napa Valley Cabs from the 1994 vintage has been varied. Some sing while others have been on their dying legs. So it's a roll of the dice whenever I pull a cork on one. This wine made a five-hour car trip with me from St. Paul to Mount Vernon, Iowa. I travel to Williamsburg, Iowa, for business on occasion, and detour to Mount Vernon, 45 minutes away, just to eat at Lincoln Cafe.

I should have used a two-pronged cork puller. The cork split in two when I used my standard waiter's service. But I know the management at Lincoln Cafe, and they gave me a decanter. I pushed the remaining cork in the bottle and decanted. Now I was worried -- a dried out cork, and more aeration than I wanted to risk. But what can you do?

The color was rich, not much bricking. Aromas were a bit closed initially, but showed some red and black fruits, tobacco, and clove. In the mouth, the wine was structurally sound, with fruit taking a back seat to the structure. Tannins still had a firm grip. It took an hour in the decanter for this wine to open up and blossom where the fruit was the showpiece. At that time, there was wonderfully complexity and layering.

A good roll of the dice.

Edited October 25, 2007 by Brad Ballinger (log)