WTN: 1996 Arns Cabernet Sauvignon

[Brad Ballinger]

1996 Arns Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Grown, Napa Valley. This is a wine that is maturing. In fact, there are some quite mature elements at present along with some brashness of youth. It’s a wine in transition, and it would be interesting to see how it responds to another year or two in the cellar. There’s an earthy funk on the nose along with blackcurrant, chocolate, spice, mushrooms, and coffee. Moderate acidity. Tannins that are starting to soften, but are none to happy about it. Some aeration was helpful to mellow the wine out a bit, and allow some of the disparate elements to come together. Not an exceptionally long finish, but an attractive one where the fruit remained lush, and didn’t dry out much. It was a decent partner to grilled NY strips, but has the capability to pair with more complex cuisine.