Important Update From the Founder

Comments on my notes

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Red

2021 Caterwaul Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2/11/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

94 points

PNP. Very deep dark purplish magenta color. Cinnamon scone, sweet cream cheese, dark chocolate, raspberry, and blackberry. Dry, dusty, full bodied palate. Firm, full, lower intensity tannins on the longish finish.

This was better than my last bottle a few weeks ago. This is the best Napa CS for $50 or less for ‘21 IMHO. There’s certainly some extraction, and the fruit will need 6-12 more months to fully blossom, but this is very enjoyable for those who like fruit forward CS. My score may have one point built in for value.

I appreciate the critics of this wine, but I also believe most American wine lovers have a palate like mine (i.e., the silent majority). It’s no better or worse than the more vocal “Bordeaux first” crowd (i.e., the vocal minority). This is not Caymus, which we can all agree is no longer serious. I refer to those enjoying very fruit forward, nicely oaked CS, as having an “American palate” and this is just as refined, albeit different, than those who believe Bordeaux is superior. This entry level Caterwaul gives everything you could hope for at this price point.

FlyPig commented:

2/12/24, 2:09 PM - I was one of the people who were critical, but to be clear, my criticism doesn't come from a "Bordeaux first" place - my collection is primarily Cali cab/bordeaux blends by many of the producers the traditionalists scorn, and I've been an enthusiast and advocate of Caterwaul since 2016. To me, the 2021 simply tastes nothing like the 2016 or 2018 did on release, which I loved for what they were (or even the 2019 which to my taste was the start of the descent). All of these notes and comments are just people's opinion which is part of the fun, but assuming that critics of this particular vintage (and it's seeming continuation of a trend over the past few) are the traditionalists who don't like a well made Cali fruit bomb isn't accurate (at least in my case.) Just look at the pattern of the aggregate scores for the vintages of the base Caterwaul bottling. Did a whole different cohort of people start buying and adding notes in 2021? Or maybe its changes in the production of the wine and not the reviewers palates?

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Red

2012 Force Majeure Cabernet Sauvignon Force Majeure Vineyard Red Mountain

2/28/2020 - FlyPig Likes this wine:

94 points

Had 1/2 through coravin, finished bottle a week later. Delicious in round two - put on weight, retained fresh/vibrant red fruit bouquet, crisp but well integrated, beautiful showing. I remain conflicted on FM wines - they seem overpriced in their youth, and I’ve struggled to reconcile my experiences with ratings agencies. I stopped my allocation, but they have consistently met expectations with bottle age.

FlyPig commented:

2/29/20, 1:05 PM - I’d guess the window in CT is about right - don’t think it’s going to get any better, but I’d guess it comfortably has another 5-10 years before it starts declining.

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Red

2008 Tabarrini Montefalco Sagrantino Colle Grimaldesco

4/10/2014 - Tim and Bonnie wrote:

92 points

92 because QPR is so good. Very interesting as described by others. Would definitely purchase again.

FlyPig commented:

4/11/14, 8:41 AM - A wine score is based on the quality of the wine, not whether it costs $20 or $200. QPR isn't a reflection of one variable (price and quality), but that of two completely independent variables (what it costs and what its level of quality are), thus it's Quality to Price Ratio. A wine's score should be derived 100% divorced from its cost. The ability to use CT to track your qualitative thoughts and notes on wines is one of it's best qualities. Another is the ability of people to use these aggregated scores to get a better perspective on it's quality than can be gotten from a single professional reviewer. This falls down when people ignore the nature of the 100 point wine scoring system.

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