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Luczy: 2011 California Cabernet – 10 years on

The 2011 Cabernet vintage in California has always been seen as one for European palates, thanks to the atypically cool, wet conditions. US drinkers may have dismissed this outlier vintage as subpar at the time, but a decade on Matthew Luczy discovers just how well these fresh and elegant wines have aged.

Vintages are often placed on a continuum, with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ at either end. This binary framing necessitates an all-too-often unasked question: good or bad for what? Good for drinking tonight or good to drink in 30 years? Bad for being different than the norm or showing an alternate viewpoint?

Some harvests produce wines built for decades of cellaring, others better suited for earlier consumption. As such, it should not be only the results of ripe, pristine vintages that deserve to be looked at fondly. Each year makes wines with different strengths, weaknesses and applications.


Scroll down to see Matthew Luczy’s tasting notes on 26 2011 California Cabernet wines



2011 California Cabernet: 10 years on


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