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The Judgment of Napa: the Cabernets and results
Decanter’s Clare Tooley MW was one of the expert panel at The Judgment of Napa, blind tasting and rating 10 Cabernets and 10 Chardonnays in homage to The Judgment of Paris 45 years ago. Here she reports on this landmark celebration and how the flight of Cabernet Sauvignons and blends stacked up.
The moment when Tor's 2016 Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon was revealed as the favourite of the Event Panel at The Judgment of Napa. Decanter's Clare Tooley MW and the Expert Panel chose the 2016 Château Léoville Las Cases.
Conceived and presented by Angela Duerr and her Cultured Vine team, The Judgment of Napa tastings were staged at Charles Krug Winery on 6 October 2021.
But day two of the event honoured the trio through a blind tasting of Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons in homage to the event 45 years earlier that catapulted California wine onto the world stage.
Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the 10 Cabernets & blends at Judgment of Napa
At the tasting, I joined an esteemed expert judging panel of Andrea Robinson MS, Alder Yarrow, Virginie Boone, Susan Lin MW, Karen MacNeil and Patrick Comiskey.
Following the stellar line up of 2018 Chardonnays that morning, the afternoon flight was Cabernet Sauvignons & Blends from the 2016 vintage. We knew the 10 red wines in our glasses would be special. Peter Marks MW had once again brought his immaculate taste and knowledge to bear on the selection.
The Australian and Italian Chardonnays among the Californians and Burgundies had whetted our appetite and sharpened our palates and minds to expect the unexpected in the red flight.
Initial impressions of the Cabernets
I approached the exercise a little differently to the way I had treated the Chardonnays (read about that here). Personally, when tasting red wines blind, I am more conscious of the possibility of palate fatigue setting in as tannins and alcohol levels inevitably climb.
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I nosed them all first for the same reasons I had done in the morning, to look for winemaking clues and character traits that might immediately trigger sensory memories and start the rippling effect, the ‘flow’, that turns blind tasting into a journey.
The 10 Judgment of Napa Cabernet Sauvignons and blends.
(Image credit: Rebecca Skidgel Photography)
This flight was full of them, a tribute to Peter’s mindfulness and selection of benchmark classics. I was sure Wines A, E and I were Bordeaux, given their telltale graphite and cedar notes, freshly turned earth character, and black fruit shot through with leaves.
Wines D and J were from California, I was also sure, given their sumptuously ripe fruit aromas: overt, expressive, promising hedonism. Wines C and G released just a hint of spearmint and eucalyptus that took me to Chile and Australia respectively.
While initial impressions are not infallible – indeed need always to be tested severely on the palate – they serve to ground you in the moment and give you confidence in your mind’s ability to make connections. All you need is that kickstart.
Using the outlines of the world map I had begun to draw, I then picked a more cautious way through the lineup of 2016s, tasting the riper, more overt ones before the more savoury and restrained, in the belief the latter wines may need a little more time in the glass to reveal their inner beauty and to mitigate the buildup of more austere or taut tannins from cooler sites.
No right or wrong answer
As I said when I wrote about the Chardonnays, this was an exercise in quality assessment not region spotting. Nevertheless, typicity – the purest expression of place, and how well that has been managed in the winemaking process – is an essential qualitative indicator. It helped me to anchor my comments and ranking, by feeling certain about the wines’ provenance.
I didn’t identify all of them, not did I rank them according to my identification or lack thereof. Wines that pique your interest and beg you to taste them again are just as exciting as those you feel immediately at home with.
Clare Tooley MW with fellow expert judge Patrick Comiskey.
(Image credit: Rebecca Skidgel Photography)
Wine H, for example, left me pondering. It stood out from the rest; a rare and unique profile. I was fortunate to be sitting next to Patrick Comiskey (senior correspondent for Wine & Spirits) who commented once the judging was done and before the reveal, that H could be no other wine than Ridge Monte Bello, which indeed it was.
One of the wines I’d found most intriguing, Wine B (Ornellaia) ended up with my bronze medal by its sheer appeal. With its ripe fruit-driven aromas overtaken by a firmness of structure and ferrous core on the palate, it was the perfect ‘bridge’ wine between old and new worlds,
There is no right and no wrong answer when it comes to judging great wines. I talked about that with fellow panel taster Karen MacNeil in the break between the flights. We had been reminded by Patricia Gallagher that the original tasting in Paris had been conceived as a comparison. Competition is exciting and gives a tangible purpose to a blind tasting exercise, but rather like scoring wines, it leaves so much on the table and so much unarticulated.
The results
It would have been a privilege to taste any one of those wines. To taste all 10 side by side, was an extraordinary honour. While wine should never be deified, I did feel that day, that ranking them bordered on the sacrilegious.
Nevertheless, I was as excited as everyone else in that room as we approached the grand reveal. Would Napa, pipped to the first and second post by an Australian in the morning, reclaim the top spot? Would Bordeaux enjoy a vinous revenge 45 years on?
Andy Beckstoffer (left) and Tor Kenward celebrate their wine being ranked first by the Event Panel at the Judgment of Napa.
(Image credit: Rebecca Skidgel Photography)
To fanfare and fireworks, the winner, a Californian Cabernet, was announced. Wine D, the magnificent Tor Cabernet Sauvignon from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville had sailed to victory in the ranking by the Event Panel (those who bought tickets to the judging). The cellar erupted! We cheered, clapped and congratulated a worthy winner, its layered, complex texture and brilliant, bright fruit a shining example of Napa’s ability to produce wines of absolute quality. Second place in the Event Panel had also gone to Napa: the Scarecrow, gorgeously plush in my notes.
The Expert Panel’s results were a little different (see box below). We placed Bordeaux first and second. In all its monolithic majesty, Wine A – the St-Julien second-growth Château Léoville-Las Cases – had stolen my heart along with my fellow tasters, while its second-growth peer from St-Estèphe, Château Montrose, was a close runner up, with its intensity and drive. We then awarded third, fourth and fifth places to California.
Looking forward
The day ended as it had begun, with music and a celebration. We had gathered, tasted, pooled our experience, and proclaimed winners. It was intense and it was unforgettable.
But it doesn’t end there. Patricia Gallagher entreated us to continue the tradition. As wine lovers we know the search for intrinsic quality and value never stops. So, what next?
In Steven Spurrier’s book, A Life in Wine, he writes that the secret to a happy life lies in the three Ss: Someone to love, Something to do and Something to look forward to. Those of us in the room that day are already looking forward to the next Judgment, wherever that may be.
Judgment of Napa: the Cabernets & blends
WINE A
Château Léoville Las Cases, St-Julien 2CC, Bordeaux, France 2016
Château Léoville Las Cases, St-Julien, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux 2016
My wines
Classic cedar and graphite nose, immediately refreshing and invigorating, shot through with wild greens and moss. Powerful, intense, restrained and compact with fine-grained tannins. Important,...
Château Montrose, St-Estèphe, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France 2016
My wines
Founded in 1815, Château Montrose is a St-Estèphe icon revered for ageworthy reds. Under the Bouygues family's ownership since 2006, major investments in the 95ha...
Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA 2016
My wines
From a relatively cool growing season, this is reserved on the nose, with lurking blackberry fruit and a distinct vanilla tone. While rich and opulent,...
Gorgeously lifted blue fruit and violet nose leading to an equally sumptuous, plush palate. Everything is super ripe but in balance, with a level of...
Penfolds, Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia, 2016
My wines
Eucalypt on the nose together with black fruit and leather. Tightly structured, there are layers of complexity to the flavours and texture for sure, but...
Clare began her wine life in London with John Armit Wines in 1995 after a degree in French and Spanish at Cambridge University. She joined Direct Wines Ltd as a wine buyer in 2000 and moved to Bordeaux in 2006 to establish Direct Wines’ international wholesale division and manage the group’s winemaking facility in Castillon.
