Written by Rusty Eddy
When the Blues Brothers movie was released in 1980, the U.S. was boycotting
the Moscow Olympics, Mt. St. Helens was erupting, and Tom Eddy, who was just
about to take the position of general manager/winemaker at Souverain Cellars
in Alexander Valley, purchased his new Mazda Rx-7.
The Mazda's sleek lines and elegant styling made a lasting impression on Tom
that made it natural to trade up to a Porsche 911 Targa within two years.
But the cars, and Tom's access to Sonoma and Napa County Cabernet while
working at Souverain (and later at Inglenook) also influenced his desire to
produce balanced and elegant wines.
Okay, so maybe the car metaphor is a stretch, but Tom has currently embarked
on a new sort of "mission from God" (a la the Blues Brothers): to spread
the Gospel of elegance and balance to as many markets as possible during the
month of August.
Over-extracted, alcoholic Cabernet Sauvignons may bowl over critics in the
short term, but style and sophisticated balance will impress the patient
wine lover every time.
In August, Tom will visit Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Maryland,
New York, New Jersey, Boston, Washington and California to extol the virtues
of elegance and balance.
Tom recently opened a vertical of all of his vintages in preparation for his
upcoming trip across the U.S. next month. While some other early 1990s Napa
Cabernets are flabby and tired, even Tom's inaugural 1991 vintage (and his
1998 and 2000, from the wine critic's most hated vintages) are showing
beautifully.
Here are Tom's notes. And if you're lucky enough to live in Boston, you can
join Tom for a vertical tasting of Cabernets at Jonathan Alsop's Boston Wine
School on Friday night, August 22 beginning with dinner at 6:30 pm. See
http://www.bostonwineschool.com/ for more information and reservations.
2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Odd fluctuations in weather patterns lead to trials and tribulations for our
growers, but plenty of warm, dry weather during harvest ensured the ripeness
of the fruit. Barrel tasting notes: elegant, supple wines with complex
noses, this might be a "sleeper" vintage. Release: January 2007.
2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Perhaps the most significant weather patterns of 2002 were the frosts during
budbreak, and cool nighttime temperatures in August. The frost led to
smaller crop, and the cool nights led to extra tannin development during
veraison. Hard to imagine, but this wine is bigger than the 2001, making it
a great cellar selection. Aromas of blackberry, spices, cocoa and dark
fruits, with firm but refined tannins.
2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Lighter than average rain fall, warm spring and summer, and moderate fall
temperatures allowed fully ripe grapes and perfect harvest conditions. This
translates into a big wine, similar in structure and complexity to the 1997
and 1999 vintages. Stacked with complex richness, this wine has a deep
red-violet color, and unfolds with black cherry, violet, cedar, tar and dark
chocolate. Tannins are full and chewy.
Recommended drinking: now - 2015
2000 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Great fruit, floral aromas, black cherry. Silky with wonderful mid-palate
richness. Fruit melds beautifully with sweet oak. White pepper notes.
Opulent mouth is richly flavored and spicy. Youthful and delicious.
Recommended drinking: now - 2012
1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Great color. Dark, almost opaque purple. Dense. Rich intense aromatics. Some
mineral and mint. Excellent potential. Still very young and shedding some of
its youthful tannins. Some green olive. Rich black fruit. A real
blockbuster.
Recommended drinking: now - 2012
1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Nice ruby-red. Some vanilla-cherry-spice on the nose. Great complexity. Very
fun wine. Many aromatics going on here: floral, cherry, clove, vanilla,
artichoke, prunes. Drinking quite well early on, with potential to evolve
over the next 5-10 years. Sold-out
1997 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Dark ruby-red color. Big black cherry and cassis. Smells slightly herbal,
youthful, with peppercorns and tannin in the nose. Big tannin and acid
structure. Just beginning to develop well and could match the '94 and '95.
Needs another 3+ years to really strut, and 8+ are not out of the question.
Recommended drinking: now - 2015.
1996 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Nice purple, red color. Beautiful floral nose. Rose and violet. Pomegranate,
plum, spicy-perfume. Intense ripe raspberry and white pepper spice. Sweet
vanilla-oak on palate melds nicely with perception of sweet fruit. Excellent
silky texture and tannin structure. Almost as rich as '95 or '94. Still
somewhat youthful, yet this wine could be opened and enjoyed for its sweet
fruit and silky texture now. Should continue to evolve over the next 10
years. A real sleeper.
Recommended drinking: now - 2012
1995 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Dark ruby-purple color. Big, spicy nose. Clove and cinnamon-vanilla. Big,
rich red and dark fruit. Very slight cherry pit, dill pickle and black
olive. Slight smokiness. Good complexity. Rich, ripe fruit on palate. Great
finish. Still quite young, needs another 3-5 years, and another 8+ is not
out of the question.
Recommended drinking: now - 2015.
1994 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Nice dark-ruby, purple color. Beautiful integration of sweet vanilla and
spice oak with rich, sweet fruit. Integrates wonderfully on palate. Rich,
sweet-like black and red fruits. Plum, blueberry, black cherry, currant,
pomegranate syrup. Excellent finish. Drinkable now, and should gracefully
evolve over the next 5+ years. Enough fruit and tannin structure to last
another 6+.
Recommended drinking: Now - 2012.
1993 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Medium dark-ruby, purple color. Beautiful, rich fruit. Slight floral notes,
with ripe, black cherry, and sweet vanilla-spice nicely integrated. Very
elegant, rich mouthfeel. Great, almost sweet finish. Good acid and tannin
balance. 1993 is drinking very well right now, and should continue to evolve
and gain complexity over the next couple of years. One of Tom's favorites.
Recommended drinking: Now - 2009.
1992 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Purple-red, purple edge. Color shows little signs of age. Starting to pick
up some nice secondary aromatics. Some leather and hay. Beautiful black
fruit, black olive, and rich oak. Nice cassis. Big tannin and acid
structure. This wine still has lots of life left and should easily last
another 6+ years.
Recommended drinking: Now - 2015.
1991 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Purple-red color, no fading. Beautiful secondary aromas, integrated nicely
with surprising amounts of youthful fruit flavors and aromatics. Cassis,
spice, some white pepper and violet perfume. Black and green olive.
Beautiful, silky mouthfeel with a great finish. This wine is really showing
well right now and it should continue to get even better over the next 2
years. First vintage made. Only 200 cases produced. A "sleeper" vintage.
Recommended drinking: Now - 2010.
five
cases of Tom Eddy Napa Cabernet and Elodian Pinot Noir. They were the
first account in IL to place a Tom Eddy wine. We'll be back there on
Oct. 22 to do a wine dinner. And BTW, who says WI is the back woods?
We traveled to a little summer community called Lake Geneva, a vacation
spot for a lot of folks from the Chicago area. Because it's a tourist
town, dining is casual, and there are three, maybe four white table
cloth restaurants. One is the Geneva National, which is the old Playboy
Club (a place about which I understand Tom has a few stories from the
his early winemaking days). Anyway, Tom Eddy Cabernet is on the list
at two of the top three restaurants in town. We had dinner at Sopra
Trattoria, visited with Roxanne, and a great time. We also did a sales
luncheon at Mitchell's Fish Market in Brookfield WI, which is part of
the Ruth's Chris group.
