Remembering a Wine

I posted on social media a picture of a bottle of wine that we had with dinner the other night. A discussion ensued in which a question came up as to whether I remember each wine that I drink. Just to dispel the rumor, the answer is no. I do not.

But, I do remember a lof of wines that I drink. Other than having a good memory, I'm not sure why. Perhaps it goes back to my posts from yesterday and the day before in which we discussed terroir fingerprints.

First, if you are going to remember a wine, you need to pay attention to what you are drinking. If you guzzle the wine and happen to ask at some point what you were drinking, you are not going to remember it. But, just as you might remember a meal that you really liked, so might you remember a wine.

To me, it all comes down to using my senses. And, then, if the wine was one that I would like to remember, or conversely, if it was so bad that it is etched indelibly in my memory against all will, I tend to categorize how my senses found the wine.

The wine in question was a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain District. I first tasted this wine in about 2009 at the vineyard. It's 100% Cabernet from an estate vineyard. Sitting a fairly high elevation, at least for Napa Valley with the vineyard somewhat steeply sloped, it's overlooked by a bit of a natural canopy so that when the sun does shine through, the light is very direct. The soil at this vineyard is extremely varied, but characteried by being particularly rocky. It makes for a fairly unique wine fingerprint.

In other words, this is a wine that is very distinguishable from most other wines. In fact, it is so distinguishable that it merits a story. 

Somewhere around 2013 or 2014 (I could be off on the year), my wife and I visited this winerry once again (we visitted a number of times over the years). As part of a discussion, it came up that I could identify their wines that I had had. Now, understand that while most of their wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, there are some others.

So, the gentleman serving us brought out a bottle in brown paper bag and poured me a good ounce to ounce and a half. I was being challenged. So, I went about my process. Holding the glass against a white background tilting it so that I could inspect both the body and the rim. While not extreme, there was meaningful browning on the rim. I had narrowed the likely vintages to roughly the range 2002 through 2005.

Holding the glass up to my nose, there was still plentiful fruit. The 2003 had not aged well, so I ruled it out. What I did get were notes of blackberry, black raspberry, chocolate, and baking spices, particularly cinnamon. This ensured to me that it was, in fact, Cabernet.

The wine was too concentrated and not quite rich enough to be a 2002, so that left me choosing between 2004 and 2005. The 05s from the area were often described as elegant. This wine was too concentrated and youthful to be thought of that way. So, I settled on the 2004.

And, the bag came down. Sure enough, it was the 2004. So, I came home with a bottle, compliments of the winery. And, that was the bottle that we finally drank the other night, still full of blackberry and raspberry truffles, still somewhat youthful and still quite concentrated. 

So, yes, this was a wine I remember.

When we first experienced this wine, I would have noticed