Prior Vintages - Tasting Notes 

We thought it would be fun to show the progress of our older vintages and update their flavor profiles and aging capacity. When Tom revisits our earlier vintages, we capture his updated notes here. We hope his notes will help you decide when to enjoy your older bottles of Detert, assuming you've had enough willpower to cellar them this long!

2000 Oakville Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes - March 2007  

Our first vintage. Aromas show the more herbaceous side of Cab Franc with notes of sweet sage and green pepper. There are also red fruit flavors, tobacco and meat pie. It is long and smooth and finishes with the baking chocolate / cocoa powder notes I look for in all of our wines. Beautifully balanced. Drink now to five years. The herbaceous flavors are related to the cool growing season of 2000 and the harvest date - a bit too early.

Release Tasting Notes 

The 2000 Detert Family Cabernet Franc has wonderful aromas of brambly black currant, plum, cinnamon, clove, and classic Cabernet Franc notes of blueberry and herbs. Round and lush in the mouth, it shows flavors of chocolate, herbs and spice and finishes with fine-grained tannins. We think this wine will be best enjoyed now and over the next five years.

2001 Oakville Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes - March 2007  

Dense, rich and concentrated. Fully ripe aromas and flavors with dark fruit components, mineral, earth, dark chocolate. Full and rich on the palate and very long on the finish - delicious. This wine seems to have another ten years ahead of it and would benefit from decanting at this stage. Drink or hold. 2001 was a great vintage for Napa Valley and this wine shows the fruit and richness possible that year.

Release Tasting Notes 

The 2001 Cabernet Franc has a deep purple color, with rich blueberry, vanilla and dark chocolate aromas.  The wine is very smooth, rich and complex in the mouth, with berry, coffee and chocolate flavors and hints of white pepper.  The finish is long and balanced with ripe integrated tannins.  We think the 2001 is a terrific wine now and will be best enjoyed over the next five years, but it will continue to gain complexity for at least a decade.

2002 Oakville Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes - March 2007

Wow, if the 2001 seemed concentrated… This is huge. Dense and rich with lots of dark chocolate and cocoa powder and a core of black currant flavor. This is long and wonderful with complex mineral flavors on the finish. Strikes a great balance between the earth of Bordeaux and the fruit and texture of Napa Valley. Years to go. Drink or hold. This is the first year that we started employing extended maceration – which means, roughly, that we let the wine stay in contact with the skins for a longer period of time in order to get more extraction of flavor and structure. I think it leads to more profound, complex wines.

Release Tasting Notes 

Deep, dark-purple color. Explosive nose of violets, blackberry, blueberry, dark chocolate, herb, cassis, vanilla and hints of spice. Rich, concentrated and deep. A big, structured mouthful of blackberry, coffee and cocoa powder. Notes of herb, spice and mineral follow. Tannins are ripe and firm and framed by bright acidity. The finish is long and complex, with the dark chocolate, coffee and cassis flavors pushing along. A powerful, yet elegant Cabernet Franc that will benefit with age or can be drunk now with meat or roasted vegetable dishes.

This wine is a departure from the 2000 and 2001 Cabernet Francs. While still showing the tell-tale blueberry and dark chocolate components, it has far more concentration, structure and complexity.

2002 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting Notes - March 2007

Our first Cab Sauv and a really good one. Long and pure with layered flavors of dark fruit, mineral, baking chocolate and spice. Driven by minerality with bone meal, flint, iodine and asphalt. Has a rich core of dark black cherry. Really long and really delicious. Tannins are present but integrated. Delicious now but sure to age 10 more years.

Release Tasting Notes 

Complex aromas of rich blackberry, black cherry, currant, cedar and vanilla. Juicy on the palate with tiers of flavors led by ripe black cherry and currant then turning more complex with mineral, earth and seductive dark chocolate flavors. Long, lingering finish with intriguing notes of spice and fruit. This wine is very complex, concentrated and powerful with a firm tannic structure. Very young now and will benefit from years in the cellar. If you are planning to drink this now, it would be fantastic with a rare steak.

2003 Oakville Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes - March 2007

Very aromatic showing ripe sage, violets and sweet black fruits. Very rich and supple on the palate with flavors of herb, baking chocolate, black cherry, plum and mineral. Long and smooth finish. The tannins are so smooth that this is drinking really well right now, but it should age beautifully for 5 to 10 more years. The 2003 vintage in Napa Valley was an uneven one. For us it was very successful – but this 2003 Cab Franc is marked by the vintage which shows itself in the sage notes. The sage aromas and flavors are the ripe end of herbaceous, rather than the bell pepper or green bean that you can see in less ripe Cab Franc.

Release Tasting Notes 

Wonderful aromas of blueberries, blackberries and violets with a background of cocoa and sweet herbs. Fruit, cocoa and sage flavors push through to complex mineral, cocoa and toast notes that linger on the long finish. This has rich texture and well integrated tannins. Delicious now, especially after a few hours in a decanter. The 2003 Cabernet Franc should hit its stride in five years and drink well for ten.

2004 Oakville Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes - April 2008

Coming soon.

Release Tasting Notes 

Floral notes frame cassis, baking chocolate and slate aromas. Dense and rich, nearly chewy, showing flavors of cocoa powder, mineral, flint, black cherry, currant and baking spices. Palate coating and delicious. The tannins are mouth coating and firm. Lingering flavors of mineral, baking chocolate and black currant. A very concentrated Cabernet Franc. This can be decanted and enjoyed young with a well marbled steak but will benefit from cellaring and should age effortlessly for a decade.

2004 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting Notes - April 2008

Coming soon.

Release Tasting Notes 

Earthy, minerally nose reminiscent of sun-baked clay with a background of black cherry. The mineral flavors carry through to a sweet core of cherry, currant and chocolate. Large scale and a bit more lush than the Cabernet Franc. Finishes with stone, cherry, caramel and chocolate flavors. This would benefit from decanting and will improve with bottle age.

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