Well here we are again, another Cellar Saturday, a time to open a nice bottle that's been aging a while and tonight we have a 12-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, the 2001 Sawyer Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon from the Rutherford appellation. Now 2001 was a solid year for Napa Valley Cabs, perhaps not as good as the 2007 vintage, but still quite respectable and with a good bit of maturity behind it.
The wine was an inky purple in the glass, with a good bit of ruby toward the edges of the glass. The nose was just lovely, with complex aromas of leather, cedar, anise, dried spice, and just a hint of ripe fruit. The taste was just marvelous, with some dried fruit flavor up front, that quickly gave way to some wonderful earthy spice notes midpalate. The finish was long and spectacularly dry, with well rounded tannins supporting the velvety mouthfeel and complexity on the finish that makes this wine an ideal afternoon sipper.
Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a simply wonderful example of a Napa Valley Cabernet from a solid vintage. I think I bought this wine from wineshopper.com and it was a good value at around $25. Tonight I am pairing this wine with rotisserie chicken of all things, along with some pasta tossed in garlic and olive oil and some steamed Brussels sprouts. Despite my breaking all the rules of pairing red wines, this one would also be ideal with a rare grilled steak, or a wonderful Yankee pot roast for Sunday dinner!
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