November 18, 2014 – Wine: 2005 Saint Clement Progeny Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Tonight was to be a special dinner, so I wanted an impressive wine to serve.  I had narrowed it down to one of two vintages of the same wine:  Saint Clement Progeny Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (from Mount Veeder).  I had just one bottle of 2002, and a handful of the 2005, but I suspected that the 2005 was not yet ready.  Still, I figured the 2002 had yet to reach its full potential either, so I opted for the more plentiful wine, the 2005 (which I had previewed back in 2008).  My company for dinner was not nearly as patient as I, so we only let the wine decant about 20 minutes before starting to drink it up.  (My initial taste suggested a 90-minute decant would be needed, and nearly two hours later it was about ready.)  At first the wine was off-balance, edgy (fuzzy?), and lemony on the finish, but you could sense the power and complexity lurking beneath the maelstrom.  As the wine mellowed, its true nature emerged.  Indeed powerful, this wine was also balanced, complex, persistent, and delicious with flavors of dark currants, raspberry, dark cherry, dark chocolate, minerals, and black licorice.  It is still robust with tannins and should wait another five years to approach its peak potential.