1999 Viader - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/7/2005) Sweet cherry nose with a cab franc green streak and some black licorice hints. Round with medium body and good weight on the palate. Some welcome candied flavors and charred oak. A hard build at this point, with young coarse tannins and well-balanced acidity. A bit angular. Better in a few years. **+
Agreed on the '99 call. I've enjoyed both a '99 Spottswoode and Pride in the last month and neither of them are as ready to drink as their '01 brethren. There are always exceptions, but the '99s generally seem more primal and tannic at age 6 than the other cali vintages from '94 to '99 that I've enjoyed.
Posts: 676 | Location: Baltimore, MD, USA | Registered: May 09, 2003
The 99 Spottswoode drank great on release but has completely shut down. Have not tried an 01 laterly but have been going thru by 00's as these have come around nicely.
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I've had the 1999 Viader several times and have always enjoyed it. I have never noticed a green taste, so maybe that's why I enjoyed it! Anyway, I seem to always rate it 90/92 points, while Parker assigns a lower 87/89 points... Viader is an expensive wine and should be better than 87/89---perhaps I've been too optimistc
I've had the 1999 Viader several times and have always enjoyed it. I have never noticed a green taste, so maybe that's why I enjoyed it! Anyway, I seem to always rate it 90/92 points, while Parker assigns a lower 87/89 points... Viader is an expensive wine and should be better than 87/89---perhaps I've been too optimistc
The "green streak" I noticed wasn't meant as a criticism, I think it's something Viader, which I find to be as singular as any California wine, normally shows. It was a perfectly fine wine, just young with a hard and astringent aspect to it characteristic of a lot of '99s. I don't remember noticing it to the same extent other times I've had this wine. The bottle was significantly improved on day two.
I think of Viader as a 10-year wine, the '94, tasted a few times over the last couple years, should be drunk now IMO. A few other vintages, none of which stick out at the moment, have confirmed this for me. I agree that the '99 vintage, which may well last longer, has produced atypically ageworthy wines and that many of the best examples aren't showing too well now.
Posts: 1397 | Location: Columbus, OH-->Chicago, IL | Registered: Oct 30, 2002
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