2006 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District (11/7/2009) Initially showed no fruit at all, so I decanted for 2 hours. Nose showed red currant, raspberry, cedar and bittersweet chocolate. Palate showed raspberry, red currant, smoke and a bit of dark chocolate. Finish was a bit hot and tannic which prevented this from scoring higher, but that should come together in time, so this should improve. (90 pts.)
Sounds consistent with the last two vintages. How much is LCBO selling this wine for? It's over $80 here for the 2006 vintage. I paid around $50 in previous years, so it's really shot up.
It's certainly expensive, but I've given up trying to find decent pricing in Cali Cabs in Ontario (other than the '05 Pahlmeyer that was just released at $149 per).
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Posts: 305 | Location: Toronto | Registered: Jun 05, 2008
Originally posted by futronic: $69. Not worth it at that price.
I agree. I can't figure why he is raising the prices of both the basic cab and Poetry so much when the economy is soft. He must figure the demand is there to carry this off - or just bullheaded enough to think he's unaffected by market conditions.
I thought the 06 Chappellet Signature was better value at $69Cdn in Classics, and even better value at $42US this past summer.
At $69, to me, it moves into the category of 'overpriced basic Cabs in Ontario' along with Shafer 1.5, Phelps Cab, Hobbs, etc, etc, etc...
Pahlmeyer and Dominus/Napanook are the only ones I can think of that are competitive with US pricing. In terms of value for money (but not great vis-a-vis the US), Outpost is very interesting to me... with their 'True' Cab at $109 in Classics...
Originally posted by SThomas: At $69, to me, it moves into the category of 'overpriced basic Cabs in Ontario' along with Shafer 1.5, Phelps Cab, Hobbs, etc, etc, etc...
The LCBO pricing on the Shafer 1.5 is actually comparable to what they're selling for in the US.
Show me a good loser, I'll show you a loser - Vince Lombardi
Posts: 305 | Location: Toronto | Registered: Jun 05, 2008
Forget the pricing but is this even a wine that you would want to drink or cellar?? I've had the 2004 and 2005 Lede SLD and I found them both to be uninspiring. Just another simple and ripe Napa Cab with very little character or depth. The Chappellet Signature is clearly better!
I enjoy the wine and got it for closer to $40 with mixed case discount (actually bought the aforementioned Chappelett as one of the the other wines of the case). I think it is definitely worth that.
Anyway, we did a blind tasting against a 2005 Barnett Spring Mountain Cab. And all 4 of us tasting preferred the Barnett - which surprised me. That being said, I thought both were good and worthy of their 90-92 scores by Laube but they need a few years before I will approach again.
No more Lede for me, but I enjoyed it when it was affordable. I uncovered the 2001 at a Wine Club (SF) tasting. Bought it for $38. A year or so ago I sold a vertical of '01 thru '05 for $250. Both buyer and seller were very happy.
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Posts: 1240 | Location: San Francisco | Registered: Oct 28, 2001
Originally posted by SThomas: At $69, to me, it moves into the category of 'overpriced basic Cabs in Ontario' along with Shafer 1.5, Phelps Cab, Hobbs, etc, etc, etc...
The LCBO pricing on the Shafer 1.5 is actually comparable to what they're selling for in the US.
I didn't realize that... figured it couldn't possibly be an $80 wine anywhere else ($85 in Ontario). Still badly overpriced for the quality IMO... but point taken about US comparison.
Originally posted by cab chris: Forget the pricing but is this even a wine that you would want to drink or cellar?? I've had the 2004 and 2005 Lede SLD and I found them both to be uninspiring. Just another simple and ripe Napa Cab with very little character or depth. The Chappellet Signature is clearly better!
I haven't had the 2004, but found the 2005 to be a step up from it's competition at the pricepoint (in Ontario, that is). It was around $56 or so, I think... and showed much more depth and complexity than most at that price point.
