Jody, Rich and I started out in the “Z” end of the area and even though I moved quickly, barely got in 25 or so.
For the money my favorite was the “Vina Robles Petite Sirah.” I found it on wine-searcher.com for 20.
Lots of over oaked fruit bomb cab (with associated ridiculous prices) as to be expected. I do like Steltzner, but the 06 was simply too young and tannic to give a fair reading of. If you love cab as I do, its a shame to see a sea of the stuff becuase you can’t really enjoy it with food, other than steaks and stews.
I was surprised at the amount of Pinot on display, but not by the prices. When I can get decent premier cru burgundy from the 05 vintage in the high 20’s, its tough to sell me on Russian River pinot at that quality level in the high 30’s. There were several stand outs for both Jody and I in the low 30s and if/when I remember the names, I’ll add them to this thread.
Just as an anecdote, it doesn’t seem like the pricing on the cabs has dropped much for 06. At least so far as quoted prices at the tasting were concerned. Napa has a long way to go to get back to competitiveness. When I can get well aged 01 Cab on the secondary markets for 40 why pay 60 for current release?
Josh