Kamen, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley

2nd night: very rich fruit (dark cherry, plum), moderate tannins, very nice

2022 vintage

Delicious! One of the best Cabernets I’ve ever had. Perfectly balanced, super smooth, right amount of oak and vanilla wrapped around cherry, blackberry, casks. I first tried Kamen Cab in SFO about 15 years ago, so good then and they are still crushing it. 😀❤️

2018 vintage

drinking over 2 nights. Garnet color, Ripe dark cherry, slight smokey essence, light/moderate tannin, very nice

2022 vintage

Drank with my sister who was visiting, and got to tell the story of walking into the tasting room to see the owner, sitting at a table, barefoot, feet resting on the table top. He wrote the screenplay for Karate Kid, and used the proceeds to buy some land and plant his grapes, we were told.

2018 vintage

My final bottle of the '16.....a 2 hour decant did it, justice. All the same notes apply as from the previous bottles. Just amazing how this one is hanging tough and not giving anything up as the years go by. If only a few other Cabs could accomplish this feat at this price. This is one of those wines that makes you think, "why would I ever pay $200 more just to get 2 more points worth on my score?" …

2016 vintage

I have gone through 2 cases of this wine. One of my favorite 2018 NV Cabs (Lewis was my other fav for '18). I believe this wine is at it's peak. But I also believe there is plenty of time to drink up before it starts to fade.

2018 vintage

Three hour double decant. Very deep dark ruby magenta color. Plum, wild strawberry, violet, coconut cake, fennel, and subtle milk chocolate. Smooth, dry palate, with satiny acidity. Firm, full tannins on the longish finish.

2018 vintage

Had with Braised Short Ribs - Fathers Day - with the Duffy's and Helmonds

2018 vintage

PnP and pretty much ready out of the blocks. Saline, charcoal, milk chocolate, spice cake, black cherry, macerated blackberries, oak and tannins have integrated nicely, better tannin management than many 18s. Lost 1-2 pts for booziness. The ‘15.5’ AC was very apparent.

2018 vintage

Super bottle with strong Cabernet fruit and mild tannins in the background. Drinking well now but also expect it will improve as it settles and loses some of the flabbiness. Great wine now but it should become more refined. Pleasant surprise as my last bottle about six months ago tasted a little stewed. Both stored well.

2016 vintage

Corked!

2018 vintage

My buddy Rick shared a couple of Sonoma cabs-the Kamen was killer good - blew away a 2016 Kinsella Jersey Boy cab that paled in comparison.

2016 vintage

Lucky me, drinking the last of two bottles from 2016 of this magnificent cab. Fruit forward, without being sweet, more wet stone, minerality, earthy dense fruit that lingers on the palate. Berries on the nose with subtle sage as a back note, feeling blessed to have purchased a bunch of the 2016 vintage, which now demands a premium that’s beyond my current retirement price point expenditures.

2016 vintage

PnP with a shake decant. First sips at 30 min. Early reduction notes along with grilled and stewed fruit, raisin liquer (sherry like). High AC (15.4%) apparent. Seemingly needs more than 30 min air. Tried again and again and again, and it declined and declined and declined. I thought the early funkiness was just funk and would blow off . . . Turns out it was junk. Two bottles in a row into the sink!

2016 vintage

Two and a half hour decant. Deep dark magenta color. Blueberry, date, black currant, cardamom, bay leaf, and subtle graphite and white chocolate. Very smooth, dry palate. Firm tannins on the longish finish.

2018 vintage

One hour decant in a large decanter. Nearly opaque magenta color. Cassis, blackberry, kiwi, and dark chocolate peppermint patty. Dry, plush palate, with slightly chalky acidity. Firm, full tannins on the longish finish. This is so reliable in nearly every vintage. One of the better Napa CS out there for ~ $100. I count Moon Mountain as Napa.

2018 vintage

So friggin delicious. Popped this with family on thanksgiving’24. Rich ripe roasted dark fruits, plum sauce, espresso, mocha, tobacco, herbs and new leather. Good acidity, ripe tannins on a long finish.

2018 vintage

3 hr decant. Dark color, pleasant notes of black cherries, blackberry liqueur, fresh herbs, chocolate, cedar wood, cigar wrapper, licorice, leather, camphor, grapefruit skin and black pepper. Lively acidity, big ripe tannins on long finish.

2018 vintage

Early musty nose, along with prunes (not in a bad way), Christmas cake, burnt embers, nutmeg, graham cracker, cherry cola, black cherry. Raisins show up at the end of a thirty second finish. Even with the dried dark fruit notes, this seems in a good place at open. Still some tannic structure that might dissolve with a little air. The structure backed off but no change in the notes. Upon reflection, something wasn’t right. No score as something was just …

2016 vintage

Full bodied. Well balanced, soft and supple with rounded tannins. This is a beautiful cab, with vanilla, oak and dark fruit. Not sure why others have noted a long decant, since while this certainly opened over the course of an hour, it was very approachable when first opened.

2018 vintage

2 hour decant. Magenta purple color. Intense nose of lush dark berries, plums, tobacco, dried herbs, mint, dark chocolate, black pepper and leather. The big fruit is balanced so well with good acidity, great structure, big mountain tannins on a long finish.

2018 vintage

Super expressive. Eruption of dark fruit notes, eucalyptus, mint chocolate, dust, leather, mocha and violets. Nice acidity, big tannins on long finish.

2018 vintage

My last of a case of this wine. I enjoyed every single bottle equally. Kamen has turned into one of my favorite, most consistent producer and I love Herold made wines. Plum, dark cherry, black currant with just the right amount of sweetness. Full mouthfeel and med long finish. Great balance. This wine is in a good place and I recommend drinking now with a few hours of air.

2016 vintage

PnP — notes of bourbon, cola, chocolate ganache, confectionery sugar, palate had black fruit but a bit toasty. No brett, thankfully, unlike my last bottle. Off to a good start. Gave this 45 min air. After the air this just kept improving until the bottle was gone. Cherry cola, bourbon cherry coke, red cherry, blackberry, hints of spice and earth, the confectionery sugar became a baked confectionery note. This was not overdone in anyway. That being said, I think 8 …

2016 vintage

Drank on Logan’s 1st bday at home. Notes of bourbon.

2016 vintage

About 14 months since my last bottle. 20 min double decant back into the bottle before taking over to HMCs for dinner. It drank well early on, but wayyyy better after 1-2 hours of air. 92-93 early, 95-96 later on. Dark red/black fruit, rounded tannins and perfect balance. Hard to beat this, right now......

2016 vintage

PnP and drank over dinner. Some initial balsamic and funk notes, along with faint brett blew off after 20 min. Chocolate ganache, blackberry, a bit of bramble. This bottle did not knock my socks off and was borderline disappointing. I may start earlier consumption as my aged Kamens have been on a cold streak of late.

2016 vintage

Dark Chocolate notes, medium long finish. Has a hint of herbaceous undertone which elevates this to keep this from being a fruit bomb. Came up to its sweet spot after an hour of air and warmth out of the cellar. Delicious!

2018 vintage

Old world wine afficianados need not apply for this wine. It is a massive juicy fruit bomb with loads of highly extracted black and red fruit, some coffee and espresso notes and some Ludens black cherry cough drop on the finish. Some lingering spice on the 45 second finish. While not my style of wine, one should respect it for what it is and what they are able to get out of their grapes.

2018 vintage

Great as always

2018 vintage

Perfect mix of structured black fruits, suede leather, grilled herbs, crushed pebbles, tobacco, dark chocolate and graphite. Juicy acidity, ripe mountain tannins on a long finish. Kamen never lets me down!

2018 vintage

My style but lacked beautiful fruit I wanted. Deep dark inky magenta. Full bodied. Structured. Smooth throughout the palate. Yet fruit element was slightly bitter and it detracted majorly. 3hr decant in amadeo. Riedel performance cab glasses.

2018 vintage

Agree with AGelvis- terrific cab for the money. I have my bottle a one hour decant. Dark plum color, blackberry, blueberry, raspberries, with notes of chocolate, wet stones and bramble. Terrific structure and mouthfeel. Satisfying finish. Continues to drink well

2018 vintage

Two and a half hour decant. Deep dark magenta color. Blackberry, blueberry, strawberry jam, German chocolate cake, thyme, and subtle damp stone. Dry, velvety, full bodied palate. Nice, gritty acidity. Firm, voluptuous tannins on the longish finish. This is such a good, reliable CS for the money. Very easy drinker. Nice, engaging structure. Probably doesn’t need even a two hour decant at this point, but some air is recommended.

2018 vintage

Excellent as always!

2018 vintage

Delicious as always

2018 vintage

Pulled this one by mistake to take to my brother's (I meant to pull a '14 or '16) and enjoyed over two nights, the 2nd night after having put a Repour stopper into it from the night before. Dark purple in the glass, standard nose notes of dark fruit, graphite, and quite bit of oak. The 2nd night the oak receded a good bit and the wine softened a bit. The fruit turned decidedly blacker the 2nd night as well. …

2018 vintage

Wine + Pizza Night Wine # 5 Intensity of aromas and palate of this Moon Mountain beauty is amazing. Well structured, graphite, leather, chocolate covered berries, vanilla, dust and liqueur. Bright acids and softened tannins on nice Long finish.

2018 vintage

YUMMY.....

2016 vintage

Incredible wine. Silky, smooth, complex, dark fruit profile. Long finish. Amazing now, but still has many more years of life in it.

2016 vintage

Drank over 3.5 hours. Just the right amount of fruit with lots of chocolate, cloves, dust, and tobacco notes. Pretty light on its feet, hints of mint with fine cocoa powder and sweet oak. Ripe tannins on nice long finish.

2016 vintage

Been a couple of years since trying one of these......pnp'd and it was quite good with big upfront fruit and excellent integration all around. A few hours in, it seems to smooth out further and drink even better. Dark raspberry/blackberry fruit throughout and it gets darker as the night goes on. A very good and fascinating wine. Better with 2-3 hours of air. Amazing balance here. Probably my personal WOTN tonight.

2016 vintage

Mixed feelings on this- close to being really good, but just too heavy handed on the oak. In fairness i will note that personally i dont love oakier cab- so could see how someone else could like this. But to me this is just out of balance- the oak / vanilla is too front and center making it hard to explore everything else thats in there. Big black fruit profile, some menthol maybe on the end, luscious mouthfeel. Maybe oak …

2016 vintage

Really enjoyed this. Nose is so expressive, yes lots of oak notes coming through but also fruit. Very enjoyable today but I think I missed out on letting it age

2016 vintage

Very dark in the glass with slight notes of eucalyptus and salinity on the nose. Brooding blackberry, macerated dark fruits. Extreme lengthY finish. One of my favorite wines!

2016 vintage

Wonderful. Dark fruit notes. Very little decanting time needed.

2016 vintage

dark garnet color, full-bodied, cherries/prunes, smokey, smooth, light/moderate tannins

2016 vintage

This is getting redundant, scoring this wine, but I felt compelled to score and comment on this bottle only because it was slightly different than previous in that at 1 hour til about hour 4 it developed a def 'pruney' component on the nose and on the palate, then it faded away little by little. The first bottle of this that has done that, from my cellar. Is it the aging? A slightly off bottle? I don't know but I …

2016 vintage

Four hour decant. Very deep, murky magenta color. Boysenberry, blackberry, Russian tea cakes, and subtle orange rind on the nose. Dry, satiny palate, with zesty acidity. Firm tannins on the longish finish.

2016 vintage

Fantastic wine! Don't hesitate to open now, just give it an hour or so to breathe before enjoying it. Silky smooth. I'm sure it will continue to develop over the next several years, so don't rush through your cellar on this one.

2016 vintage

Are you sure?

Kamen, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews