Pulido Walker, Melanson Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Pulido Walker · California › Napa Valley › United States of America

Red · Cabernet Sauvignon

Critics

94 /100

Reviews

professional

Vintages

No vintages

No vintage-specific entries have been added for this wine.

Community Reviews

Reviews

93.8

Avg Score

Highest

Beautiful balance of tannin and acidity. Limestone, blueberry, apple, tobacco. Great sense of place. Loved it. Enough backbone to easily go 5+ more years. Maybe a decade.

2012 vintage

90 min decant. Red berry flavors equal with underbrush, garrigue. My initial displeasure was framed by my perception of my expectations of Napa fruit forward cabs. About an hour later my taste buds recognized the multilayered concoction appealed more to my senses. Rebottled half in a split and cellared: on Day 2 this was most enjoyable as my expectations had rebooted based on Day 1. Bottom line is 2011 was an unusual year for Napa and flavors were more green …

2011 vintage

Blind tasting against a Quilceda Creek CVR from the same vintage. I took a chance on this wine at $125 on Benchmark knowing the vintage, but wanted to try this label and vineyard and figured it was relatively low risk. Much different than I expected- and guessed wrong and thought this was a WA cab. Ultimately this was disappointing and not a great buy at the price. I will keep my eyes peeled for a reasonably priced better vintage but …

2011 vintage

Beautiful brambly woodsy notes to start. With toasty oak accenting the delicious sour black cherry, dried currant, black olive, mushroom, cinnamon stick, and wildflowers. The dark, brooding notes have tremendous lift. Medium to full bodied, with sweet and ripe tannins. Oak is here but judiciously used. Still some meat on its bones to continue developing. A little blunt on the finish, but the minerality comes through after some time in the glass. Honestly, this is incredible. 100% Cab from clones …

2011 vintage

2011 anomaly; high end cab that tastes like a Grenache.

2011 vintage

24 Napa Reds : All tasted double blind. Brief impressions. What an amazing 2011! Wines of this vintage can be green, rather light, short and without complexity. This Pulido Walker took all that challenges of the vintage and translated it into strengths. Yes, it is not the most complex wine but the green aromas were just perfect. No harshness or underripe part but very fine black olives and stems aromas with a strong mineralic backbone and dark fruits to complement …

2011 vintage

Napa battle (Napa Grill, Zurich) : Tasted blind, double-decanted. This was the big surprise of the evening. Bold and muscular with depth and strong in character. Black olives paste, fresh green olives and mixed basket of berry fruit both dark and red. Layers of smoke, mint and hay provide for amazing complexity. On the palate round and dense with a long and vibrant finish. I was convinced this was a Syrah! Maybe it was the atypical nature, but I enjoyed …

2011 vintage

Amazing right at pnp! So much cassis and black fruits, typical Thomas Brown Masterpiece. The after taste is pretty awesome and lasts a good 45-60 seconds...

2011 vintage

Beautifully balanced.

2012 vintage

Opened up well but still a bit reserved- some more time would probably help. Simonne thought more red had more red fruit (Pinot like) than other vintages. Tannins have softened but finish still a bit muted.

2012 vintage

Wait til about 2020 to drink Drew

2011 vintage

Good Cali Cab nothing memorable. Medium body, red fruit

2012 vintage

Yummy

2011 vintage

TRB does it again and works some magic on a difficult vintage. PnP and the nose comes alive with dark fruit, including black cheery, blackberry and some cassis, with hints of cocoa on the backend. The wine is dark burgundy in color, medium body, medium acid with fine grain tannins and a nice light grip on the palate. This is a well structured wine that can easily age for another 10 years. The palate follows the nose with similar notes. …

2011 vintage

Beautiful notes of dark fruit and minerals in the nose. The color was deep garnett. The tannins were soft and refined, much softer than the 2010. Sediment was present but minimal. The body was medium on the pallet and the finish lasted long after the glass was empty. A great bottle to enjoy for the next 10 years.

2011 vintage

First release, didn't disappoint! Brown at his best--get on this list.

2011 vintage

92+ pts

2011 vintage

During PNV week, dinner at Pulido-Walker, great setting at the vintner's home. Second wine of the evening, served with a terrific cod and oxtail dish.Drank before and next to their PNV lot. Rich and deep red color, nose was dark red fruits with some floral notes. Palate repeated, finish was medium. Good wine for a difficult vintage, their auction lot (2012) was great, I suspect this winery will continue to improve in subsequent vintages

2011 vintage