James Cole, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

James Cole · California › Napa Valley › United States of America

Red · Cabernet Sauvignon

Critics

93 /100

Reviews

professional

Vintages

No vintages

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

Community Reviews

Reviews

92.6

Avg Score

Highest

90-minute double decant. Dark, yet bright ruby color. Plum, licorice, fig-infused chocolate, rosemary, and subtle burnt pecan pie. Smooth, dry, nearly full bodied palate. Medium intensity tannins on the medium long+ finish.

2018 vintage

one of many Holiday wines. Rankings would be: 15 chateau boswell red, 14 Cole Christmas bottle, 19 shadybrook V, 14 PR, 16 Brunello, 20 Cole, 17 crown poinr and a lousy Aonair Mountain It's amazing what aging does to the taste.. had 20 cole 5 days earlier, much better

2014 vintage

See vivino

2014 vintage

90-minute decant. Licorice, maple-infused chocolate, violet, and orange rind. Smooth, dry palate. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish. This has improved a bit since my last bottle (~ 18 months ago). It�s a solid entry-level Napa CS in each good vintage. �18 is a bit more brooding.

2018 vintage

Simple straight forward cabernet, strangely the wild cherry note that I find in many of these wines was somewhat lacking here. Middle of the road wine well in its drinking window.

2014 vintage

Two hour decant. Very deep dark electric magenta color. Black cherry compote, blueberry, flourless chocolate cake, star fruit, and orange jelly beans on the nose. Very smooth, dry palate. Firm tannins on the longish finish. This was a touch tight. It needs another year or a 4+ hour decant. You can overlay a serious, brooding vibe. All signs suggest this will improve (and it�s not bad now).

2018 vintage

Excellent straightforward, young Napa cab.

2018 vintage

A fine Napa cab. 5 hour decant, but like the Rudius of the same tasting, got better with some swirling in the glass. Classic Cab character.

2014 vintage

Napa Fall 2021; 11/17/2021-11/21/2021 (Napa) : James Cole's franchise player. My experience has been hit or near miss. The 2018 is solid but not stellar, represents the property well. Merlot and Malbec make up the last 8% or so and add a little somethin', somethin'. Some chocolate covered espresso beans and stewed black fruits. A quality sub-$100 wine.

2018 vintage

James Cole cabs often taste like tart sour cherry to me when first opened, and this one was no different. I did not decant, but it really started to soften and smooth out after some time in the glass. We drank this with a hearty meat lasagna, which also complemented the structure of this wine. The quality really started to shine through. I recommend a short decant or a little more time in the bottle. Plenty of life left on …

2014 vintage

Just keeps getting better. One of Napa’s hidden secrets. Glad I have 3 more as there is years of shelf life remaining.

2014 vintage

Really opened up into a smooth, supple cab after about 30 minutes of air. Has aged beautifully.

2014 vintage

Simply great. We are huge Cole fans. Deep purple on the cork. Nice hint of boysenberry on the nose. Decanted for 90 minutes then drank over next 3 hours. Dark fruit, solid tannins and a little pepper / spice developed. Great finish.

2014 vintage

This one needs some decanting and resting. The nose is muted, but there is obvious brooding dark fruit there. The wine really is built to age a while and the tannins are still very young. So the fruit is not very forward, but there is a dark chocolate and licorice ending that begs for a NY Strip to accompany it.

2014 vintage

Very good wine!

2014 vintage

Classic cole cab. Best find we made in napa. Bold napa with complex flavor and red fruit

2014 vintage

Part of an 08- 14 vertical

2014 vintage