Detert Family Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Upon opening yesterday afternoon, my initial whiff was of dark fruit and a ton of oak. Palate was also very oaky (contrary to other posts here). I let is slow ox for several hours and revisited. Again, great fruit, licorice, etc.; but, again, heavy on the oak. After 24 hrs, the oak is only slight diminished, but not by much. This is a well made wine, that is not in dispute. I just do not like this heavy oak treatment. …

Excellent wine, very dark color, black fruits, soft tannins, balanced, medium to full body, long aftertaste. Glad i have a couple more.

2.5 hr. decant. Blue fruit and brooding cherry. Tannin was very light. Drank ahead of its age on the curve. Lighter than I had expected with a faint hint of oak and cola. Needs time to develop some tertiary aspects. I would give it a shorter decant next time.

Recent auction pickup.....pnp'd and great with an early charcuterie board dinner and finished over the ensuing 5 hours. Gathers weight and depth over time. Dark, opaque garnet/purple in the glass. Nose of iodine, green herbs and dark berries. Palate of brown spices, earthy leaves and blackberry fruit. Mouthwatering acidity shows up later on the evening and the barrel spice picks up as well. Long finish by the end of the bottle. The spice component seems to go on in the …

Huge QPR points for this wine. This has to be one of the best values wines in its price point, with the grapes coming from a very historic and famous area, To Kalon, known for producing incredible Cabernet Sauvignon. Highly recommended. This needed about 1-2 hours to really get going, but was dropping off after the 6 hour mark for me. Maybe a tad thin on the palate. Could be starting to go into a bit of a shutdown phase. …

This is my first experience with Detert, a producer that is in the heart of what many call To Kalon in the Oakville part of Napa. Detert is right next to Macdonald and so I was very excited to see how this wine tastes. It did not disappoint and for me and has an incredible QPR. High recommended. Producers around Detert are close to double, if not more.

Tannic and primary. Savory backbone that could give it a nice complexity. The pieces are there but they’re not integrated. Curious where this goes in 5-10 years.

Lamentably young. The nose gave up very little, and the palate was overwhelmingly primary. Tantalizing hints of red fruit - cherries, plums - but nothing more than hints. I bet this is going to be awesome in another few years. Moving my other bottles to the back of the cellar in the meantime.

Soul-searching in Napa. Beta-Jasud, Roy Piper, Detert, Elyse, Diamond Creek, Favia, Opus, Gargiulo, among others!; 1/17/2022-1/22/2022 : PnP, splash decant, followed for an hour. At a relative's house without glassware, so used plastic cups. Pours a beautiful dark purple-beet-red color, as described in prior notes. Nose is either tight or difficult to tell with sub-par glassware. Can tease out some earthy notes, purple flowers, black fruit. Palate is really nice. Think black and purple fruits, violets, tilled earth, lively acid, …

Similar to my previous experience, much better wines out there for this price.

CIA Gatehouse Napa flash decant dark purple, great concentration of polished cabernet fruit with savory garrigue and minerality. Lot's of elegance and structure and a lively persistent finish. We thought this was an excellent wine. 93-94

This wine is one that is more than decent, but like many other 2018 Cabs, it’s just not ready yet in my opinion. Clearly, this is a wine to age but has something to offer now with decanting. It starts with an appealing color, dark purple beet red with is an earthy, herbal nose. On the palate, dark fruits, dark berry and black sour cherries, dark raspberries, tobacco, herbal and earthy soil notes. There’s firm tannins and some asphalt/ tar …

Dark raspberry, cherry, blackberry, clove, asphalt, licorice, intense fruit however it’s missing the mid palate and structure you find in profound wines. Overpriced based on the property…

Very dark purple in the glass and at the same time, mostly translucent. Still a little primary but very drinkable and will definitely get better. Graphite, earth and slight smoke (not taint). Very interesting interpretation of the To-Kalon Vineyard. Right next to Macdonald.

After full 24 hour decant...Opaque dark purple color nearly black. Inky brooding purple aromas with a sweet ripe vanilla edge. Quite ripe & dense with a velvety sweet quality. Powerful and luxurious with a silky texture. Screams potential, but today any nuances are largely blocked out by a vibrant wall of deep dark ripe fruits. Hard for me to assess, but quality of the fruit along with the balance makes me think this has great potential. The issue will be …