St. Supery was (and still is) one of my absolute favorite Vineyards & Tasting Rooms to visit in Napa Valley.  They simply just do everything right.   As soon as you walk in the doors though, you get that ‘welcome home’ feeling and its as if you always knew them.

We tasted through their lineup, and quickly became wine club members.  While I knew of St. Supery before we visited them, I don’t think that we were living in CA at the time we visited.  Once we did though,  we’d visit whenever we went to the Valley, and made sure that all of our guests got to experience it as well.  We even became friendly with some of the tasting room team, some of whom are still there today (Becca!).

I love the fact that they offer almost every major varietal, along with the higher end Dollarhide Vineyard wines, and of course – my good friends Elu and Virtu (the Bordeaux blends).  I started collecting Elu’s, so that I could have a vertical to taste thru one day.  I currently own a 1996 -> present bottle of each, and am planning a tasting party so that we can go thru them all at once…but that’s a different post.

I have a few of the ’03 and ’04 St. Supery Cabernets, and they are both wonderful in their own right, however they are drastically different.  Personally, the ’03 is more my style NOW, but as the ’04 softens over time it may take the crown.  It’s a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot.

There are 2 primary differences between the two – the ’04 has a strong (almost overpowering) oaky nose and flavor, and the ’03 seems more balanced.  The ’03 has a nicely nuanced cola nose, with a hint of dijon mustard to it.  The oak on the ’03 is more vanilla than anything else, and it allows the fruit to shine thru.

The tannins are beautiful, just beautiful.  They layer in between the fruit perfectly, and just TAKE OVER right when they should and carry on and on and on.  As for the main star between the oak and tannins – the fruit – there are no complaints here either.  The fruit is black cherry and blueberry on the nose, and a nice depth of cassis, plum, and anise.  They are a little lighter than I would ideally prefer – but given everything else this has going on, adding in thick luscious fruit would just triple the price and everything needs a weakness (if you want to call it that).

All in all, this is a fantastic wine, and worth way more than it’s $30-35 price point.

Make no mistake, I LOVE St. Supery wines, and the ’03 doesn’t disappoint.  In fact, in impresses at every turn.  Kudos to St. Supery for making quintessential Napa Valley wines which consistently outperform their competitors and over-deliver at their price point.