When I visited the Temecula Valley a few years ago, the highlight of the trip was a vertical tasting of Baily Cabernet Sauvignon. In their small, estate tasting room on Pauba Road they offer these verticals, which are a chance to get a fascinating look at a single wine varietal, or blend if they’re pouring the Meritage, and how it has changed over many years. They’ll open some older vintages, and some newer ones. I loved the whole experience, and shipped home a three pack of my favorite, the 2008 in this case. We still have a single bottle left.
So when we decided to visit Temecula recently on a vacation to San Diego, revisiting Baily for another vertical tasting
Phil Baily
was at the top of the list. Unfortunately they only do these on weekends, and we were going mid-week. Undaunted we pressed on, but to our surprise we were contacted by someone at the temeculawines.org, who was talking with winery owner Phil Baily, and they were suggesting we visit the estate tasting room for a vertical! On a Thursday no less.
So what is better than a vertical tasting of Baily Cabernet Sauvignon? Only one thing, and that is a vertical of Baily Cabernet Sauvignon poured by Phil Baily himself! Phil is the longest running original winery owner in the valley, and basically a legend here. It’s like sitting down with Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley to taste through his To Kalon Cabernet over the years. This was an incredible experience.
Bordeaux the cat
Phil met us at the Pauba Road facility and proceeded to spend an hour and a half pouring, tasting and discussing his wines with us. We learned about the history of the valley and the winery. We also got to know the chief rodent control officer at the facility, Bordeaux the cat. Bordeaux definitely rules the roost here, and makes it very evident when he is not pleased. He is possibly the loudest cat I have ever run across. It just added to the overall experience.
The first time I did this, we tasted through the 2008-2013 vintages, sequentially without missing a year. We would overlap three of those years in this tasting, so a great chance to compare and contrast from our previous notes. This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from one of the original vineyards in the valley, dating back to 1968. Phil bought it in the 90s. Sitting at 1500′ above sea level, the vines are all Clone 7, taken from cuttings from Wente Bros in Livermore, CA. This clone was very popular in Napa in the 1970s. Considering that the climate here is very similar to that of mid to northern Napa, it seems like a good place for this particular clone. Characteristics include baking spices, such as cinnamon, cloves and mint. These are indeed hallmark traits of Baily Cabernet. All the Bordeaux varietals see 30 months in 50% new American oak, and the subtleties between vintages are due to Mother Nature, as the winemaking is consistent in approach year to year.
The wines, all Baily Estate Cabernet Sauvignon:
2005 – showing some age in the glass with an amber rim, the wine displays a little funk on the nose, along with ripe
cherry, mint, herbs and earth. It is very smooth, wth medium+ tannins. Good acid and balance make for a wine that is still fresh almost 20 years after it was made. The finish is long, and the fruit is there the whole way. An excellent older wine.
2007 – this is a medium ruby color, also with some amber at the rim. Hints of earth accompany spice, cherry and red currant. This has medium+ tannins and body. It is very, very smooth, still fresh and another beautifully balanced wine. It very much shows the classic Clone 7 and Baily characteristics.
2009 – here we have a vintage which I reviewed during my first visit, several years ago. This time we found a
medium, dusty ruby colored wine, with cherry and red currant, spice and earth. Tannins are medium++, and there is good acid. It sems like we are using the same descriptors over and over again, and that is what you get in Baily Cabernet Sauvignon, remarkable consistency. This one does drink with more of an edge to it, and the fruit is concentrated. It is very, very long. Last time I highlighted cherry and berry fruit, which is consistent.
2011 – more color here, a medium dark purple red. Just a touch of amber at the rim. Mint is very present on the nose along with spices, vanilla and cocao powder. All this carries through to the palate to accentuate the red fruit. It has medium body and medium tannins. This is more refined than the first time I tried it, and has clearly evolved in the bottle. The complexity here has changed since the last tasting, where cherry fruit and macerated orange were in my notes. We did not get the orange this time.
2013 – a medium dark, purple red in color, this has a great nose of cherry and berry fruit. The spices and mint are
also there, but this is more fruit driven. It is richer, with medium+ tannins and body. The juice has great balance and is truly outstanding. Probably our favorite of the tasting, but this is like picking your favorite from a group of excellent things. It’s really just personal taste. In the previous tasting we noted some leather, and a more cherry red color.
2020 – this has a medium, dusty red color. There is tobacco on the nose, which is unlike the others. Maybe a little clay as well, or playdoh? Tannins are brisk and the wine is lively on the palate. This is just a baby in its evolution and will smooth out in time. These all age for decades.
Overall the Cabernets we tried here are very consistent with the previous experience. They become smooth and elegant with some time, have the mint and baking spice DNA, red fruit and age extremely well. All the wines are still fresh and drinking beautifully, with the possible exception of the 2020 which just needs some time to catch up to its siblings.
So here we have a group of special wines, presented by the owner and winemaker during a very special tasting experience. What could be better still? The price. In a time where other wineries are declaring 3+ year old wines “library” wines and raising prices on them, Phil prices his Cabernets at $50 at the tasting, and that includes the 20 year old vintages. It is an incredible deal on aged Cabernet Sauvignon. If you join the wine club you can get just silly discounts on top of that. We shipped a six pack home.
If you happen to be in the Temecula Valley on a weekend, we very highly recommend visiting the Baily Estate Tasting Room for a vertical journey through the valley’s red wine growing history. You probably won’t have the treat of having Phil take you through them personally, but the wines will really shine never the less.
You can learn more about Baily and the vertical tasting experience on their website at: https://bailywinery.com/.
A votre santé!
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