TN: 2002 Oriel Cabernet Sauvignon Soluna - swing and a miss

WINE TALK
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  • 2002 Oriel Cabernet Sauvignon Soluna - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/28/2010)
    Should have had this wine years ago. It was really good when young. Now, fading red, nondescript fruit, disjointed, flabby and basically a mess. Looks like this experiment of top wine makers was good out of the gate and now can’t get to the finish line. Caveat Emptor. (84 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Wow, blast from the past. I remember when Oriel had all that press at launch, but I hadn’t heard of them or seen any wines in all that time. A quick look at the website doesn’t reveal who the ‘famous winemakers’ are, but it’s also a quite odd business model, frankly. It’s sort of like those epoxy surfboard manufacturers who take famous shapers’ designs and replicate them in a cheaper way than if you had the shaper’s glass board, I guess.

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Phillipe Melka made this wine. I think his CJ wines blow this away as well as the wines at Vineyard 29. I guess it comes down to ingredients.

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I picked up–through WineBid–3 bottles of the 2003 made by Melka. Some nice components, but this one is also disjointed. Label claims grapes were harvested on Dec. 10! How can that be?