Kathryn Kennedy: Where have you been all my life ?

I have been drinking California Cabs for around 25 years and have tried many standard bearers from various regions. However I had never tried a Kathryn Kennedy Cab before although I had heard great things. Recently helping a friend sell a collection I procured 2 bottles of the 2001

I brought a bottle with me to the Old Pink House in Savannah on Tuesday night for a modest corkage fee. Food and service were quite good Had the half crispy duck.

We brought the 01 KK, a 14 Fourier Vougeout and a Filaine DMY Champagne. They were all quite enjoyable but the star of the show was the Kathrryn Kennedy. As soon as I smelled the nose I knew I was in for a treat. Fairly dark purple in color. In the old school camp definitely plenty of fruit cherry and chocolate and other flavors I cant recall but perfect balance and a lingering finish. We did pop and pour and it needed no air to flourish although it got slightly better as the night progressed. Fully mature yet still has plenty of life left. On the 2nd day a remaining glass was still almost perfect It was one of the best old school cabs I have had recently. Up there very close to its SCM neighbors Ridge MB. To my palate I would give the wine a 94+ score and I dont hand out high scores like candy

Any others tried the 01 or fans of this winery, and are they still made in the same mold now that Kathryns son Marty is at the Helm ?
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Thanks for the note! I am not really a cal cab guy, but I’ve never even heard of this producer. I’ll sit back and see what the folks in the know say.

Great note - I, too, have never heard of KK…I am interested to see what the people say. After reading your note I might have to snag a few bottles and see what it’s all about for myself.

New releases not cheap, around $200+. I do not think she’s the winemaker now.

Kathryn Kennedy passed away in 2009. :frowning:

So I was right, yes?

:wink:

Kathryn Kennedy has very quietly been producing great Cabernets for decades. Kathryn’s son Marty Mathis is the winemaker and has been forever.

KK is great producer. Her son Marty Mathis is the winemaker and has been for many years. They make 3-4 wines usually. A Sauv Blanc, Small Batch Santa Cruz Mountains Cab (Good QPR usually), The estate Cabernet, and Sparkling. Marty also bottles another brand called Lateral which is a Sonoma County Bordeaux blend. After KK passed away Marty sold off most of the estate in Saratoga and there is only a tiny portion left. The style has grown a bit more concentrated and using a bit more new oak. We drank a '12 a few weeks ago and was singing. Not quite the classic California old claret that you had but an outstanding wine. If you look around you can find the new releases for ~150 and you can backfill for much cheaper than that. I had two '97’s last year that were amazing. Technically they are below 600Ft but they were grandfathered into the SCM AVA due to their legacy and long contribution to local winemaking. Always looking for older bottles at auction and Marty has a huge library for sale if you contact them. I picked up an 04 and and 06 lately for $70 and $90 respectively. I still buy new releases as well.

Sean

I first ran into Marty and the Kathryn Kennedy wines at a wine event back in the 1980s, great wines. The original estate vineyard was planted in 1973 at a time when large parts of Silicon Valley were devoted to agriculture. Eventually, the vineyard became a small island in a sea of houses. I think she had another winemaker for the first year or two (winery established in 1979), but Marty has made the wines since 1981.

-Al

Based on nothing but a tiny amount of anecdotal experience, I suspect that 2001 is a vintage which a lot of people will wish they would have taken more seriously.

Kinda like 2001 in Burgundy - very similar anecdotal experience there.

Her Syrah from Santa Cruz Mountains in 90s remains my favorite expression of the grape in CA to date …

I love the wines. Very long lived. Classic SCM.

Unfortunately, that great Syrah vineyard they sourced from got ripped out for housing. They have made other Syrah since, but I don’t see any on their site.

Yes, Marty has been the winemaker since '81. He and his Mom customized the vine training on their estate, as she continued to be actively involved in the vineyard.

It was other family members who forced the sale of the estate vineyard. The vast majority was ripped out. What remains is the upslope from Pierce road leading up to a pair of houses. The owners of those houses own the two halves of the estate vineyard, which he has under a long term lease. He owns the lot in front where the wines (Estate and Small Lot) are made. The other wines and a second label (excellent qpr stuff) somewhere else.

To compensate for the much lower production of the Estate, he’s been making more of the Small Lot. For a club member package, he bottled some SVDs of some of the components. He poured the Bates Ranch at the Silcon Valley Wine Auction this year. Very impressive.

One of the 2 best Cabernets I’ve ever tasted was the 1987 Kathryn Kennedy. ( the others 1979 Roudon-Smith). Both Santa Cruz Mtn. wines.

KK’s String of Pearls Club was the best wine club I’ve ever tried.

SMDH.

That’s tragic.

Just ran across this email offer on the “Lateral” from last week.

https://mailchi.mp/e5d2bf7c60c8/new-release-2016-lateral?e=059f768710

Sean

I remember thinking it was so sad when she passed and the family couldn’t agree to keep the business that she’d worked on her whole life. But for some reason, there were a lot of her wines suddenly on clearance in NYC and I did pick up a number of them. Always solid under the radar wines.

She was a real pioneer too, picking a spot outside of Napa and more or less doing everything herself. If I’m not mistaken, the first vines were own-root as well? Not sure about that exactly though.

Supposedly, she was motivated to plant the vineyard after tasting a Martin Ray Cabernet from a vineyard nearby. Yes, I think she planted own-rooted (not sure if all the vines, though).

It’s not uncommon for small family vineyards to be sold in certain parts of CA when parents pass, especially when only one of the kids is involved in the wine business. The land has become too valuable for housing as opposed to growing grapes, and the kid who is ITB isn’t able to buy out their siblings.

-Al

I was honored to be invited to her memorial. She was a pioneer. The 3 liter cabs, most with 20+ years on them, all drank wonderfully. What struck me more were some of the slides showing her planting the vineyard. In the back-round, no homes at all could be seen. Now it is probably some of the most expensive land in our country. The story I heard was she was a single mother trying to figure out how to support her family and someone said to plant cab.

Marty is a really down to earth, friendly guy and has been making the wine for most of the time in a small building on the property. I have been surprised his wines are not better known since they are purposefully old school, lower alcohol juice.

A few years ago he gave a tasting/talk at Soif (our local, Santa Cruz wine bar). It was memorable. At one point I met eyes with Partricia, the owner of Soif, and we both just grinned at how (I don’t know quite what word to use but perhaps touched?) we both were to hear him talk about his wines and vision. He was very clear that he was making his wines to age, and that the flavors and balance that emerge by keeping the alcohol lower were worth the wait.

His Syrah was special. From the Maridon vineyard, a small backyard plot on the ridge above his property. At the time, it was the most I had ever spent on a Syrah (maybe $65). Perhaps the best domestic Syrah I have ever had.

I found this old article that provides some more info:

Many years ago, I had the privilege of “volunteering” with Marty to help with bottling. The mobile bottling truck would come to the property - quite the Rube Goldberg set up. We would spend the day bottling and then Marty would start popping corks. Unforgettable.

I was in the String of Pearls club years ago and I love these wines. I still have two bottles. A 1999 “B-Style” and a 2002 Cabernet. The CT drinking windows say they are long gone but I doubt it. I once tried to find the winery on the way up to Ridge and I think I did but it was in the garage of a house in town. I didn’t ring the doorbell.