Pic from the 2016 Jubilation-
It’s definitely cab based.
I bought the 2016 a year ago as Colgin IX is my wife’s favorite wine and was interested to see how much of the original could shine through in this one for half the price. I’m a huge Colgin fan of both IX & Cariad.
Tasted this last Valentine’s Day as an emergency bottle after a ‘97 cab was shot. I usually don’t get into the Colgins until they’ve had at least 5-6 years & a lengthy decant but decided to test the “accessible early” marketing. It got 60-90 mins of air before the meal.
I thought it was youthful, tight, a bit closed. Colgins usually have a unique, beautiful bouquet; this seemed to be missing something (which wasn’t entirely unexpected given the relative cost). I guessed it was light on or didn’t have Cab Franc in the blend. Colgin hasn’t commented on the blend except to say it’s Cab Sauv based so I’ve no idea of the components.
After the meal I concluded it was a nice wine, but didn’t think it was any more accessible early than other Colgin Cabs, decided to wait at least 2 years for the next one noting it might need a lot of air. It didn’t necessarily strike me as a baby brother to either the IX or Cariad. I’m hopeful in 2 years it shows a bit better, if it does then I’ll feel better about the purchase. At this point the jury is still out.
I decided to pass on the 2018 Jubilation for 2 reasons one of which has nothing to do with Colgin.
First, I was offered & purchased the ‘16 just a year ago & felt it was too young when I tasted. Now just a year later Colgin is releasing the ‘18 with a year less barrel/bottle age, so I expect I’ll think it’s even less ready on release than the ‘16 unless Colgin has done something different with the ‘18. But Colgin won’t even communicate the blend. I’m also not a fan of the required 6-pack.
I think I would enjoy drinking a ‘16 & ‘18 Jubilation side by side 5 years from now just for comparisons sake, because I expect the winemaking would improve with the second bottling, but-
Which brings me to my second reason: Over the last 18 months I’ve been in an “exploring cycle” & greatly increased the number of Napa Cab producers I purchase- Blankiet, Detert, William & Mary, Matthiasson, DiCo, Bella Oaks, Immortal Estate, Elyse, Scarlett, etc, etc…. And there are others I’d still love to try, so if I’m going to spend more $ at this time, I want to try a new producer.