Reader reaction was swift after I recently meted out a perfect score of 100 for the 2005 Nickel & Nickel Stelling Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. The reader didn’t exactly take issue with that specific rating — perhaps having never tasted the wine — but argued in general that no California Cab could possibly be worthy of a 100-point score.
I beg to differ, of course. Two that come to mind besides the Nickel & Nickel are Spottswoode and the Cabernet-based Joseph Phelps Insignia. I awarded both 100 points just last year.
And there are no doubt others I have missed through the years. What strikes me as odd in this age of enlightenment is that some continue to challenge the proposition that California produces wine — in particular Cabernet Sauvignon — as good as any in the world.
To believe otherwise is pure nonsense. That is the subject of my Creators Syndicate column this week. Click here to read the whole thing.
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