Review: 2019 Del Dotto Cabernet – French Oak vs. American Oak
No visit to Del Dotto Estates is complete without listening to Andrea Bocelli — and here’s the good news, that’s all they play from the moment you walk in the door.
The place is inspired by the Italian Renaissance but its heart is clearly in Napa, where Cabernet Sauvignon is the grape that rules all others. Luxe bottling after luxe bottling is on offer here, each one more “lights out” than the next, as our tour guide famously — enduringly and quotably — exclaimed during my visit to the winery some years ago.
Today we consider two Del Dotto cabernets from the same vintage and vineyard, but each aged in a different type of barrel: one French oak, one American oak. These wines are actually block selections, and the grapes were grown together, separated by just a few hundred yards from one another.
So: What happens when you put luxe Napa cab in French oak vs. American oak? Well, let’s find out.
2019 Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena Mountain Centre Taransaud French Oak Block 3 – As expected, this French oak-aged expression (Taransaud is a barrel producer) is draped in dessert notes: vanilla, then mint, then milk chocolate just dripping out of the glass. Baking spice notes are evident but kept in check beneath all the sweet stuff, which becomes rather unctuous by the time you reach your second glass. Notes of licorice, prune, and raspberry jam all complement a boozy 15.2% abv experience that teeters dangerously close to a Port-like quality on the finish. There’s a lot to love here if you like your cab slathered in brown sugar, but nuanced it ain’t. Lights out. B+ / $250
2019 Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena Mountain American Oak Carved & Grooved Block 2 – Minimal detail on this, but “carved & grooved” speaks for itself, really. While just as lush and fruit-forward, this wine evokes a heartier spice component that lingers on notes of rosemary and thyme, before finally relenting and allowing the aggressive fruitiness of plums, currants, and raspberry to fire away at full throttle. There is, at least, a sense of restraint to this wine, and it’s proof that Del Dotto’s fruit bomb cabernets do not need French oak to push them down the slide they’re already on. The chocolate-laced finish is warming like one of those molten lava cakes, but the echo of lightly savory herbs helps keep things grounded. Easily my preference of the two. Also lights out. A- / $250
2019 Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena Mountain American Oak Carved & Grooved Block 2
$250
