Monday, November 17th, 2008

Futo, OV Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, 2005
$225 per 3-pack sold exclusively via mailing list


Interesting bottle. Futo is the critically acclaimed project of Tom and Kyle Futo who employ Mark Aubert to make the wine and David Abreu to manage the vineyards. The property was previously known as Oakville Vineyards (I believe) and wasn't a stellar producer. The property, however, neighbors Harlan and some other major players so when the Futo's took over, they spared no expense in turning it into Napa's next Cult Cab. Good for them. We're excited. Parker and Laube both like the wines. The packaging of the Futo bottle is sexy (see below) so it will be interesting to see how that bottle is, but it's too early.

The wines are sold exclusively via their mailing list.

Much to the mailing list suprise, in the summer of 2008 they offered a "second label" called OV in homage to their vineyard sites heritage. Drinking the 2005 Futo would be considered infanticide, but we figured drinking the OV would satiate the urge. We were wrong. It only intensified the urge.

Opened for 3 hours before poured. The 2005 OV Cabernet Sauvignon was very good. At $70 per bottle, I think it was perfectly priced. The wine was BLACK in color! It was almost too dark to believe it was Cabernet. Very expressive aromas of sweet cassis and other black fruits. On the palate it was ultra-ripe, and incredibly creamy. Every single tannin molecule was oxygenated and polished into a round little bead because the wine drank like blueberries and cream. I loved the mouthfeel. The only thing I would hope for with addition age is that the fruit flavors flesh out and become more interesting. We consumed it over the course of 2 hours and it never really improved, it just stayed the same. Perhaps we only cracked the surface with this one, but it was a delicious surface. $70 is the appropriate price, anything over $100 would be overpriced.

This is a photo of Futo's flagship wine. The first release sold to the mailing list for $600 a three-pack, which, oddly came to $666.66 after shiping and tax. The only thing scarier than multiple sixes is paying that much for a first release of Napa Cab!