Katy Michaud stands at the head of the class of new and inspired winemakers recruited by Naked Wines to join in the fun of producing wine for their, over 100,000, Angels who crowd fund all NW wine production. The Katy Michaud, 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley represents her second Angel offering and it is a great offering indeed.
I tasted this wine over the period of five days, never evacuating air from what remained in the bottle. Day one it presented as very tight. I decanted it for two hours and it open up and began show its true character. It drank very nicely and paired well with a heavy meal greasy gravy laden meal. Given more time in the bottle it will pair well with lighter meals but for now it really compliments big earthy flavors. I would drink this wine with any hearty stew or Cassoulet. Day five, it opened up nicely right out of the bottle and its complexity began to show through. The nose and the flavors developed and I could really get a sense of the layers upon layers of complex notes in the nose and on the palate that make this wine a screaming deal.
What I have left (three bottles) I will hold on to for a while perhaps as long as five years. I am not a big fan of most Washington Cabs as I find them young, light and generally overpriced for the quality, but Katy really nailed this one as having a solid foundation to be a big Cab, and priced it really, really well for its quality at this age. If this wine lasts five years in my cellar it will compare very well to any Cab from anywhere in the $100.00 retail price range. At NW Angel pricing it is an absolute steal at $13.99 and a smart buy even at retail $24.99
Bottle Ink
Poor Robert
Poor Robert's (Wine) Almanac 
I didn’t know that a wine, once opened, would further develop its character over more than a couple of days at most. Very good to learn as we usually try to finish off a bottle within 2 days so that it won’t “spoil”. This is so good to know. My husband relegates opened wine to “cooking wine” at the 2 day mark. IMHO if wine is not drinkable one ought not cook with it either.
I enjoy learning more about wine from your writings Robert!
LikeLike
The younger the wine, the longer it will hold after opening. If it is 2012 or younger and red it is good for a week. Refrigeration doesn’t help a red hold longer except in the summer when it is hot in the house. BTW Cooking with wine past it’s drinkability won’t give you your best results. If I am cooing with wine, I usually give it the first pour out of the bottle so I get the maximum flavor in the food. This is particularly true for sauces poured over food, less so for things that are cooking in the wine sauce.
LikeLike
Crowd-funding wine angels, breathing a young wine for two hours to give it time to develop flavors, and a wine that may mature in five years to be worth many times the price you paid. I see that patience is the virtue of the wine drinker as well as the wine maker.
LikeLike
If you like a wine that tastes better the next day after its opened, buy a couple more to put away and pretty soon you have a stash of stuff that you can drink while you stockpile more.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good tip. Thanks!
LikeLike