Lewis Cellars Reserve 2008 Napa Valley

My brother-in-law, the most switched-on wine lover I know,  opened this for me while I was visiting them in Florida. I asked him to show me some California wines, which I don't get on with too well, wishing to be proved wrong. Well, this wine did not do that. The nose was very forward with a lot of fresh fruit ... nice, but also there was a worrying amount of new oak. The mouth was way too oak-dominated and the alcohol (15.5%) stripped the palate of any fruit, finesse or texture and erasing any  varietal character or definition. Is this an American thing? When I got home, I checked out the Lewis web-site and they write that they liken this wine to a fresh new Ferrari. Well, that's just my point. Why would you want to do that? Where is the elegance, the restraint or the subtlety? I tell you, it didn't get MY engine started.