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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.6 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 76 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Ricky99 on 12/20/2023 & rated 90 points: with all that big fruit, its gotten a little flabby in my view.. still a cali cab bomb, just a bit our of round (229 views) | | | Tasted by MDDW on 2/15/2023 & rated 96 points: Nose of dark berries, on the palate dark chocolate and a lingering earthy nuance that was sublime. (518 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 3/11/2022 & rated 94 points: Decanted briefly. This continues to show beautifully with softly integrated yet intense blackcurrant, supple tannins, earth and light herbs. (1259 views) | | | Tasted by SoccerMark on 12/13/2021: Seems to be tapering a little isn't coming across as smooth or complex at the immediate moment. (1195 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 5/10/2021 & rated 94 points: Decanted one hour. Exciting, deep, nuanced wine that never quite settled down over two hours but was delicious all the way. Mocha, cassis, licorice, spice, and pepper on the palate and tannins still youthful. At times silky, at times choppy, always enjoyable. (1675 views) | | | Tasted by VinoDiver on 11/30/2020 & rated 99 points: Wonderful wine. Needs 30 min of air to add on a little weight and for the fruit to come out but once it does it is near perfection. So well balanced with incredible nose, mid pallet and finish. (1476 views) | | | Tasted by brettay on 7/17/2020 & rated 94 points: One of the best Cabs I’ve had in a while. Great balance! Black cherry, rich earth, spicy cedar, and graphite. So expressive. The fruit has great ripeness but also freshness and lively acidity. This is one of the wines that melds together so beautifully. (1373 views) | | | Tasted by Badfish on 7/3/2020: Opaque ruby garnet core with tinges of purple towards the rim. The nose is heady, pungent, and complex with notes of graphite, cigar box, currant leaf, blackberries, violets, and mushrooms. The palate is similarly powerful with rich expansive purple and black fruits, admirable earth and mineral complexities, good supporting acidity, and smooth sweet tannins. This wine has aged wonderfully and is a much better effort than the 2004 going off my memory of that wine. A very expensive wine and while decidedly not worth the coin it is has turned into a beautiful expression of aged Napa Cabernet. Should be able to handle another 10 years with ease. (1274 views) | | | Tasted by King of all vines on 7/26/2019 & rated 95 points: In a word stunning! (1603 views) | | | Tasted by VinoDiver on 3/2/2018 & rated 98 points: Still so youthful. Bursting with fruit and a wonderful lushness. (2239 views) | | | Tasted by jeff nowak on 9/2/2016: Decanted. 14.8% alcohol. 94% Cabernet, 3% merlot, 3% petite Verdot. Nose of ethanol. I hated a couple of recent 07s. This is mildly better in so much as it is drinkable, but the tannins are harsh, the alcohol big, the fruit all but missing. Jeez. I can't see my appreciation for Napa cab tanking this dramatically, but apparently... Drinkable, barely. Whoa. Just read my note from 09. Shockingly different. Moral: drink this shit young. (3035 views) | | | Tasted by edwardochu on 8/6/2016 & rated 93 points: It is drinking beautifully right now. Nice cali fruit, not overly extract, smooth velvet tannin that is well integrated. Alcohol level is also incheck. this should continue to age well for 15-20 years (2552 views) | | | Tasted by Bcw1989 on 5/10/2015 & rated 93 points: Tannins have lifted and now the fruit begins to shine. Very structured and layered with lots of dark red fruits. Finish was amazingly long. Had wine with Mother's Day dinner and throughout the evening. Wine was getting better and better as more air got to it. This is good drinking now, but has still a few more years in the cellar.
(3412 views) | | | Tasted by Knicksfan on 4/14/2015 & rated 91 points: Liked this wine but its just not in that elite category. Good fruit in nice balance, nice long finish but just shy of great. (2873 views) | | | Tasted by Tim Heaton on 1/6/2015: Served s/b/s with a 2005 Livingston-Moffet Gemstone CS (which was mostly flawed/brett). Beginning to brick, the nose and palate, too, confirm this is at peak right now. Cassis, leather, cigar tobacco, beginning to lose some brightness on the nose, though the palate is holding firm; a touch of blackberry by the second glass. I doubt this will get better, but if the (~) CT avg of just $51 is correct, this is a pretty darn good value CS. Excellent with a juicy rib-eye steak. Medium>full-bodied, 15+ second finish that's clean and tasty. Thru 2017
Served non-blind. (3720 views) | | | Tasted by Bcw1989 on 12/25/2014 & rated 95 points: Christmas Dinner wine. Full of life and magnums certainly age better than 750ml bottles. Truly a great wine. Everyone loved this Gemstone and wished I had another magnum. Dark inky look with loads of fruit on the taste. Finish was complex, but straightforward. Great finish lasting a long time. Hard to top this wine. (1917 views) | | | Tasted by Robert Pavlovich on 8/2/2014: Lactic acid, oak had this smelling like milk, spice, and dark berries. Big, ripe dark fruit saturates the palate, along with gobs of oak. This is a voluptuous, high octane Cabernet blend. Seemed out of place in a tasting of Bordeaux and old fashioned CA Cabernet. (2564 views) | | | Tasted by NathanT on 8/1/2014: This bottle smacked me in the face and told me to come back when I can withstand its power. Massive black and blue fruit aroma exploded from the glass, followed by a dark, rich, high alcohol cream liqueur. The alcohol content was definitely noticeable from this bottle. I can handle it by itself, but not in a mix of 9 other bottles. A very big wine, and I appreciate a chance to taste it. (1837 views) | | | Tasted by Bcw1989 on 6/15/2014 & rated 95 points: Spectacular Fathers Day wine! Loads of fruit and nice dark black inky appearance. Long lasting finish upwards of 45 seconds or more. This wine evolved in the glass over the evening and even was still going strong several hours later. Should have decanted. Gemstone is a great California Cab! Never disappoints! (1893 views) | | | Tasted by RobSter on 2/15/2014 & rated 94 points: Decanted for about 2 hours prior to dinner. Paired excellently with a Saltimbocca alla Romana. Dark lush color. Big aroma's on the nose of ripe plum and blackberry with a slight under lying smell of leather. Very soft mouth feel and no tannns to speak of. Very big fruit hit on the mid palette but failed to deliver on the finish. I would describe it as a soft fruit bomb that never quite lived up to the promise of the nose. (1970 views) | | | Tasted by Knicksfan on 1/11/2014 & rated 93 points: From magnum - fresh and balanced. Delightful Cali CS (1869 views) | | | Tasted by sirswami on 11/23/2013 & rated 95 points: A beautiful wine, seemingly in every respect... Decanted for about 90 minutes leading up to the dinner entree and it was perfect! (1784 views) | | | Tasted by Ricky99 on 11/5/2013 & rated 94 points: Big Cali Cab bomb... not my favorite style but no argument its a great glass of wine. (1754 views) | | | Tasted by Bcw1989 on 9/19/2013 & rated 91 points: Very tannic. A bit more reserved in the taste department than I remember. Nose full of great bouquet of berries and flowers. Finish was very long too. Taste in mouth was cocoa, cherry, mocha and a deep red color, almost black. Remembered more fruit flavors in previous tastings. Good wine that should get better as the tannins fall off and hopefully more fruit shows through. (1702 views) | | | Tasted by Bcw1989 on 8/4/2013 & rated 94 points: Spectacular wine! Extremely pleasing and pair nicely with food, especially steak! Beautiful color and great aroma. Taste is full of graphite, espresso, leather, and berries. This wine even has a smoky note to it, probably from the very present oak. Finish was quite long. Brought out of cellar five hours before popping and pouring with dinner. Certainly is drinkable and continued to evolve throughout the night. Lots of years ahead of this masterpiece. Very enjoyable. (1677 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Gemstone Producer websiteRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Yountville Appellation America |
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