| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
1998 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Brookmanmore |
12/25/2020 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 92 pointsChristmas Day Family Lunch at Home (Our House, Hong Kong): Crumbled cork which required filtering then decanted for 7 hours (which was several more hours than I had planned). Was semi-transparent on opening but later deepened into a semi-opaque dark black/red colour becoming transparent at the edges. Nose of initial new car tyres that blows off to unfold boysenberries, hints of strawberry and very fresh blackberries. Without a decent decant the wine would have gotten stuck in an initial rut of sharp acidity and very thin fruit...but time revealed a high-toned strawberry-driven freshness on entry, high piano notes of young spring blackberries, a lovely pencil lead cleanliness and precision, light mouthfeel but still having taut-muscled tannins with absolutely no fat. Has a very nice curacao and bitter dark chocolate end note. Buzzes nicely inside the head on a fairly long finale. Verging on light and feminine and you can't detect the 14% alcohol....had I drank this blind I would have guessed Westerna Australia/Margaret River and not South Australia/Fleurie. Very different from what the 3 bottles we last drank together in 2009-2011 tasted like when Runny and I sourced this. This is now finally in its fully-open drinking window. 92+ |
| Red |
1998 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Hickinbothammore |
9/26/2008 - Goldstone wrote: 92 pointsAustralian 1998s Dinner (Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Deep crimson translucent colour. The nose is more reticent/closed than its Brookman sibling but improved with time with spicy and blackcurrant notes. A really wow! rich palate which is an elegant and feminine balance of velvet and acidity. Very long length with lots of "in your head" sensations. Excellent. The best Cabernet Sauvignon of the night despite the impressive company. |
| Red |
1998 Darioush Cabernet Sauvignon EstateNapa Valley more |
11/18/2007 - Goldstone wrote: 85 pointsBought from the vineyard on release. Lovely deep colour with just faint bricking. Closed nose. Briefly lovely on the palate with a great balance of blackberries, red berries, strawberries and a touch of acidity with sufficeint tannins to keep everything in harmony but this faded into nothingness within 20 minutes and we were left with a thin, weedy wine where all the fruit had left. I obviously mis-judged the longevity of this wine on purchase. |
| Red |
2004 Cape Mentelle Cabernet SauvignonMargaret River more |
7/10/2009 - Goldstone wrote: 91 pointsReceived as a gift from a friend who had bought it at the cellar door. Still a very primary, totally opaque deep red/blackish colour. A gorgeous perfumed but austere nose that shouts pencil lead....very steely, minerally and refined. Very Pauillac style palate of austere grace with deep black fruit framed very precisely by firm but powdered tannin and distinct acidity. It is velvet on the front end but quickly slips into bitter espresso and then comes out as mouth-drying pistachios on the back end. A haughty wine......very finely made. All the more impressive as it was drank the evening after a Cos D'Estournel dinner and compared very well. If you can really find this for $40 it is a great buy. |
| Red |
1994 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special SelectionNapa Valley more |
1/19/2008 - Goldstone wrote: 85 pointsDrank with friends who donated this over dinner at Crown Wine Cellar, Hong Kong. Deep red colour. Great nose of new saddle leather but quite restrained palate given its bottle age. Too much acid on the back end. One dimensional. Not much length. I suspect that this had been badly stored at some time in its life. Totally overshadowed on the night by the Ch. Musar 1991. |
| Red |
1998 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Brookmanmore |
1/27/2011 - Goldstone wrote: 90 pointsBlackcurrants jump out of the bottle when decanting and fill the room. Dark black-red totally opaque colour just lightening to transparency at the edges. Nose is dark red earth, rich earthy loam, rich new oak, red liquorice candy bootlaces, Ribena concentrate. Milky espresso coffee comes through with extended time in the glass. Palate is quite heavily acidic followed by lovely fresh crushed blackcurrants and hints of cassis, not a lot of tannin until the end. Not heavy, in fact fresh, but totally mouthcoating. Some length and a touch of resonance. Still very young but already very enjoyable. Will improve over the next 3-5 years. |
| Red |
1992 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon FayNapa Valley more |
10/6/2010 - Goldstone wrote: 85 pointsGroup de Degustation Diner, Octobre 2010 (Chez Patrick, 26 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong): Served blind with no indication of age or country of origin. Deep purple, nearly semi-translucent in colour. Lovely fully mature nose of mushroom, earth and wet bracken. Palate is very sharp, cold but exceptionally precise blackberry. Uncontrovertabally a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated Bordeaux blend but a bit dilute and green. Thinking Bordeaux, this is a tart, well-made offering from a very wet year......guess is Cos D'Estournel 1991 (because it's not even as good as the 1994). The nose pulled this up into 85-point territory for me. Many may rightfully feel I have damned this wine with faint praise.....especially at one-third the price of the 1992 Cask 23. |
| Red |
1970 Charles Krug Winery (Peter Mondavi Family) Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage SelectionNapa Valley more |
12/26/2020 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 95 pointsBoxing Day Lunch at Home with Friends (Our Place, Hong Kong): What a beautiful wine! For those who don't know the story, the Mondavi family led by Cesare Mondavi , the family scion and lead winemaker, bought this property in the 1950s but his son Robert left in 1965 to set up his eponymous winery (at the age of 53). So this is a late vintage made by his dad. 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2) |
| Red |
2006 Viña Cono Sur Cabernet Sauvignon 20 BarrelsMaipo Valley more |
3/7/2008 - Goldstone wrote: 87 pointsDense, vibrant and translucent purple colour. Very distinct white mushrooms on the nose leading to burnt rubber, road tar and coffee. Blackberries, cassis, dark chocolate, caramel, menthol on the palate. Good structure but a bit too tannic at the moment. Some length. This is a very well made wine and I think it should improve over the next 3 years or so. Great value by Hong Kong standards at $25 (includng 40% duty) . It's also very well packaged with a seriously minimalist label and a heavy Almaviva-shaped bottle. |
| Red |
1996 St. Francis Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Kings RidgeSonoma County more |
7/22/2021 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 90 pointsDinner with NiQ & Jeff....and Greg! (The Library, Crown Wine Cellars, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong): Decanted for several hours. Totally opaque black-purple. Nose is is very jammy, thick deep blackcurrant compote, smoke and spice but somewhat extracted. Palate is long, velvet smooth extracted pure cassis. Really enjoyable but a bit monotone over a long evening. Thanks, Greg! |
| Red |
1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddochmore |
9/16/2020 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 96 points'Best of Australia' Dinner (Wooloomooloo Prime, 100 Nathan Road Level 21 The ONE, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong): Ah, a wine that finally starts to demonstrate the long-anticipated potential of the 1998 vintage in Australia. Benefitted from a good long decant, which this vintage absolutely needs. Light on the meniscus but otherwise semi-translucent. Nose is really gorgeous black bramble fruit, great depth of fruit and nice high piano notes of acidity. Palate is gorgeously rich, ripened, and belly-filling fruit that then immediately transfers to the central cortex in an avalanche of gorgeousnsss on the finish. I last drank this in 2015, when the palate was a lot more adolescent. This has now blossomed and harmonised beautifully. Has loads of years to remain on this plateau and I have extended the CT recommended drinking window accordingly to 2027. My WOTN despite a lovely Grange 1991 in the line-up. I was in reveries and hence a rare 96 score for me. Thanks, Daniel! |
| Red |
1967 Heitz Cellar Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley more |
10/30/2020 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 94 pointsOld Napa Wines Dinner (Joseph's Place, Wong Chung Hang, Hong Kong): Popped and poured after a long line of old Napa wine we had drank blind. Bottle number 1445 of 26,500 according to the label. Thin-looking, totally transparent lamb's blood colour. Nose is freshly-applied nail varnish (in a good way like a an old Barolo) and old Italian-style thin but perfumed rosewood fruit. Palate is light, thin but still retaining a distinctive and lovely rose water, fresh celery and cranberry with some dried spice powder. Very light and chiffonesque on the finish but with superb length and reverberance 'inside the head' on the finale. Oh, gosh....this is beautiful in a 'power without weight' way. A really special treat and my runner up for WOTN. All the more impressive because it was the 17th wine of the evening! 94-95. |
| Red |
1979 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon BeautourNapa Valley more |
11/14/2011 - Goldstone wrote: flawedGroup de Degustation Diner, L'Anniversaire de Daniel, '1970s in France & Elsewhere' (Hong Kong Wine Vaults, Aberdeen, Hong Kong): Drank double blind (not finished). Totally transparent and light brick red with hints of separation. A lovely but very fleeting nose....dried rose petals and blackcurrant pastilles...then gone. Palate is dry, dusty old clothes from a dead relative's closet...and slightly maderized but still having a heady, light resonance that shows it was once a very good wine. Just now way too far past its peak to enjoy. Next! |
| Red |
2005 Forest Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Block 5Mount Barker more |
2/28/2010 - Goldstone wrote: 90 pointsMy contribution to a late, long Sunday lunch with friends in rather warm and humid conditions at Top Deck, Aberdeen Harbour in Hong Kong. No detailed notes but generally consistent with previous drinking. Very precise, blackberry nose and very elegant, precise and slightly aloof rich black fruits palate. All very poised and harmonised in a still semi-closed way. Not so detectable length today. Everyone felt this needs keeping for at least a couple of more years. |
| Red - Sweet/Dessert |
NV Chateau Sunspirit Cabernet Sauvignon Ice WineChina more |
5/24/2013 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 88 pointsFrom a "cult" winery in Qiubei, Puzhehei Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Apparently it is outrageously expensive. My first red ice wine. Excellent concentration - power without any heaviness whatsoever. Interesting....I would have guessed Austrian if it had been blind. Thanks, Joe! |
| Red |
2005 Chateau Sunspirit Cabernet SauvignonChina more |
6/29/2013 - Goldstone wrote: 86 pointsFrom a "cult" Chinese winery at Qiubei, Puzhehei Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Light ox-blood translucent red colour. Not much nose but this may have been due to very small wine glasses which were the only ones available. Palate is light in mouthfeel and with cold climate small red and black berries, quite tannic, with a distinct finish of milk chocolate and caramel. No length. Light and pleasant..... if I didn't know, I would have guessed an Austrian Pinot Noir. It went well with simple roast pigeon on Lamma Island, Hong Kong. Thanks, Joe! |
| Red |
1998 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Brookmanmore |
11/1/2009 - Goldstone wrote: 92 pointsMiki's Birthday Lunch (Top Deck, Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen Marina, Hong Kong): Black/ red opaque colour. Bit of heat on the nose, boxwood, lavender- perfumed floor wax; a young and high-toned nose. Resinous, refreshingly acidic palate of sun-dried thyme , eucalyptus and spices. Bloody raw lamb on the back end. Quite impressive length and resonance in your head. Still very young. Thins out a touch with extended time in the glass but is very good indeed and should improve with more age. Is evolving slower than I had expected since drinking this a year ago. |
| Red |
1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena EstateNapa Valley more |
10/30/2020 - Goldstone wrote: flawedOld Napa Wines Dinner (Joseph's Place, Wong Chung Hang, Hong Kong): Drank blind in a long line of older Napa reds. Thinning black/red semi-transparent colour. Very muted nose and hard to chase what is there...plum and red cherries. Palate is very thin and sharply tart. Initially seemed just too young because the finish was quite long and resonant but it all soured very quickly. My wine from a 2009 auction where most bottles have disappointed. Too bad because we had lined this up alongside a 1984 bottle which was superlative and I'd hoped for a much closer contest. |
| Red |
1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena EstateNapa Valley more |
6/14/2014 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 90 pointsStill a completely opaque black currant colour. Nose is graphite, deep cassis, some smoke. Very pure and compelling: linear in the best sense. Palate is quite tertiary.....prunes and very autumnal fruits - very faded compared to the still beautiful nose. A somewhat over-advanced bottle. Disappointing overall. I had better expectations of it. I think it was a heat-tainted bottle because the overall integrity and structure didn't fade a bit over 3 hours from first drinking. Howver, I hadn't been able to prepare the wine in advance - it hadn't been stood for a few days, which may well have improved it. |
| Red |
1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena EstateNapa Valley more |
10/6/2010 - Goldstone wrote: 91 pointsGroup de Degustation Diner, Octobre 2010 (Chez Patrick, 26 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong): Served blind with no indication of age or country of origin. Last wine of 11 and I was a bit tired. My short note was that it was very good but a bit thin......but my wine of the night. I guessed it was Ch. Haut Brion 1983. |
| Red |
1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena EstateNapa Valley more |
10/10/2009 - Goldstone wrote: 88 pointsCh. Montelena 1978,1985 & 1994 (Chez Patrick, Peel Street, Hong Kong): Deep red still semi-opaque colour. Closed and reticent nose of great pencil lead, blackberries and dry box wood. Tart but freshly acidic palate with good structure of bramble fruit. Drying tannins. Nettles on the back end. Not much length. Very dry back end. With extended time in the glass it highlights a very dry cherry stones finish. Hard to see where this is going but I don't think it will improve with more age, which is a tough call when you have just revelled in the 1978....... so I may be wrong. Oops!.....sorry this note is for the 1985 and I'll re-assign it. |
| Red |
1995 Rymill Cabernet SauvignonCoonawarra more |
11/26/2005 - Goldstone wrote: 86 pointsDrunk over dinner at home. I think this needs drinking up. The fruit has faded and the acidity is now all that predominates. Still quite enjoyable but no longer lives up to its billing. |
| Red |
1998 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Brookmanmore |
9/26/2008 - Goldstone wrote: 91 pointsAustralian 1998s Dinner (Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Deep translucent red colour. Wow! nose of classic Cabernet Sauvignon notes: predominant leather backed by lots of blackcurrant, cedar and some cigar box. Tart young palate of blackberries and cedar but real balance and purity which suggests this will deliver a lot more over the coming years. Some "in your head" qualities and great length. |
| Red |
1998 Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Brookmanmore |
11/10/2007 - Goldstone wrote: 90 pointsDrunk with friends over an Australia 1998 dinner organized by Runny at Crown Wine Cellars. Deep purple, almost black colour. Powerful nose of almost pure blackberries. Still a lot of alcohol to blow off.In the mouth it has gorgeous depth and purity of fruit- blackberries, blueberries, a touch of raspberries. Still a lot of acidity and tannin but very well structured and beautiful. Good length. Needs a few more years to show its very best, which was the theme of all three of the '98s we tried on the night. |
| Red |
1995 Rymill Cabernet SauvignonCoonawarra more |
5/10/2006 - Goldstone wrote: 85 pointsThis is an infuriating wine. On first opening it is all acid and lost fruit in the mouth albeit still a superb colour, great legs and a very nice mint-predominating, classic Australian Cabernet Sauvignon nose. It doesn't develop that much except that in the mouth it displays occasional glimpses of a much more attractive, caramel, rounded palate...but then it slips back into excess acid. Too much volatility here. Was that the result of poor cellerage before I bought it or a flaw in the wine? I'm told that Australia is unique in being allowed to add acid to its wine (to balance the hot climate environment) but that the jury is out on whether added acid ages gracefully with the other components. The answer seems to be "no" for Rymill. Definitely to drink up. |
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