Community Tasting Note

• Mark1npt Likes this wine: 97 points

  April 16, 2022 - Had this a month ago when Jimbo brought it to a tasting. This bottle behaving a bit differently so I want to write about it. It would score about the same for me, so I won't rate it again so soon. Edit: I ended up rating it again!
  
  Pnp'd into a decanter, the fruit a bit over the top at the start and mostly black. A bit too tannic the first hour, but clean, expressive, well defined, fruit. Again, all black with maybe a hint of cocoa dust. If scoring, maybe 92-93? Enjoyed with a grilled ribeye at dinner about hour 3 and it plays well with the steak, the potatoes and the peppers and onions. Fruit still very black, and some heat is showing up, tannins still a bit high, not yet all together in sync, maybe a 93-94 then.
  
  Left the last of it in a glass to enjoy after dinner and by hour 5, it was moving into a more enjoyable and well put together place for me, where you could just sit and enjoy it for dessert if you were so inclined. Some of the intensity of the black fruit is easing off, but no red appearing yet as it did in the bottle last month. The nose is picking up some classic Napa cab notes and you start to roll the wine around in your mouth more before swallowing. That classic B Cellars acidity/energy is starting to show itself, a 94-95 at that point.
  
  Hour 6, some red and blue fruit begins to show up, finally! Still moderate astringency from the tannins but they are lessening as time marches on. More deep cassis notes on the nose and some blue pen ink also appears.
  
  Hour 7....a little orange rind shows up on the nose, a lot more chocolate on the palate, it's just a beautiful wine at this stage. I was not going to rate this wine again, but with giving it 7 hours of air, it's easily a point better than last month's bottle. Really coming together now. The depth and power are really merging, and emerging.
  
  Hour 8....this wine has finally merged into this rich fruited giant of a cab. Bags of cassis, some Coke syrup, baker's chocolate and the best all around balance it's displayed since opening 8+ hours ago. The astringent tannins have backed way off and now melt right in. Pushing 97 points for me at this time. What an awesome wine! The only negative to this wine is you can feel the 15.3% alc throughout.....

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5 Comments

• Decanting Queen commented:

  4/17/22, 5:25 AM - Thanks for the update Mark. I tried this one back in December although I am sure it didn’t get to hour 8, but I could tell it was going to be an excellent wine in a year or two. But reassured at the way it evolved for you already.

• Mark1npt commented:

  4/17/22, 6:45 AM - Jen, I was a bit disappointed over the first 5 hours or so because while it was pretty good, it was behaving differently than the bottle HMC opened last month. Hours 5-8 really turned it on, though. Especially, hour 8. The only negative was the sense of high alc all along the ride. This is 15.3%. The 'sweet' '16s were 16.1% but I never got the feeling of the higher alc in those '16s. Maybe the alc backs off in the next year or two? I don't really know if that's possible. These '18s are really going to challenge us to find the 'right' time, it seems. But when we do, the rewards will be fantastic! I just worry about everyone else who might 'miss' that perfect time. I'd hate to be cheated out of such good wine!

• Decanting Queen commented:

  4/19/22, 4:18 AM - I know, it really is an art to getting it right, and so many just don’t believe in more than an hour or so decant….

• Mark1npt commented:

  4/19/22, 4:41 AM - Wayyy back when, I used to be one of 'those people', lol!
  
  I think really, it's just a byproduct of modern life. Very few people seem to have the time to take, or the desire to want to do it. With many, wine is just wine........40 years ago, that was me, too. Hey there, I'm part of the 'me, too movement', now!

• Decanting Queen commented:

  4/20/22, 4:02 AM - Haha

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