Butter, oak, apple pie, and some pear. I seem to really like wines more and more that source grapes from Hyde Vineyard in Caneros. This reminded me of Rombauer Chardonnay. Had enough acid to balance out the creamy texture providing a great wine to start the evening with.

Drank alongside an '06 Insignia. Both excellent but I give the edge to The Maiden based on the finish (longer and more interesting). This wine is all black fruits with some cocoa and earth. Powerful - a masculine wine with a lot of tannins telling me this still has at least 5 years before it really hits it's stride.

Drank alongside an '05 The Maiden. My best comparison is this was the more feminine wine of the two. Excellent. But more about finesse and the smooth finish. Not as big as your typical high end Napa Cab. But an elegant drinking experience.

If drinking alone I probably would have scored it higher. But this just did not hold up on its own against the competition this night. This is why I love comparing wines side by side.

Just a classy wine. Cherry on the nose with some butter popcorn and olive noted. Red and dark fruits on the tongue with a rich, smooth creaminess and silky long finish. The finish makes this wine. Rating one point better than my last bottle. Drank alongside Ridge MB (97), Pahlmeyer (05) and Quintessa (05). My WOTN by a slight margin over the Ridge Monte Bello.

Drank alongside a Pahlmeyer '05 and this was the winner. What struck me about this bottle was that it clearly had the benefits of AGE without tasting OLD. Too many times a 15+ bottle of wine can taste "old", done and a bit musky versus tasting like and "aged wine" where you can pick up on the tertiary flavors that are usually hidden in a wine's youth. Excellent.

Rich, complex and full throttle with mineral, spice, currant and dark cherry with a long finish. Right in my wheel house. The type of wine you would hope would come out of the 5lb bottle it comes in!

Very nice wine. Drank this near the end of long evening. After the many big boy wines we had the pleasure to drink this evening, this did not compare - at least for me. Could have been tasting fatigue on my part so will not rate. If rating, I would give it a 90.

The last bottle of the evening - and what a way to end. Dark gold with honey, almond, vanilla, apple, honeysuckle and a little pineapple. Paired wonderfully with creme brule'