Tried to wait on this, but it's just too damn good.

Showing even better than it did a year ago. A smack of petrol right when it was opened blew off mostly, but was still in the background later. Acid cuts through this wine and balances it out perfectly. Nose of apples, pineapples, pears and a health dose of something floral I couldn't place, so let's just say white flowers...

This easily has 10++ years left in it, but drinking so nicely now will be hard to avoid drinking more...

Tasted out of Magnum. Needed a little air to really come to life. At first was a little stemmy, but as it opened up it the raspberry, cherry notes started to show through. Reminded me of Beaujolais in a way but had more depth similar to a Cru Bojo, but did not have the crunchy tannins a young Cru Bojo often has. A lot of different herbal qualities that never went away and I loved.

This is a fun, flavorful, perfect for Summer red wine...

Surprisingly still very much alive, and actually got much better after about an hour in the decanter. Strawberry fruit driven with a little bit of leather, pepper and olives to go along with it. Not a fruit driven wine at this point, but still has a slight sweet fruit profile, also a hint of balsamic and cherry. If you have any left I would drink up sooner rather than later...

This was drinking very nicely still. Note of menthol, blackberry, boysenberry and brambly fruit. Was showing it's age, potentially a little VA, but added to it, rather than taking away... Fruit had dried up a good amount, but still provided pleasure

This was a WOW wine. Tannins are still very tight, but I don't even know how to describe it so much was going on. Not a fruit bomb California Cabernet, but people that like that style would be happy... Also would make Bordeaux lovers happy, perfectly in between the 2 styles. Monte Bello, to me, is the greatest American wine and this did not disappoint.

This wine was also proof for me that you can make an amazing California Cab at below 14% Alcohol... This one checks in at 13.6%

If I wasn't so cheap I'd buy a case of this tomorrow...

A lot of fruit on this, strawberry, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, just all over the place, but this doesn't just become a fruit bomb. Even had like a roasted beet and rosemary note to it. It also has a very nice mineral edge, almost gravelly or graphite. Tannins are elevated and acid is a touch lower than I would like, but this wine tasted way above it's price point. Fun wine that should stand up to a good amount of aging, but drinking nice right now