7/3/2005 - RandyD wrote:

Decanted 2 hours before taking it to dinner with some friends. I should have opened it earlier but wasn't thinking ahead. Dark purple color and nose of chocolate and coffee. Velvety smooth tannins and dark fruit/blackberry flavors. Nicely balanced and still has a long way to go. This vineyard is showing the best out of the single vintages I have tried, 01/02 Howell Mtn Est, 02 Chafen and 02 Wykoff.

12/3/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Subdued nose mostly alcoholic, never really opened up. Nice deep purple color but surprisingly much of the fruit is lacking. Plenty of tannins left with a rather hot alcoholic finish. I had higher expectations from DV from this spotty vintage.

12/30/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Drank this after a 98 Dalle Valle (which was disappointing). Nice floral nose, very light in color. Nice midpalate but lacking the depth/complexity and short finish. Nice effort considering the vintage. 89 pts.

11/2/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Took this to Greg's election night party. A great effort by Paloma and we had it with the 94 Dalla Valle and 94 Etude CS. DV was my pick for WON but the Paloma was the crowd favorite and disappeared in short order. Etude was surprised us as still a huge wine with many years of aging left.

3/26/2004 - RandyD wrote:

This is my first bottle of Roar so I have limited comparison and high expectations. Bright black cherry nose with earthy background, deep purple color. Wonderful aromas that don't quit. Definitely new world style pinot with rich fruit balanced very well with the tannins and acidity. Long finish but alcohol kicks in, hopefully to soften with age.

2/21/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Opened with chicken cacciatore prepared by Elaine and Nancy. While I'm not too familiar with sangiovese, it went well with the acidity of the meal. Wine is mature, fruit had subsided considerably but the wine was still very good.

3/16/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Austere, not much fruit. Day 2 inspected color of wine more closely and now no fruit at all. Cooked wine, probably not badly but enough to make it slightly brown and destroy the fruit. Possibly could be a good wine.

3/18/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Strong smoke on the nose almost a sulfur smell. Nice fruit with smoke and lots of pepper. Good QPR. Day 2. I have a mild cold so the nose is muted, mild smoke today but but could be the cold. Berry fruit, long lasting pepper and earthy tastes but the smoke is subdued. Sadly this is my last bottle.

3/16/2004 - RandyD wrote:

I had to open one after all the BB discussion on Harlan vs KL. Serious coffee and cocoa on the nose with hints of tar. Deep inky color. Wine was closed and I tasted the green weediness that seems to be showing in the 00 Howell Mtn wines. Nice smooth tannins and long finish although it ended a bit hot. Second night it was much smoother and integrated and the weediness was very slight, disappearing after several hours. Unfortunately I finsihed the bottle and it probably would drink even better on the 3rd day. I'm taking my full allocation for 01!

3/12/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Rasberry nose, light grenache style fruitiness, not overextracted or jammy (unlike an Aussie), nice tannins and finish. Excellent QPR. Solid wine but you have to favor grenache.

3/11/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Soft nose, nothing strikes me - disappointing here for Opus juice. Very fruity, layered, soft tannins and silky on the finish. Nice wine but consistently I notice bottle variation. This was a very good bottle and remains a good QPR. It will be interesting to taste side by side against Facets upon release.

3/7/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Pleasant floral aromas, ruby colored. Fruit explodes in your mouth almost hiding any sense of tannins. Nice acidity. Too fruit forward for my style and lacking in depth and terroir or minerality. Reminds me of wine produced from young vines.

3/6/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Opened for Joe and Elaine's birthday dinner. Riad's braised short ribs and King crab legs. A big fruit forward CA cab that initially had sweet tannins. After an hour or so, the wine seemed disjointed and the tannnins were quite harsh on the finish. Maybe a year of cellaring will let the fruit settle and the wine may come together but I am skeptical. RP rated the meritage 94 and we bought this by mistake.

3/6/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Dennis wanted me to try this in the never ending quest for bargain wines. Opened it for Joe and Elaine's birthday dinner, decanted it for an hour. Nice color, dark, inky purple, classic cabernet nose of tobacco, leather. Bordeaux style with subdued fruit. Tannins are a bit harsh with an abrupt finish. We also had the 00 Wolf Family CS which was a CA fruit bomb in comparison. Tasted again 24 hours later, tannins softer but the finsih is still hard. One week later, bottle has been Vacuvined in refrig, green pepper nose with hints of tobacco and tar, not appealing but tannins have softened and wine is more balanced. Surprisingly drinkable for being open 7 days.

3/6/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Opened for Elaine and Joe's birthday dinner (although Elaine was at work!). Crisp refreshing aroma of green, tart apples. Light, not too syrupy and nice balance in sweetness. On the palate, nice acidity, green apple, pinneaple with a nice finish. I picked this wine up at the winery tasting room in Monterey. Good QPR but I would prefer an eiswein.

3/4/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Lightly extracted, ruby colored. Blackcherry fruit but missing any hint of oak or structure on the finish. A simple, one dimensional and I am only guessing but an inexpensive wine.

3/6/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Simple nose, not much to it. Definitely missing the traditional barnyard aroma. Somewhat sweet and fruity on opening, retasted the next night and it seemed to have balanced out more, although not much complexity or depth. Finished the bottle off today and it was much better. Doubtful to make my buy list in future years.

2/24/2004 - RandyD wrote:

Decanted for 2 hours prior to sharing with Jeff & Sheryl, Greg, John, Rich and Chuck. Nice nose with no hints of barnyard at all. Very elegant, balanced wine that will only improve. It did appear to be shutting down compared to some earlier TNs that have been posted. Chuck brought the 99 VT unopened. It was much better that tne Beaucasted, showing a lot of fruit and kept evolving for the next two hours. After a hour or so it developed the classic barnyard nose. Our hosts Jeff & Sheryl surely enjoyed the left overs (wine that is) the next day. WOTN was the 95 Insignia - thanks John. All I can say is WOW (and I don't have any in my cellar). We also had the 97 Jayson, mature, ready to drink,