September 16, 2022 - Beautiful big floral bouquet. Fantastic aromatics. Dark black fruit with nice acidity. Tannins are rounded and smooth. Medium+ finish. Quite nice.
August 3, 2022 - Beautiful and robust. Full of dsrk fruits and good tannins. Perfect drinking window. Drink now if you like strong fruits!
February 18, 2022 - I seem to side with the reviewers who found this wine just OK. Missing a bit on the mid palate, and a little short and sharp on the finish. Around the 2 hour mark was the high point - the fruit and finished seemed more round and complex. Last glass fell off a bit.
June 12, 2021 - Outstanding. Been a long time since I had a Napa can this good. Up there with aged beringer private reserve or Cade.
March 22, 2021 - One off auction purchase ($85) about 2 years ago. On the nose and palate, lots of dark fruit (dark berries and currants, cherries and cassis), leather, dark florals, spice, wet earth and oak. Deep purple, light to medium bodied out of the bottle but filling out after air to medium to full-bodied, thick legs. Medium tannins and acidity, no heat initially, but a bit of a boozy tail on night 3. Medium+ complexity, persistence and intensity. My fifth Mike Smith wine, with mixed experiences on the first 4. Unlike the prior 2 lower priced bottles (a '16 Scarlett NV and a '15 Becklyn NV), this was better balanced and mostly non-boozy, although this didn't have the concentration of either the '15 Quivet LPV or the '14 Myriad GIII. What it had that none of those 4 had was solid structure, with a bit of savoriness to go with non-overwhelming sweetness, with the tannins and acidity giving this wine notably better balance than any of the other 4 and better food-friendliness, both with a burger and sweet potato fries and spaghetti and meatballs. While no one is going to confuse this with a Montelena or a Blankiet, it fits more into the middle of the cab/CA Bordeaux spectrum, where I generally prefer my wines. Good drinking window with some air, but seems to have enough backbone to go another 5-10 in very good shape. Very solid effort, ok qpr. 92-93 NB: I like the 2014 vintage very much, even if it's a bit overshadowed by '12-13 and 15'-16!
June 19, 2020 - No formal tasting notes as I drank this at a park out of a plastic wine glass. I decanted this 1 hour and drank over another hour. It did get a bit better with air. When I bought this I was looking for a 2015 but this was all they had. IMHO the 2015 is significantly better and the CT scores seem to bear this out. I am not a huge fan of the 2014 vintage and like the 2012's they seemed to drink better earlier. I was able to go to a different Total Wine and trade my 2014 bottles for 2015's.
February 14, 2020 - Supple medium body stunner. Turnbull fruit taken to the next level!
Cheers!
October 10, 2019 - A delicious bold wine. Smooth and ready to drink. The fruit in balance with the earth and oak. Definitely enjoyed by all of us.
April 22, 2019 - Quintessential Oakville valley floor Cabernet, inky dark cassis, and black cherry fruit with herbal spicy undertones, a plush velvety mouth feel that remains fresh and juicy with a smooth lingering finish that leaves you thinking....More please! Open with confidence and enjoy!
November 22, 2018 - Drank over Thanksgiving against a 2013 Quivet Beckstoffer Las Piedras, and the RP100 2013 Outpost Cab True Vineyard. And....this really held its own! Everybody really enjoyed. Red fruit dominates, mixing with tannin, leather and earth. Big wine with all kinds of time and years ahead for improvement.