February 28, 2024 - PNP still aromatic with black fruit and cassis on the nose. This restaurant I might mention (Jose Andres Agua Viva} had small glasses with a big corkage of $45. Mouth coating as a full-bodied wine with great balance throughout with a medium long finish. Kinda abusive to drink such a good wine under poor circumstances but it was a very nice wine. Final comments after 90 minutes; this wine still has some more time at it’s peak but don’t wait, it is drinking fine. Cheers
February 9, 2024 - From a vertical (this, a previously consumed ‘04 and a ‘05, average of $210, but this presumably the cheapest based on WS prices) about 4 years ago. On the nose and palate, classic HSS notes of cassis, dark cherries, tobacco, red licorice, dark roast coffee, dark chocolate, wet soil, oak and vanilla and lighter notes of black currants, dark berries, forest floor, tar, and a bitter, tannic green-Amaro note (which was actually quite pleasing to me as a counter to the general (slight) sweetness of the wine. Dark purple to the point of blackness, full bodied with exposure to air, thick legs. Medium+ tannins, medium- acidity, no heat. Great complexity, VG+ intensity and persistence with aeration. I’ve been an intermittent drinker of this bottling for 30+ years—even when I drank cheaper wines, this, along with others like Peter Michael LP, Merryvale Profile, Montebello, Montelena, Heitz Martha’s, etc. were my splurges—and have never had one which was less than excellent, and many have been great. But this was worrisome out of the bottle. It had the classic HSS profile on the nose and front palate, but dropped off and flattened thereafter, presenting as more of a low 90s wine than the mid to upper 90s drink I’ve been accustomed to. This vintage is relatively low ranked, both for this and more generally (although I’m not accord with the latter, and with time, the former either), and although I chose this over several other vintages I have based on great recent TNs, I wondered if this would be a low water mark for me. Anyway, after leaving this for about 2 and a half hours to see if it could pull itself together, which I wasn’t terribly optimistic about, since, particularly for CA wines, filling out with aeration feels much less likely than alcohol, oakiness, tannins or acidity integrating, it filled out beautifully, becoming significantly deeper and longer, and it continued to do so through night 2, so that the last glass was best. Even at that point, though, this version of HSS relies, relatively, more on elegance and balance than power, more like the ‘97 I had a year and a half ago than the ‘04 and the ‘09. As with the other versions, this is a standout on its own, but shone at least equally brightly with a grilled pork chop and veggies and worked with scampi another night as well. The initial performance was so out of conformance with bottles from other vintages, as well as other TNs, that it muddies my aeration and drinking guidance, but based on how it drank after air, it’s ready now, but the vibrancy at the end of night 2 indicates that it will keep, if not improve, for years to come. While this cuvee is generally well-scored on CT, it doesn’t have the glow of more cult bottlings, perhaps because it’s been around for decades, is (relatively) mass produced and is hardly cheap, but I think that decades on, it merits its consistently high critic scores, and if it’s not a qpr home run for me in the way that old Larkmead LMVs, QCs and Ovids are, it isn’t, in the stilted math of 21st century, not obviously overpriced, either. Strong showing here, right with or above the Morlet Estate, Abreu Cappella, and Riverain, if a hair below the ‘08 Ovid (but above the ‘05 and ‘06 versions). 96-97
January 10, 2024 - This is truly a breautiful wine. I have verticals going back to 2006 and I am beginning to drink them. We had this two nights ago with a bourbon-marinated tri-tip and it was perfect. The wine has a beautiful dark color. I decanted for an hour and it was just about right. Still continued to open up as we drank it with dinner. It is a great drinking wine - very approachable and not over the top tannins. It feels like it is at it’s peak - if you have any in your cellar, I would suggest drinking it over the next 6-12 months, as I don’t feel it will improve any more.
March 31, 2023 - 98 points. 10th dating anniversary at Ospi. Such a beautiful wine. This was my ‘ah ha’ wine 6 years ago. It’s so well structured. Bold but light on its feet. Beautiful leather, aged fruit. It’s pricy but worth every sip.
March 12, 2023 - Not sure it needed the 2 hour decant, as this was spectacular on opening, but don't think it hurt either. Ridiculously delicious.
August 9, 2022 - Kiawah 2022; 8/6/2022-8/13/2022: More dark fruit, plum fig and dried fruit. Still fairly tannic for the age. So structured. Chocolate. Not over the hill, but at peak, would drink not hold for my tastes
August 9, 2022 - Beach tasting, dark purple, dark fruit and minerals on the nose, more cherry tart fruit than the Hundred Acre Ark, still oak and firm tannins, crisp tart finish
June 21, 2022 - Very good but not up to normal Shafer HSS standards.
May 8, 2022 - Purchased from winery upon release, ~3 hrs slow ox not decanted. Tar, coffee and ripe red fruit on the nose.Nicely balanced, with oak more prominent on the palate than the nose. Sommelier stems added complexity and length to the finish.
This definitely needed the time to open up, as out of the bottle this was flat.Experimented with several different stems and my wife consistently preferred this out of a sommelier syrah stem, which added youth and bite to the wine.
I’ve got 2 more bottles which I’ll probably tap over the next 5 years.
March 6, 2022 - I had this wine on Friday and Saturday night. Both nights I had it with 2 different wine experts (at least in my opinion and I’m no slouch. The first night was with a NY strip and the second night with a lamb shank. The wine was popped and poured the first night and kept me guessing for about 30 minutes but that was all. It is wonderful. Great fruit, integrated tannin and I don’t know if I should rate it higher or not. The first night my friend pronounced it as one of the top 5 red wines in NAPA. I shared that comment with my other friend on the second night and we suggested it might be one of the top 5 in the world. I questioned why he thought that and like my first friend he pointed out the price/quality factor. Just how much are you really willing to spend on a wine.
This may not be a rating but an observation of a great wine.