Drink great in dec 2012. The vegetal notes are smoothed out. The wine is silky, weight is heavy. The fruits are stewed and the earthy notes are soft and delicious. Tannin is still substantial. The wine is a little closed, I think it will open over the evening. This is a great wine, it is a screaming value. Sadly this is my last bottle. As always, a great food wine
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Wow, this is drinking nicely. I have not had a bottle of this for awhile. The 2005 vintage was very nice. Some previous notes mention the Bordeaux aspects of this wine, ABSOLUTELY. This wine has an incredible Bordeaux nose and palate. If you put this wine by side by side with a left banker, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Deep red color, great earthiness and funk, essance of chocolate, a bit of caramel and butterscotch and bright cassis fruit on the nose and palate. The palate is medium weight with with nice firm tannins and a good finish that lingers. This is an outstanding blend and an excellent value. Drinking nicely now and showing no signs of fading.
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Some funk factor. Good fruit on the nose. In the mouth, there's black fruit, vanilla, tannins - a pretty typical California Cab. Dry, somewhat hollow finish. But when the funk kicks in on the palate - just a touch of old world barnyard - it gets a little more interesting.
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I just flat our love this wine. From the dark purple color, the wonderful nose and the deep core of black fruit on the palate. On top of that it is at a great price for a wine of this depth. The word balance comes to mind, where there is the proper combination of all the ingredients all working in harmony. I especially appreciate that it is NOT over oaked, like too many wines in this price point. This bottle was enjoyed (a bit too much) by my poker buddies at our monthly game.
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This is the 3rd bottle of this wine and I am very impressed on how Bordeaux like it tastes, like a $40 St Julien wine. Dark brooding fruit with earthy, smoky notes on the nose. Good solid structure in the tannins and while it drinks well now, it certainly can last a few years. I plan to stock-up on some more.
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This wine offers everything in balance. Not too much fruit, not too much oak, soft tannins and easy to sip on its own or enjoy with food. A bargain at the $14 and worth holding for a few years.
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Very expressive nose, with lots of dark fruit and cedar. This is full bodied and nicely structured with loads of blackberries, currant and plums. Add in secondary flavors of bell pepper, tobacco and herbs and you get a relatively complex wine, especially at this price point. There is some tension between the fruit and more herbal elements towards the finish that does throw off the balance and therefore prevents a higher score. I suspect another couple of years of cellaring and this wine will integrate further and be that much more improved. I would recommend.
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Nose: strong oak with dark fruit and cherry, after 45 minutes in decanter shows better integration with a slight funkyness (in a good way really) Taste: nice dark fruit, light tannins, totally dead on the finish, sort of disappointing end of a very strong start
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A wonderful balanced Cab with a Bordeaux like St Julien character. A nose of dried berries and earth. A nice finish with cassis and blackberries. I picked up a couple of more bottles.
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Deep dark purple color. Nose and pallet similar - plum, lead pencil, eucalyptus, chocolate. Not much tannin. Well balanced. Long pallet. Very approachable. Drinking great now and maybe for the next year or two. Would not plan long term cellaring, but this is a fantastic $15 - $20 CA cab that drinks like a wine at least twice the price. Plan to buy a case as a house red.
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Typical Alexander Valley cab with bitter cherry, cedar, herb, leather and oak. Vegital nose blew off after an hour in the decanter to reveal a nicely balanced cab. Tannins clam up a little on the dry finish. Not overly complex, but a good offering in the $20 range. Should do some interesting things over the short-medium term. Drink by 2012.
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Color was a nice burgundy with purple hints. Wow for the nose! Nice dark fruit all over the nose with abundant oak and a little chocolate. Taste had a slight bit of sweetness, good body, and nice fruit finishing with oak. Mouth coating tannins. Finish was nice and long. Best value yet for the 05 California Cabs.
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Thursday Night 5 for $5 (The Grapevine - Pocatello, ID): Deep purple ruby color. Relatively tight nose of funk, cedar, dark fruit, underlying sweetness. Medium full body, smooth acid and high soft tannins. Flavorful plum, blackberry, tobacco and wood. Long finish. Great complexity and balance of fruit and non-fruit flavors. Very nice.
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Cabernet: Summer Session / Silver Oak Day (wine Exchange): 14% alcohol. purple garnet color. plum, berry, cocoa, tar, oak, cedar box. med. to full bodied, rich mouthfeel. nice balance of tart fruit, ripe tannins, and a dry vanilla finish.
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Nice, decent, cheap, drinkable cab. First glass out of the bottle was indeed rough around the edges as other have noted, but glass two (following a vigorous Neal-inspired shaken decant) was softer, better integrated and reasonably enjoyable. Still tightly wound and a bit acidic, it would be better with food and probably quite nice with grilled steaks.
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A very nicely balanced and enjoyable drinking cabernet with notes of black cherries, cassis, moderate tannin structure, and a touch of oak. Very enjoyable.
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7/31/2013 - donbaxter Likes this wine: 88 Points
Opened tonight and very nice!! This is a very good wine for the MONEY! Consistently enjoyable.
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12/27/2012 - vinorsk wrote: 96 Points
Drink great in dec 2012. The vegetal notes are smoothed out. The wine is silky, weight is heavy. The fruits are stewed and the earthy notes are soft and delicious. Tannin is still substantial. The wine is a little closed, I think it will open over the evening. This is a great wine, it is a screaming value. Sadly this is my last bottle. As always, a great food wine
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8/20/2011 - toontune wrote: 89 Points
If I didn't know I'd swear it was a very nice Bordeaux! Very musky...
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5/16/2010 - sichuanpeppercorn wrote: 88 Points
Good balance, big dark fruit but strong tannins on the finish. Nice wine for the money.
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4/10/2010 - rocknroller wrote: 92 Points
Wow, this is drinking nicely. I have not had a bottle of this for awhile. The 2005 vintage was very nice. Some previous notes mention the Bordeaux aspects of this wine, ABSOLUTELY. This wine has an incredible Bordeaux nose and palate. If you put this wine by side by side with a left banker, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Deep red color, great earthiness and funk, essance of chocolate, a bit of caramel and butterscotch and bright cassis fruit on the nose and palate. The palate is medium weight with with nice firm tannins and a good finish that lingers. This is an outstanding blend and an excellent value. Drinking nicely now and showing no signs of fading.
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11/18/2009 - BSpdx wrote: 89 Points
Pretty consistent with last year's tasting note, but I'll add a point given that some of the rough edges on the finish have smoothed out.
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10/29/2009 - jeffal66 wrote: 86 Points
Some funk factor. Good fruit on the nose. In the mouth, there's black fruit, vanilla, tannins - a pretty typical California Cab. Dry, somewhat hollow finish. But when the funk kicks in on the palate - just a touch of old world barnyard - it gets a little more interesting.
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6/25/2009 - Arch57 wrote: 91 Points
I just flat our love this wine. From the dark purple color, the wonderful nose and the deep core of black fruit on the palate. On top of that it is at a great price for a wine of this depth. The word balance comes to mind, where there is the proper combination of all the ingredients all working in harmony. I especially appreciate that it is NOT over oaked, like too many wines in this price point. This bottle was enjoyed (a bit too much) by my poker buddies at our monthly game.
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2/1/2009 - Arch57 wrote: 91 Points
This is the 3rd bottle of this wine and I am very impressed on how Bordeaux like it tastes, like a $40 St Julien wine. Dark brooding fruit with earthy, smoky notes on the nose. Good solid structure in the tannins and while it drinks well now, it certainly can last a few years. I plan to stock-up on some more.
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12/5/2008 - Arch57 wrote: 89 Points
This wine offers everything in balance. Not too much fruit, not too much oak, soft tannins and easy to sip on its own or enjoy with food. A bargain at the $14 and worth holding for a few years.
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11/28/2008 - KevinS wrote: 85 Points
Mediocre performance this time. Seemed a bit thin, and less well-balanced. Still OK to good, but not the QPR the last bottle suggested.
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11/22/2008 - BSpdx wrote: 88 Points
Very expressive nose, with lots of dark fruit and cedar. This is full bodied and nicely structured with loads of blackberries, currant and plums. Add in secondary flavors of bell pepper, tobacco and herbs and you get a relatively complex wine, especially at this price point. There is some tension between the fruit and more herbal elements towards the finish that does throw off the balance and therefore prevents a higher score. I suspect another couple of years of cellaring and this wine will integrate further and be that much more improved. I would recommend.
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9/24/2008 - familydoc wrote: 86 Points
Nose: strong oak with dark fruit and cherry, after 45 minutes in decanter shows better integration with a slight funkyness (in a good way really) Taste: nice dark fruit, light tannins, totally dead on the finish, sort of disappointing end of a very strong start
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7/23/2008 - jleg wrote:
Full, semi-rustic nose. Full bodied, dusty flavors. Good stuff.
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7/4/2008 - Arch57 wrote: 91 Points
A wonderful balanced Cab with a Bordeaux like St Julien character. A nose of dried berries and earth. A nice finish with cassis and blackberries. I picked up a couple of more bottles.
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7/3/2008 - lebo9968@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
Deep dark purple color. Nose and pallet similar - plum, lead pencil, eucalyptus, chocolate. Not much tannin. Well balanced. Long pallet. Very approachable. Drinking great now and maybe for the next year or two. Would not plan long term cellaring, but this is a fantastic $15 - $20 CA cab that drinks like a wine at least twice the price. Plan to buy a case as a house red.
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6/30/2008 - jnastynebr wrote: 85 Points
Typical Alexander Valley cab with bitter cherry, cedar, herb, leather and oak. Vegital nose blew off after an hour in the decanter to reveal a nicely balanced cab. Tannins clam up a little on the dry finish. Not overly complex, but a good offering in the $20 range. Should do some interesting things over the short-medium term. Drink by 2012.
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6/16/2008 - jleg wrote:
This was another very decent bottle of AVV Cab. Excellent for the price.
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6/10/2008 - Jim and Patricia wrote: 89 Points
Had this with some steak. It was a real treat. Just fine out of the bottle but it got better. Didn't see the end of the evening.
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5/9/2008 - markfarrell22 wrote: 94 Points
Color was a nice burgundy with purple hints. Wow for the nose! Nice dark fruit all over the nose with abundant oak and a little chocolate. Taste had a slight bit of sweetness, good body, and nice fruit finishing with oak. Mouth coating tannins. Finish was nice and long. Best value yet for the 05 California Cabs.
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4/7/2008 - Texas R Aggie wrote: 88 Points
Taste of 5 years ago is back in this vintage! Excellent value. Balanced, with oak in background.
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3/6/2008 - J_Hayden wrote: 88 Points
Thursday Night 5 for $5 (The Grapevine - Pocatello, ID): Deep purple ruby color. Relatively tight nose of funk, cedar, dark fruit, underlying sweetness. Medium full body, smooth acid and high soft tannins. Flavorful plum, blackberry, tobacco and wood. Long finish. Great complexity and balance of fruit and non-fruit flavors. Very nice.
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1/7/2008 - kschriner wrote: 84 Points
A nice standard cab. Had with awesome homemade meatballs and pasta.
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9/8/2007 - raadams wrote: 89 Points
Consistent with my first two bottles.
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8/4/2007 - wcacern wrote: 88 Points
Cabernet: Summer Session / Silver Oak Day (wine Exchange): 14% alcohol. purple garnet color. plum, berry, cocoa, tar, oak, cedar box. med. to full bodied, rich mouthfeel. nice balance of tart fruit, ripe tannins, and a dry vanilla finish.
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7/26/2007 - KevinS wrote: 88 Points
Nice, decent, cheap, drinkable cab. First glass out of the bottle was indeed rough around the edges as other have noted, but glass two (following a vigorous Neal-inspired shaken decant) was softer, better integrated and reasonably enjoyable. Still tightly wound and a bit acidic, it would be better with food and probably quite nice with grilled steaks.
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7/20/2007 - raadams wrote: 88 Points
Notes of cherries, cassis, and a little oak. This bottle was a little more rough around the edges than past bottles - showing a little more alcohol?
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6/29/2007 - raadams wrote: 90 Points
Consistent with previous bottles.
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6/1/2007 - raadams wrote: 90 Points
A very nicely balanced and enjoyable drinking cabernet with notes of black cherries, cassis, moderate tannin structure, and a touch of oak. Very enjoyable.
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