This is phenominal. Perfect balance between fruit and freshness. Light on its feet but with so much depth. Fantastic right now - at peak I would say. But will stay here for +5yrs so no rush. A bit of a cliche but this is 1cru Bordeaux in the style of Napa when it is at its best.
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Wow. Somehow I snagged this for $40 from winebid. Light but beautiful firm structure, some funk but you could tell the oral and fruit were there but not overpowering Just aazaes at this vitality. I heard 98 was a very tough year weather wise. This wine delivered in an elegant silk way .
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Room-filling aromas of cassis and blackberry on opening. Nice middle-aged funk has emerged and of course the wine remains both powerful but quite elegant. Everything about the wine was excellent.
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Wow. You’re probably looking for fruit notes, but all I can muster to describe this is elegance, class, structure, poise, magnitude, commanding and magical. It does have mulchy notes but also refined berry notes with a stunning texture and fragrance. Very flavorful, and only in the best of ways. Integrated and seamless. This is what Napa Valley Cabernet should be. This is extraordinary.
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Fully mature now with beautiful notes of cassis and violets along with a lovely touch of eucalyptus. Finishes with soft tannins and beautiful complexity. Cathy says a cooler vintage written off by the press but the wine has turned out beautifully.
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Critical Care Fellows Dinner (San Francisco, CA): Wonderful nose with aromatic red and black berries, blackberry, currants; palate is full bodied, dense black fruits, nice concentration and depth, slight spice, excellent depth; medium-long finish. Very nice California Cabernet. 92-94
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Took about 2 hours to finally start blossoming, but once it did it really sang. Beautiful perfumed nose of lavender, dark fruits, and assorted herbs. On the palate figs, molasses, dried red fruits, and a mild gamey quality that yielded the more delicate side of this mighty Cab.
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'98 was a difficult vintage but Cathy Corison nailed it. This wine has all that you might want in a mature cabernet.Beautiful color, light nose and resolved tanins. Should last for another 3-4 years.
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Dense notes of boysenberries, blueberries, ripe black currant, pepper and cedar wood. The palate has similar notes but also a good acidity and soft and silky tannins. The wine is on the heavy side with the dense fruit and some oak notes but the acidity keeps it energetic.
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Quite tight and tart for a wile after opening. Needs at least 90 min if not 2 hrs to open up. Then: nice mineralogy, soft tannins (as should be expected at this age), vanilla, mocha, and mellow ripe berries. An easy drinker on its own without food.
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Unbelievably youthful yet still beautifully balanced. Just tremendous. Will live at least another 5-10 years but drinking this well, I have a hard time recommending waiting much longer. It is that good.
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Corison (at the winery): Not being an expert on Napa wines, this is a great wine (and I understand that at the time, many felt this was an overall poor vintage for Napa). There's some barnyard elements, faint, some molten leaves, leather, cigar box, but still very fresh - and funky. Love this wine.
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Austere with earthy blueberry; light and smooth with some raspberry; lightly textured with balance; elegant and soft tannins with moderately long finish.
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Very elegant with ripe red fruits, nice minerality, silky tannins, and a long finish. It also has just enough of a bitter component to offset the fruit and add a beautiful complexity. Nicely done.
We drank half of this bottle thanks to our Coravin. Curious to see if there's any change when I pop the cork in 6 months or so.
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Wow! Being a burgundy and Bordeaux lover, this wine is like the best of both combined into a single wine. It has the core flavors of Bordeaux with the bright acidity and red fruit of burgundy, but lacking the interesting burgundy forest floor or mushrooms. Very long complex finish with lingering red fruit. Medium intense red with moderate legs. Silky tannins still showing some grip but well integrated. The acidic structure predominated initially but the wine opened up nicely over the course of a couple hours showing its nicely integrated fruit and Bordeaux like minerality. This wine would pair well with a wide range of savory meat dishes, especially lamb chops or rack of lamb. A unique world class wine.
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Let sit open, but did not decant. Lightweight, smooth, with notes of tobacco leaf and an undercurrent of dark fruit. Very "Bordeaux." Healthy amount of sediment. Would drink now.
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Drank alongside a giant ribeye at press in st Helena. Decanted for about 45 mins before the first glass, could have used a bit more time. Really showed incredibly well, one of the better wines ice had this year. Red fruits, nice secondary complexity, great acidity to provide a foil for the fruit and lift through the finish. Excellent
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Refined and elegant with full bodied texture. Great nose of dusty earth, crushed leaves and mushrooms with whiffs of light cassis. In the mouth the wine still shows ccomplex integration of black fruits, oak, earth and tannins. Still could go a little longer as the tannins still have very good grip in the finish. Overall this is a stellar wine.
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2/3/2024 - CHarder Likes this wine: 99 Points
This is phenominal. Perfect balance between fruit and freshness. Light on its feet but with so much depth. Fantastic right now - at peak I would say. But will stay here for +5yrs so no rush. A bit of a cliche but this is 1cru Bordeaux in the style of Napa when it is at its best.
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12/23/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Soft and silky; blueberry; long finish.
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12/17/2023 - NJwineguy wrote: 98 Points
Extraordinary
First growth Bordeaux with a Napa personality
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11/24/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Juicy blueberry; earth and cedar; sweet smooth finish.
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9/7/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 97 Points
Blueberry, raspberry and blackberry; smooth but with supportive tannin and earthy length.
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7/15/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 96 Points
Deep and layered; smooth berry with long sweet finish.
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4/8/2023 - littlebee wrote: 97 Points
Freaking amazing. Lots of life. Cathy makes amazing wines, and this is certainly one of them.
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11/25/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 91 Points
Coarse and rather tight; light blueberry; semi sweet finsh.
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9/4/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 91 Points
Blueberry; resolving; elegant but with tannin.
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6/25/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 97 Points
Smooth and slick; coarse blueberry; layered; long elegant finish.
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6/24/2022 - CHarder Likes this wine: 98 Points
This remains absolutely stunning. Cool, fresh, smooth and to the point. Would guess Claret any day.
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5/31/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 97 Points
Blueberry with earth; layered; nice balance; smooth long elegant finish.
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5/10/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Light sweet raspberry, cherry and some licorice; long and complex.
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11/24/2021 - Nestor John Salazar Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow. Somehow I snagged this for $40 from winebid. Light but beautiful firm structure, some funk but you could tell the oral and fruit were there but not overpowering
Just aazaes at this vitality. I heard 98 was a very tough year weather wise. This wine delivered in an elegant silk way .
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10/21/2021 - paulst wrote: 97 Points
Elegant and balanced; light blueberry and some jam; smooth and long.
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10/15/2021 - CHarder Likes this wine: 98 Points
Absolutely amazing. Smooth, full, light and cool. Difficult to get better than this - perfect example of California in Bordeaux style
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9/6/2021 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Light sweet blueberry-cherry; structured; smooth finish.
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8/28/2021 - paulst Likes this wine: 92 Points
Earth and some tar; soft tannin; light blueberry; some petrol; moderate finish.
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12/31/2020 - klezman wrote:
Room-filling aromas of cassis and blackberry on opening. Nice middle-aged funk has emerged and of course the wine remains both powerful but quite elegant. Everything about the wine was excellent.
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9/28/2020 - Mehul Desai Likes this wine: 94 Points
The wine opened up in the decanter in 30 min. Was still drinking quite well and may have lasted 5 more years.
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3/28/2020 - Order66 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow. You’re probably looking for fruit notes, but all I can muster to describe this is elegance, class, structure, poise, magnitude, commanding and magical. It does have mulchy notes but also refined berry notes with a stunning texture and fragrance. Very flavorful, and only in the best of ways. Integrated and seamless. This is what Napa Valley Cabernet should be. This is extraordinary.
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12/26/2019 - burgbruh Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow! Still another 5-10 years of tannins.
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5/18/2018 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Sweet raspberry nose; blackberry and layered; structured; complex with supple elements and long finish.
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3/9/2018 - dream wrote: 93 Points
Fully mature now with beautiful notes of cassis and violets along with a lovely touch of eucalyptus. Finishes with soft tannins and beautiful complexity. Cathy says a cooler vintage written off by the press but the wine has turned out beautifully.
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10/14/2017 - achasd Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drink now. Very nicely matured.
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2/18/2017 - aagrawal wrote: 93 Points
Critical Care Fellows Dinner (San Francisco, CA): Wonderful nose with aromatic red and black berries, blackberry, currants; palate is full bodied, dense black fruits, nice concentration and depth, slight spice, excellent depth; medium-long finish. Very nice California Cabernet. 92-94
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2/15/2017 - Ryan.Vento Likes this wine: 94 Points
Took about 2 hours to finally start blossoming, but once it did it really sang. Beautiful perfumed nose of lavender, dark fruits, and assorted herbs. On the palate figs, molasses, dried red fruits, and a mild gamey quality that yielded the more delicate side of this mighty Cab.
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11/29/2016 - achasd Likes this wine: 93 Points
'98 was a difficult vintage but Cathy Corison nailed it. This wine has all that you might want in a mature cabernet.Beautiful color, light nose and resolved tanins. Should last for another 3-4 years.
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2/26/2016 - Ultimatewinekick_Andreas wrote: 92 Points
Dense notes of boysenberries, blueberries, ripe black currant, pepper and cedar wood.
The palate has similar notes but also a good acidity and soft and silky tannins.
The wine is on the heavy side with the dense fruit and some oak notes but the acidity keeps it energetic.
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12/22/2015 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Well balanced cherry and blackberry; smooth integrated tannins; silky finish.
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8/5/2015 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Sweet luscious blueberry-licorice; elegant with fine length.
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7/27/2015 - timdrex wrote: 91 Points
Quite tight and tart for a wile after opening. Needs at least 90 min if not 2 hrs to open up. Then: nice mineralogy, soft tannins (as should be expected at this age), vanilla, mocha, and mellow ripe berries. An easy drinker on its own without food.
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7/18/2015 - PolarBear22 wrote: 94 Points
Decanted about 45 minutes. Cork came apart. Still shows nice fruit. Tannins are very smooth. Definitely the highlight wine of the evening.
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6/29/2015 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Blackberry with raspberry, blueberry and sweet raisin; layered and long.
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5/3/2015 - Dasher wrote: 90 Points
showed some age but opened up after about an hour
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3/31/2015 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Initially tannic but developed after 2 hrs to smooth silky textured and integrated cherry-blackberry with sweet coarse and smooth finish.
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12/26/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 89 Points
Light and tannic; still waiting, hopefully it will emerge; some coarse blackberry.
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8/15/2014 - acordell wrote:
Unbelievably youthful yet still beautifully balanced. Just tremendous. Will live at least another 5-10 years but drinking this well, I have a hard time recommending waiting much longer. It is that good.
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7/19/2014 - Omar Khayyam Likes this wine: 94 Points
Corison (at the winery): Not being an expert on Napa wines, this is a great wine (and I understand that at the time, many felt this was an overall poor vintage for Napa). There's some barnyard elements, faint, some molten leaves, leather, cigar box, but still very fresh - and funky. Love this wine.
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6/10/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 88 Points
Austere with earth, blueberry and raspberry; the fruit is light and the tannins are tart; short finish; potential?
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5/21/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 92 Points
Austere with earthy blueberry; light and smooth with some raspberry; lightly textured with balance; elegant and soft tannins with moderately long finish.
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3/28/2014 - jimyeni wrote: 90 Points
Seems a little past it's prime, good acidity, integrated tannins but not much going on the palate anymore.
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12/30/2013 - timdrex Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very elegant with ripe red fruits, nice minerality, silky tannins, and a long finish. It also has just enough of a bitter component to offset the fruit and add a beautiful complexity. Nicely done.
We drank half of this bottle thanks to our Coravin. Curious to see if there's any change when I pop the cork in 6 months or so.
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9/1/2013 - lifebreath wrote: 92 Points
I love these Corison wines. Kind of a new-old-world synthesis.
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8/7/2013 - lifebreath wrote: 93 Points
Wow! Being a burgundy and Bordeaux lover, this wine is like the best of both combined into a single wine. It has the core flavors of Bordeaux with the bright acidity and red fruit of burgundy, but lacking the interesting burgundy forest floor or mushrooms. Very long complex finish with lingering red fruit. Medium intense red with moderate legs. Silky tannins still showing some grip but well integrated. The acidic structure predominated initially but the wine opened up nicely over the course of a couple hours showing its nicely integrated fruit and Bordeaux like minerality. This wine would pair well with a wide range of savory meat dishes, especially lamb chops or rack of lamb. A unique world class wine.
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7/24/2013 - plechazunga Likes this wine:
Let sit open, but did not decant. Lightweight, smooth, with notes of tobacco leaf and an undercurrent of dark fruit. Very "Bordeaux." Healthy amount of sediment. Would drink now.
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5/21/2013 - Dasher wrote: 97 Points
Great wine. One of the best wines I have had in a long time. I want more!
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11/20/2012 - Traxx wrote: 96 Points
Drank alongside a giant ribeye at press in st Helena. Decanted for about 45 mins before the first glass, could have used a bit more time. Really showed incredibly well, one of the better wines ice had this year. Red fruits, nice secondary complexity, great acidity to provide a foil for the fruit and lift through the finish. Excellent
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10/28/2012 - Win-E Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is a beautiful gem, 2 hours of decanting.
On the Nose: Oaky, rich, figgy, black berry jam, long ending, apricot notes, dates, anise / liquorice.
On the palate: figs on taste, deep, layered, rich, elegant, refined, sophisticated with minerality. We think Meditarrean Coast. Yummy. Outstanding!
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9/9/2012 - mygrogro wrote: 89 Points
bordeaux style, firm earthy berries,
still tannic, unusual amount of sediment.
drink with a nice steak!
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5/5/2012 - anonymoose12345 Likes this wine:
Tasting that included 2001, 2004 and 2006 plus 1998, 2002 and 2003 Kronos.
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1/29/2012 - cdwinell wrote:
Smooth. Velvety. The right amount of oak - not too overpowering. Only a little sediment. Seemed to be right for drinking.
Paired it with a NY Strip steak, one half with bernaise and the other half with truffle-salt.
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7/11/2010 - sirswami wrote: 92 Points
The word elegant keeps coming up in tasting notes for this wine for good reason...this is a beautiful wine that is drinking wonderfully right now.
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5/21/2010 - saxwizerd45 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wow. Just wow. I just couldn't get over how elegant this wine has become. Super pure expression of the fruit with complicating nuances of earth.
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12/25/2008 - Cosmo3 wrote:
Refined and elegant with full bodied texture. Great nose of dusty earth, crushed leaves and mushrooms with whiffs of light cassis. In the mouth the wine still shows ccomplex integration of black fruits, oak, earth and tannins. Still could go a little longer as the tannins still have very good grip in the finish. Overall this is a stellar wine.
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5/9/2007 - zinfidel wrote: 92 Points
Drinking very well right now. Great texture and well integrated fruit with a touch of mustiness reminiscent of a bordeaux. Excellent.
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