Last tasted five years ago Still deep red purple color and drinking beautifully with lots of black and blue fruits in the nose and flavor. Blackberries, blueberries, currants, licorice with hints of earthiness and espresso in the nose. Black currants, blackberries, plums and chocolate with hints licorice in the flavor. An elegant wine, full bodied, very well balanced, great mouthfeel with nice complexity and a long smooth finish.
Still very youthful and primary. Delicious and deep, but tannins are rough enough that I would have preferred this with food.
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Interesting wine. Consumed over 30 hours. Essentially it drank perfectly fine upon opening but wasn’t exactly outstanding. Somewhat restrained and mid-weight with decent fruit but not the broad cassis and dark chocolate flavors with plumb fruit that I typically get from these wines. This led me to believe that the wine should be left alone for a day. Earlier this day I came back to it and it seemed to fatten up a bit. More fruit and spicy flavors were present. But still it wasn’t ready until about 30 hours after opening when it seemed to have a window of maybe 3 hours where it was a gorgeous wine. Happy to have this little experiment to share with readers. I probably sampled this wine 10 times over 30 hours! My 92 was at its best and 90 or 91 on the other occasions.
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What can be better with a burger off the grill than a twenty year old Abreu cabernet... Drinking beautifully with plenty of dark fruits in the nose and flavor. Blackberries, blueberries, currants, and plums with chocolate, licorice, and hints of espresso. An elegant wine, full bodied, with nice complexity and a long finish.
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Wonderfully well integrated with fruit, herb, spice, and just a hint of green olive. Tannins are very well resolved, mild acidity but it packs a punch of ripe fruit. Never guessed this could be 20 years old—it's got life left, but don't wait. Drink it now because I believe this is at its peak. As the hours passed the wine revealed a very mild vegetal note on the nose—green pepper, asparagus—not a flaw, just an observation after hours of oxidization. Love this wine.
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Outstanding! This is on a par with some of the finest Bordeaux, but with an emphasis on fruit rather than terroir. Not a fruit bomb like so many CA Cab;s. There are many complex tastes here coupled with well integrated tannins. While I enjoy the earthiness of so many French wines, this wine's strength is the finesse of the fruit with the tobacco and currant overlays. Double decanted 3 hours prior, this wine was good from the first sip to the last.
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This is extremely good. First sip out of the bottle there is a strong bit of dusty funk you might expect from a nicely aged Bordeaux. This blows off in a few minutes, but remains just slightly on the finish, reminding you that you’re drinking a serious wine that has had a material amount of time to age in the bottle. What is most exceptional is how vibrant and sweet the fruit still is after 19 years. Tannins are nicely integrated but there is enough structure here to suggest this wine has many good years sill ahead of it, although I doubt it will get better than it is right now. Quite a treat.
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Opened and decanted for an hour before drinking - impressive wine. Was very surprised when I started to decant by the color - still a very dark red with absolutely no bricking. Threw off a fair amount of sediment.
Drinking really well now with plenty of fruit, a bit of smoke and leather as well as some cedar and vanilla. Ripe tannins. Great now and would guess it is in the beginning of it's prime with another 10 years of great life left.
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Zachy's Wine Auction - Spring 2014 (Smith & Wollensky (48th & 3rd Ave)): This was also an excellent wine and while the '05 somewhat overshadowed it for me, half of the table preferred this one. It absolutely evolved through the day - starting off a bit tight (felt much younger than it's 15 years), got some plum, some oak, a bit of earthiness.
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PnP enjoyed at a CT offline. Not showing any age, but seems to be missing some of its reflective brilliance (which could easily have been due to the less than ideal lighting). The nose seems to match the palate quite well, with slightly above-average complexity and appeal. As expected, seamless on the palate with just signature curl of sweet, ripe tannins. No doubt some more (needed, interesting) tertiary development is but a year or two away. A very nice bottle, but not a wow bottle. 14,5% abv, drink thru 2020
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American Belle 1st Edition (Switzerland): Intensive brght red. Smell of Mokka with a hint of leather.the taste again of mokka and red berries. Great wine. Well integrated tannins. Decant for 2 hours or wait until 2015 for the wine unleashing its full potential.
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Very interesting and complex wine. Bought at retail store for $80 about 6 months ago, so couldn't vouch for provenance/storage conditions prior to purchase. After standing up for a day, poured a small glass after opening, unbelievably complex nose of bacon, smoke, and berries, and drinking beautifully with well integrated tannins, strong fruit flavor on the palate, and a long 30second+ finish. Decanted 2/3 of bottle for 2 hours and paired with a ribeye...after the decant the nose was totally different, and in my opinion, worse, with notes of blood and slight pruniness/oxidation dominating the slight fruit tones on the nose, and the smokiness totally gone. Still tasted pretty good with a mix of fruit and tannins with a slightly more aged flavor. Had a glass on day 2 after storing with a Vacuvin, and on day 2 drank like a very young Cabernet with vibrant fruits, strong tannins, and a long finish.
If you have held on this long, there's no rush to drink, this wine will easily last and evolve for another 5-10 years, but if your planning on drinking soon, I would be cautious with a long decant, since the wine was much more pleasant as a pop and pour.
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Pop, aerate and decant. drank over next 2 hrs. This bottle showed quite well, though the backend tannins are still a force. Could easily last another 10 yrs. But, having said that, there's no reason no to pop it now. Expressive nose, showing dark fruits and some eucalyptus. Decent medium body and finish that lasted 30-40 secs. Quite nice.
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Sampled 9/17/11. Decanted 30 minutes and ready. Bright and vibrant red and black fruits, slightly thin at mid palate but then coats the mouth with a very long finish. Some cassis, dried herbs, a hint of menthol and cedar. The alcohol says 14.5% but you don't taste it much; however, it does go to your head pretty fast and hits you more like a 17% wine. Not sure I'd go back for it again but it was interesting.
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Should have opened this a bit earlier in the evening. It only decanted about 1.5 hours. Over the course of dinner, it really developed into a wonderfully rich, lush, but not over the top wine. We both thought it was great. Graphite, currant, other typical Cab flavors. Would definitely recommend.
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Nice dark fruits and opened up after decanting for an hour. Surprised at the tannin level for a 12 yr old Napa Cab. Think it has several more years to go.
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Opened this with my dad for to celebrate his retirement and it easily outshined the very good bottle of 1992 Beringer Private Reserve cab that preceded it (which I scored a 92, for anyone who's interested). This was just fantastic from start to finish. Great nose that reminded me a bit of early to mid-90s Montelena. In the mouth, it was incredibly well balanced and elegant yet full-bodied and sporting plenty of dark fruit. The tannins provided great texture to the mouthfeel without ever seeming the least bit rough or out of proportion, and the long, tasty finish had me looking forward to the next sip.
This was the best cab I've had in a while, and I think RP's 93 is low by several points (in fact, I might be conservative in my own score). Wish I had more, as this still has a good 8-10 years ahead of it.
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decanted, and drunk over 4 hours. hard to complain about anything here. excellent concentration, well-balanced. to my palate a nice midpoint between old & new world style. long finish. no signs of fading w/ the last glass. i would suspect it will go for another 5-7 years, but no reason to wait.
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Great bottle of wine. Aromas of plums and black cherry with some tobacco and pleasant earth. Very ripe fruit with still vibrant acidity and strong tannins. This wine was nowhere near its peak and is drinking beautifully right now. This was the best 10 year old Napa cab I have ever had. Has several more good years ahead of it.
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Opened at Liquid Assets-this is in a great place right now, tannins are tamed and it's a great mouthfull of wine-cassis, blackberry and long lingering aftertaste. One of the better wines of this cool vintage.
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Powerful and Full-bodied, this is noe of the best 1999 cabernets I've had along with Merus and Hillside Select. Very enjoyable and notes of cassis and cool dark blackberry
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Novovino's spring portfolio: nose: good deep and rich nose of cedar, cassis, red cherries, herbs and bits of spice. A real nice purity to the nose with good depth and a elegant polish to it
taste: really nice elegant medium/full feel with good depth and well balanced tones of cedar, cassis, red cherries and bits of spice all well balanced together with some good tannins still to provide support
overall: a really elegant cab. Not mind blowing, but very sumptuous, balanced, and pure. A real good richness that makes it really attractive with really good structure
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Still too young. Very grapey, but started to open up after several hours in the decanter. Very dark with storng inky aromas. Blue and black berry fruit with loads of structure and dry extract. Need to revisit in several years.
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a previous bottle drunk at the very first phoenix offline (my bottle) was lush and fruit forward. this bottle had developed secondary characteristics, and was smooth and rich. plenty of age in this wine. superior structure.
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Purple color with an exotic flavor profile dominated by blueberries and blackberries and Asian spices. Opened since noon for a 6:30 tasting this wine was very showy. Amazingly long finish and very complex and delicious...coming on the heals of the 89 Bordeaux flight the group collectively thought that this flight was Syrah based wines.
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Dinner at Lampreia (Seattle, WA): This was very reminiscent of the 1999 Shafer Hillside Select with a cool, dark, intense personality of cranberry, dark chocolate, and loamy earth. The palate was rich yet fairly restrained with silky tannins that creep up on you. The one characteristic I struggled with was a strong vegetal streak. What started as gentle notes of dill and Bay leaf became stronger and stronger, eventually dominating the nose and palate of the wine. Herbal, a little stalky, yet with rich masses of focused red/black fruit. There is a lot to like here to be sure.
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4/7/2024 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Last tasted five years ago Still deep red purple color and drinking beautifully with lots of black and blue fruits in the nose and flavor. Blackberries, blueberries, currants, licorice with hints of earthiness and espresso in the nose. Black currants, blackberries, plums and chocolate with hints licorice in the flavor. An elegant wine, full bodied, very well balanced, great mouthfeel with nice complexity and a long smooth finish.
Still very youthful and primary. Delicious and deep, but tannins are rough enough that I would have preferred this with food.
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11/29/2019 - Dalex Likes this wine: 92 Points
Interesting wine. Consumed over 30 hours. Essentially it drank perfectly fine upon opening but wasn’t exactly outstanding. Somewhat restrained and mid-weight with decent fruit but not the broad cassis and dark chocolate flavors with plumb fruit that I typically get from these wines. This led me to believe that the wine should be left alone for a day. Earlier this day I came back to it and it seemed to fatten up a bit. More fruit and spicy flavors were present. But still it wasn’t ready until about 30 hours after opening when it seemed to have a window of maybe 3 hours where it was a gorgeous wine. Happy to have this little experiment to share with readers. I probably sampled this wine 10 times over 30 hours! My 92 was at its best and 90 or 91 on the other occasions.
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10/20/2019 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 94 Points
What can be better with a burger off the grill than a twenty year old Abreu cabernet... Drinking beautifully with plenty of dark fruits in the nose and flavor. Blackberries, blueberries, currants, and plums with chocolate, licorice, and hints of espresso. An elegant wine, full bodied, with nice complexity and a long finish.
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2/23/2019 - passion4wine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wonderfully well integrated with fruit, herb, spice, and just a hint of green olive. Tannins are very well resolved, mild acidity but it packs a punch of ripe fruit. Never guessed this could be 20 years old—it's got life left, but don't wait. Drink it now because I believe this is at its peak. As the hours passed the wine revealed a very mild vegetal note on the nose—green pepper, asparagus—not a flaw, just an observation after hours of oxidization. Love this wine.
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2/19/2019 - Vinomnivore Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still very youthful and primary. Delicious and deep, but tannins are rough enough that I would have preferred this with food.
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11/29/2018 - AB16 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Blake Tasting - Ripe, Rich, Beautiful, but high alcohol which is integrated remarkably well. I guessed new world cab from 2000's
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6/2/2018 - Highlander wrote:
Outstanding! This is on a par with some of the finest Bordeaux, but with an emphasis on fruit rather than terroir. Not a fruit bomb like so many CA Cab;s. There are many complex tastes here coupled with well integrated tannins. While I enjoy the earthiness of so many French wines, this wine's strength is the finesse of the fruit with the tobacco and currant overlays. Double decanted 3 hours prior, this wine was good from the first sip to the last.
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4/27/2018 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is extremely good. First sip out of the bottle there is a strong bit of dusty funk you might expect from a nicely aged Bordeaux. This blows off in a few minutes, but remains just slightly on the finish, reminding you that you’re drinking a serious wine that has had a material amount of time to age in the bottle. What is most exceptional is how vibrant and sweet the fruit still is after 19 years. Tannins are nicely integrated but there is enough structure here to suggest this wine has many good years sill ahead of it, although I doubt it will get better than it is right now. Quite a treat.
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5/8/2016 - shaferguy91 wrote: 94 Points
No decant.
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5/7/2015 - handymom wrote: 95 Points
One of the best wines I've ever had. Luscious fruit, structured, balanced. Yummm! 2001 was even better.
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12/25/2014 - dcole25 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened and decanted for an hour before drinking - impressive wine. Was very surprised when I started to decant by the color - still a very dark red with absolutely no bricking. Threw off a fair amount of sediment.
Drinking really well now with plenty of fruit, a bit of smoke and leather as well as some cedar and vanilla. Ripe tannins. Great now and would guess it is in the beginning of it's prime with another 10 years of great life left.
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5/9/2014 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine: 94 Points
Zachy's Wine Auction - Spring 2014 (Smith & Wollensky (48th & 3rd Ave)): This was also an excellent wine and while the '05 somewhat overshadowed it for me, half of the table preferred this one. It absolutely evolved through the day - starting off a bit tight (felt much younger than it's 15 years), got some plum, some oak, a bit of earthiness.
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2/9/2013 - Tim Heaton wrote:
PnP enjoyed at a CT offline. Not showing any age, but seems to be missing some of its reflective brilliance (which could easily have been due to the less than ideal lighting). The nose seems to match the palate quite well, with slightly above-average complexity and appeal. As expected, seamless on the palate with just signature curl of sweet, ripe tannins. No doubt some more (needed, interesting) tertiary development is but a year or two away. A very nice bottle, but not a wow bottle. 14,5% abv, drink thru 2020
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11/2/2012 - Wine_lvr wrote: 95 Points
American Belle 1st Edition (Switzerland): Intensive brght red. Smell of Mokka with a hint of leather.the taste again of mokka and red berries. Great wine. Well integrated tannins. Decant for 2 hours or wait until 2015 for the wine unleashing its full potential.
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7/26/2012 - Vstalam wrote: 94 Points
Very interesting and complex wine. Bought at retail store for $80 about 6 months ago, so couldn't vouch for provenance/storage conditions prior to purchase. After standing up for a day, poured a small glass after opening, unbelievably complex nose of bacon, smoke, and berries, and drinking beautifully with well integrated tannins, strong fruit flavor on the palate, and a long 30second+ finish. Decanted 2/3 of bottle for 2 hours and paired with a ribeye...after the decant the nose was totally different, and in my opinion, worse, with notes of blood and slight pruniness/oxidation dominating the slight fruit tones on the nose, and the smokiness totally gone. Still tasted pretty good with a mix of fruit and tannins with a slightly more aged flavor. Had a glass on day 2 after storing with a Vacuvin, and on day 2 drank like a very young Cabernet with vibrant fruits, strong tannins, and a long finish.
If you have held on this long, there's no rush to drink, this wine will easily last and evolve for another 5-10 years, but if your planning on drinking soon, I would be cautious with a long decant, since the wine was much more pleasant as a pop and pour.
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3/21/2012 - jaylew1 wrote: 93 Points
Very dark color. Surprising at age 13. Not much nose after decant. Fruit in good balance with receding tannins. I wouldn't wait another 5 years.
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1/19/2012 - bruinesq84 wrote: 94 Points
Pop, aerate and decant. drank over next 2 hrs. This bottle showed quite well, though the backend tannins are still a force. Could easily last another 10 yrs. But, having said that, there's no reason no to pop it now. Expressive nose, showing dark fruits and some eucalyptus. Decent medium body and finish that lasted 30-40 secs. Quite nice.
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12/31/2011 - staglin wrote: 95 Points
Amazing density, huge mouth feel and finish. Plenty of fruit to last for years ahead. Almost inky black still. Excellent for New Year's Eve!
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9/18/2011 - mxpbuy wrote: 92 Points
Sampled 9/17/11. Decanted 30 minutes and ready. Bright and vibrant red and black fruits, slightly thin at mid palate but then coats the mouth with a very long finish. Some cassis, dried herbs, a hint of menthol and cedar. The alcohol says 14.5% but you don't taste it much; however, it does go to your head pretty fast and hits you more like a 17% wine. Not sure I'd go back for it again but it was interesting.
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9/5/2011 - kenthargis wrote: 94 Points
Should have opened this a bit earlier in the evening. It only decanted about 1.5 hours. Over the course of dinner, it really developed into a wonderfully rich, lush, but not over the top wine. We both thought it was great. Graphite, currant, other typical Cab flavors. Would definitely recommend.
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5/14/2011 - bhalljr wrote: 94 Points
Nice dark fruits and opened up after decanting for an hour. Surprised at the tannin level for a 12 yr old Napa Cab. Think it has several more years to go.
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3/6/2011 - EMTAME wrote: 95 Points
Opened this with my dad for to celebrate his retirement and it easily outshined the very good bottle of 1992 Beringer Private Reserve cab that preceded it (which I scored a 92, for anyone who's interested). This was just fantastic from start to finish. Great nose that reminded me a bit of early to mid-90s Montelena. In the mouth, it was incredibly well balanced and elegant yet full-bodied and sporting plenty of dark fruit. The tannins provided great texture to the mouthfeel without ever seeming the least bit rough or out of proportion, and the long, tasty finish had me looking forward to the next sip.
This was the best cab I've had in a while, and I think RP's 93 is low by several points (in fact, I might be conservative in my own score). Wish I had more, as this still has a good 8-10 years ahead of it.
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1/15/2010 - bonedoc wrote: 96 Points
decanted, and drunk over 4 hours. hard to complain about anything here. excellent concentration, well-balanced. to my palate a nice midpoint between old & new world style. long finish. no signs of fading w/ the last glass. i would suspect it will go for another 5-7 years, but no reason to wait.
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11/12/2009 - WineForRob wrote: 95 Points
Great bottle of wine. Aromas of plums and black cherry with some tobacco and pleasant earth. Very ripe fruit with still vibrant acidity and strong tannins. This wine was nowhere near its peak and is drinking beautifully right now. This was the best 10 year old Napa cab I have ever had. Has several more good years ahead of it.
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8/8/2009 - Ki Punwar wrote: 94 Points
Opened at Liquid Assets-this is in a great place right now, tannins are tamed and it's a great mouthfull of wine-cassis, blackberry and long lingering aftertaste.
One of the better wines of this cool vintage.
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5/23/2009 - Ki Punwar wrote: 94 Points
Powerful and Full-bodied, this is noe of the best 1999 cabernets I've had along with Merus and Hillside Select. Very enjoyable and notes of cassis and cool dark blackberry
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3/16/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
Novovino's spring portfolio: nose: good deep and rich nose of cedar, cassis, red cherries, herbs and bits of spice. A real nice purity to the nose with good depth and a elegant polish to it
taste: really nice elegant medium/full feel with good depth and well balanced tones of cedar, cassis, red cherries and bits of spice all well balanced together with some good tannins still to provide support
overall: a really elegant cab. Not mind blowing, but very sumptuous, balanced, and pure. A real good richness that makes it really attractive with really good structure
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7/12/2008 - JLeader wrote: 91 Points
Still too young. Very grapey, but started to open up after several hours in the decanter. Very dark with storng inky aromas. Blue and black berry fruit with loads of structure and dry extract. Need to revisit in several years.
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6/17/2007 - shaferguy91 wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 4 hours.
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1/28/2006 - jeff nowak wrote: 94 Points
a previous bottle drunk at the very first phoenix offline (my bottle) was lush and fruit forward. this bottle had developed secondary characteristics, and was smooth and rich. plenty of age in this wine. superior structure.
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1/4/2006 - Alpine wrote: 95 Points
Purple color with an exotic flavor profile dominated by blueberries and blackberries and Asian spices. Opened since noon for a 6:30 tasting this wine was very showy. Amazingly long finish and very complex and delicious...coming on the heals of the 89 Bordeaux flight the group collectively thought that this flight was Syrah based wines.
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12/15/2005 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 75 Points
Single-Blind Napa Valley Cult Wines (Tribeca Grill): This is kind of a bruiser but also rather generic. Tannin builds with each taste, and the fruit is pure grape.
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9/30/2005 - Eric wrote: 93 Points
Dinner at Lampreia (Seattle, WA): This was very reminiscent of the 1999 Shafer Hillside Select with a cool, dark, intense personality of cranberry, dark chocolate, and loamy earth. The palate was rich yet fairly restrained with silky tannins that creep up on you. The one characteristic I struggled with was a strong vegetal streak. What started as gentle notes of dill and Bay leaf became stronger and stronger, eventually dominating the nose and palate of the wine. Herbal, a little stalky, yet with rich masses of focused red/black fruit. There is a lot to like here to be sure.
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3/19/2004 - jeff nowak wrote:
provided by me. my wine of the night. an absolute knockout cab, rich in fruit, balanced, long, beautiful finish. the wine was devoured in an instant.
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