WOW.!!! This was the star of the evening. Earthy, rich and fabulous. Ripe black fruit and graphite on the nose and an amazingly complex and wonderfully balanced palate. Attack, mid-palate and finish are all clearly delineated and contribute to create a wonderful mouth filling experience
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Finally decided to crack this one open. Deep, inky purple. Sediment on the side of the bottle. Nose of briar fruit & faint eucalyptus. Notes of black cherry, bramble fruit, light leather (is that a term?). Tannins are quite dispersed at this point. Some evidence that this is 14.5% ABV. Likely more than that. Definitely time to drink up.
Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Vertical Blind Tasting (5th Street Dinner Club): Tasted single blind in a Merryvale vertical. Forward nose showing menthol and eucalyptus. On the palate, bright cherry flavor, very rich and ripe, but not plummy. Some fine tannins but overall a little bit simple. Long finish with great focus of fruit lingering. I incorrectly guessed that this was the 1997. My #2 of the flight and the group's #6.
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When wifey needed "a bit more" red wine for her Coq au Vin, I grabbed this bottle. After she used about 1/3, I poured a glass expecting to be underwhelmed. I was quite pleasantly surprised at what a nice Cab this has become. Beautiful nose of plum, cocoa, smoke. Very balanced at this point with a wonderful mouthfeel. Cassis, cherry, a tad more chocolate. A little more oak than I typically like but not overpoweringly so. Firm tannins. Decent finish. Excellent QPR for $35. I'd recommend consuming this in the next year or two.
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Much improved in the 20 months since my last bottle. Medium-to-light bodied cab with good varietal nose, above average acidity, and well-integrated tannins.
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Discovered a flawed cork on this bottle, so we popped it now and decanted an hour. 3-4 hours might be more appropriate. I don't know if this will shape up into something better, but it has lots of tannins and lots of heat, and I can't recommend drinking it now.
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Tons of oak on the nose, with some fingernail polish. Palette initially dominated by reasonably smooth tannins, gradually opening up to rich fruit. Hot finish. Recommend giving this some air if you open it soon. Will wait 6-12 months on the next bottle.
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5/6/2016 - Ralphie1 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wonderful Napa Cab. At it's peak, drink up!
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1/2/2014 - skibum819 Likes this wine: 93 Points
WOW.!!! This was the star of the evening. Earthy, rich and fabulous. Ripe black fruit and graphite on the nose and an amazingly complex and wonderfully balanced palate. Attack, mid-palate and finish are all clearly delineated and contribute to create a wonderful mouth filling experience
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10/11/2013 - wadcorp Likes this wine: 88 Points
Finally decided to crack this one open. Deep, inky purple. Sediment on the side of the bottle. Nose of briar fruit & faint eucalyptus. Notes of black cherry, bramble fruit, light leather (is that a term?). Tannins are quite dispersed at this point. Some evidence that this is 14.5% ABV. Likely more than that. Definitely time to drink up.
77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot.
Rutherford, Oakville, Yountville, Carneros & St. Helena vineyards.
.
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11/24/2011 - Cray316 wrote: 92 Points
No formal notes - decanted through out 2 hour dinner - evolved nicely. Could actually use more time decanting or in the bottle.. wish I had more..
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3/7/2011 - argento007 wrote:
Very tasty wine with plenty of life still left in it
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10/30/2010 - PIntag wrote: 91 Points
Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Vertical Blind Tasting (5th Street Dinner Club): Tasted single blind in a Merryvale vertical. Forward nose showing menthol and eucalyptus. On the palate, bright cherry flavor, very rich and ripe, but not plummy. Some fine tannins but overall a little bit simple. Long finish with great focus of fruit lingering. I incorrectly guessed that this was the 1997. My #2 of the flight and the group's #6.
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1/25/2010 - Wineholio wrote: 91 Points
When wifey needed "a bit more" red wine for her Coq au Vin, I grabbed this bottle. After she used about 1/3, I poured a glass expecting to be underwhelmed. I was quite pleasantly surprised at what a nice Cab this has become. Beautiful nose of plum, cocoa, smoke. Very balanced at this point with a wonderful mouthfeel. Cassis, cherry, a tad more chocolate. A little more oak than I typically like but not overpoweringly so. Firm tannins. Decent finish. Excellent QPR for $35. I'd recommend consuming this in the next year or two.
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7/25/2009 - 11mcraig wrote: 90 Points
30 minutes to decant, excellent fruit on the nose. Cherry, leather, blackberry...nice finish.
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12/15/2008 - conform wrote:
Much improved in the 20 months since my last bottle. Medium-to-light bodied cab with good varietal nose, above average acidity, and well-integrated tannins.
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10/12/2008 - egroves wrote: 88 Points
Not a thing wrong with this cab, in fact there are a lot of things right. The magnum size hlep join all of the flavors together.
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1/29/2008 - beezer6 wrote: 89 Points
Nice cab with some good backbone.
Notes of LEATHER, plum, charred wood, licorice and hints of oak.
Decent body, maybe a little bit young though.
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1/20/2008 - Whinojb wrote: 83 Points
oaky. Nose was closed at first. Uninspiring.
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10/13/2007 - pkbackman wrote: 87 Points
Vanilla, oak and dark fruit. Classic Napa cab style, but...probably priced a tad too high..
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3/19/2007 - conform wrote:
Discovered a flawed cork on this bottle, so we popped it now and decanted an hour. 3-4 hours might be more appropriate. I don't know if this will shape up into something better, but it has lots of tannins and lots of heat, and I can't recommend drinking it now.
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2/20/2007 - conform wrote:
Tons of oak on the nose, with some fingernail polish. Palette initially dominated by reasonably smooth tannins, gradually opening up to rich fruit. Hot finish. Recommend giving this some air if you open it soon. Will wait 6-12 months on the next bottle.
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