Second and final bottle from an auction lot....hard to find a fault with this one. One of the gems of '13 IMO. Previous bottle needed 1-4 hours to max out. This one was ready almost from the pnp. So much so that Carol, who hasn't been her usual Cali 'Ho self for the past 6 months, easily helped me down the entire bottle with/after dinner tonight.
Notes as with previous bottle. Rich, plush, multi layered dark red fruit. Not a harsh edge anywhere as everything has integrated quite well here at 11 years of age.....I'm sitting here wondering if this is what all the '18s will become in '29?
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Decanted 2 hours prior to taking to HMCs for dinner. Needed every bit of another 2 hours of air to begin to max out. Initial thoughts....red fruited and tart, medium weight in the mouth, good energy/acidity, just needs time.
4 hours in....dark purple in the glass. Nose of dark red/black fruit, graphite, a little black soil. Weight increases exponentially with air time. Fruit darkens, deepens and becomes richer. Structure out the wazoo and enough balance and integration to go another 10 years minimum.
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Both my wife and I preferred the Revana. Paired with filet and bone in NY Strip on the grill. The Revana was more sultry, the Gandona was more reserved. By the end of the night I think we were splitting hairs as the Gandona kept gaining on the Revana. Both are drinking well right now with a 2-3 hour decant. FYI Revana threw off a ton of sediment. At the $250 price tag for both, I struggle with the QPR but at the secondary prices (which I bought them at), no complaints from me!
Agree totally with this tasting community. Opened 12/5/22 and gave it a 1 hr decant. Nose was still youthful despite some bottle age. I picked up strawberry and floral bouquet. Big taste with mineral and black fruits with a hint of earthy tones on the pallet. Although a little pricey (evidently I had overpaid the market slightly), I would say the wine definitely was appropriately priced for the quality of this wine. Also many years left in the bottle for this 2013. Glad I have another.
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Rock star wine. Right after the cork was pulled. Smooth and silky. Wonderful nose. My next glasss I will give an hour in the decanter This wine is great. It has life left. I would venture to guess 5+ years. Enjoy.
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Wow, what a difference a couple years makes. Last had this almost two years ago, and the improvement was noticeable.
I rated this a 93 last time, but this bottling last night is 96 easy.
Used a Vinturi into a decanter for about 45 minutes. First sips and what really stood out was the heat on the finish. I have had experiences with Melka wines where that doesnt dissipate. With another 45 minutes or so in glass, this really began to strut. The nose showed a beautiful floral element, the mid had a dusty mouthfeel with dark black fruits, and the finish had shed all the heat with some nicely integrated tannins.
Its been a minute since I popped the cork on a Pritchard Hill wine, and now I'm going to have to make this neighborhood a more frequent guest in the rotation.
This wine clearly has some runway to really show at its best, but with a two hour decant, its entirely enjoyable now.
This is getting even better over time. The nose is even more explosive than my earlier TN along with tannins that are brilliantly smoothing out and integrating so well. One of the best Napa cabs I've had and probably the best example of Atlas Peak.
This is a very nice wine, but not sure its worth the price of admission. Especially when I have had several bottles of Encosta, the Second Wine from this estate, and every bottle showed great.
Perhaps this is still too young and not ready to rock, but I gave it a solid 2.5 hour decant.
Purely looking at this from a QPR standpoint, I think I would prefer to have three Encosta versus one of the main wine.
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This is a big, dark and viscous wine. Blueberry, plum and cassis on the nose with a velvety smoothness.
But the great cabs give something more than just fruit. This wine has a "second gear" which gives you a wonderfully powerful undercurrent of graphite that lingers on the long finish.
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A big, dense, beautiful wine full of flavor and with excellent weight and mouthfeel. Tonight it scores down a point due to not fully expressing its fruit and perhaps going against Venge, Janzen, and Myriad. By far the highest price wine in our lineup last night but not the quite the best -- but very very good none the less.
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Super floral nose, I mean just wonderful at this point. Body medium heavy, Tannins well integrated, decent mouthfeel and balance. For me just a little lacking in fruit expression although some dried plum is definitely present. A tad more fruit and this is a killer wine. As it stands a very solid 93.
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PnP at the office thanks to a colleague's generosity. Brutally tight/young off the pop, but transformed nicely in the glass over ~90 minutes. Still plenty of dusty, minty tannins after some air. Gobs of rich blackberry and vanilla. Some blueberry, cedar, mint, and dusty herb. This is very plush underneath the surface, but with plenty of acid to support further evolution. Should be exquisite in a few years. Thanks, J.
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At the "Breakfast Club" during PNV week. Good to taste this next to their auction lot
Had this wine last year, another great vintage for Napa. Nose was really jumping out of the glass. Dark fruit and floral nose. Palate was blackberry, cedar, vanilla bean, "blueberry liqueur", lavender/floral. Sweet oak on the back palate. Full bodied wine, rich mouth feel and texture but not over the top. This wine stood out for its rich mouthfeel. Long finish...
This is a hedonistic CA Cab from a big vintage. As nice as it was to drink, it will need several years to settle in. Lots of upside, way too soon...
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2/10/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 96 Points
Second and final bottle from an auction lot....hard to find a fault with this one. One of the gems of '13 IMO. Previous bottle needed 1-4 hours to max out. This one was ready almost from the pnp. So much so that Carol, who hasn't been her usual Cali 'Ho self for the past 6 months, easily helped me down the entire bottle with/after dinner tonight.
Notes as with previous bottle. Rich, plush, multi layered dark red fruit. Not a harsh edge anywhere as everything has integrated quite well here at 11 years of age.....I'm sitting here wondering if this is what all the '18s will become in '29?
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11/2/2023 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted 2 hours prior to taking to HMCs for dinner. Needed every bit of another 2 hours of air to begin to max out. Initial thoughts....red fruited and tart, medium weight in the mouth, good energy/acidity, just needs time.
4 hours in....dark purple in the glass. Nose of dark red/black fruit, graphite, a little black soil. Weight increases exponentially with air time. Fruit darkens, deepens and becomes richer. Structure out the wazoo and enough balance and integration to go another 10 years minimum.
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7/2/2023 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 94 Points
2013 Revana Block 6 versus 2013 Gandona
Both my wife and I preferred the Revana. Paired with filet and bone in NY Strip on the grill. The Revana was more sultry, the Gandona was more reserved. By the end of the night I think we were splitting hairs as the Gandona kept gaining on the Revana. Both are drinking well right now with a 2-3 hour decant. FYI Revana threw off a ton of sediment. At the $250 price tag for both, I struggle with the QPR but at the secondary prices (which I bought them at), no complaints from me!
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12/6/2022 - MrWineQ Likes this wine: 95 Points
Agree totally with this tasting community. Opened 12/5/22 and gave it a 1 hr decant. Nose was still youthful despite some bottle age. I picked up strawberry and floral bouquet. Big taste with mineral and black fruits with a hint of earthy tones on the pallet. Although a little pricey (evidently I had overpaid the market slightly), I would say the wine definitely was appropriately priced for the quality of this wine. Also many years left in the bottle for this 2013. Glad I have another.
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11/18/2022 - EM_MB Likes this wine: 95 Points
2 hour decant. Much improved over a couple of years ago. Tannins fully integrated, so smooth and silky. Nearing or at its peak
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6/9/2022 - 2 Utes Likes this wine: 95 Points
Rock star wine. Right after the cork was pulled. Smooth and silky. Wonderful nose. My next glasss I will give an hour in the decanter This wine is great. It has life left. I would venture to guess 5+ years. Enjoy.
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8/9/2021 - blarmston Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow, what a difference a couple years makes. Last had this almost two years ago, and the improvement was noticeable.
I rated this a 93 last time, but this bottling last night is 96 easy.
Used a Vinturi into a decanter for about 45 minutes. First sips and what really stood out was the heat on the finish. I have had experiences with Melka wines where that doesnt dissipate. With another 45 minutes or so in glass, this really began to strut. The nose showed a beautiful floral element, the mid had a dusty mouthfeel with dark black fruits, and the finish had shed all the heat with some nicely integrated tannins.
Its been a minute since I popped the cork on a Pritchard Hill wine, and now I'm going to have to make this neighborhood a more frequent guest in the rotation.
This wine clearly has some runway to really show at its best, but with a two hour decant, its entirely enjoyable now.
96 now with upside over next couple years...
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4/9/2021 - Mdonze wrote: 99 Points
Beautiful wine
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3/8/2020 - DavilaDC Likes this wine: 96 Points
This is getting even better over time. The nose is even more explosive than my earlier TN along with tannins that are brilliantly smoothing out and integrating so well. One of the best Napa cabs I've had and probably the best example of Atlas Peak.
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2/29/2020 - Kdad Likes this wine: 95 Points
One hour decant made all the difference.
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9/3/2019 - blarmston Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is a very nice wine, but not sure its worth the price of admission. Especially when I have had several bottles of Encosta, the Second Wine from this estate, and every bottle showed great.
Perhaps this is still too young and not ready to rock, but I gave it a solid 2.5 hour decant.
Purely looking at this from a QPR standpoint, I think I would prefer to have three Encosta versus one of the main wine.
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6/21/2019 - EM_MB wrote: 93 Points
30 min decant. Massive wine, gorgeous fruity bouquet and beautiful purple color. That said, struggle mightily with the QPR.
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7/1/2018 - DavilaDC Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is a big, dark and viscous wine. Blueberry, plum and cassis on the nose with a velvety smoothness.
But the great cabs give something more than just fruit. This wine has a "second gear" which gives you a wonderfully powerful undercurrent of graphite that lingers on the long finish.
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6/30/2018 - HowellMountainCru Likes this wine: 92 Points
A big, dense, beautiful wine full of flavor and with excellent weight and mouthfeel. Tonight it scores down a point due to not fully expressing its fruit and perhaps going against Venge, Janzen, and Myriad. By far the highest price wine in our lineup last night but not the quite the best -- but very very good none the less.
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6/23/2018 - HowellMountainCru Likes this wine: 93 Points
Super floral nose, I mean just wonderful at this point. Body medium heavy, Tannins well integrated, decent mouthfeel and balance. For me just a little lacking in fruit expression although some dried plum is definitely present. A tad more fruit and this is a killer wine. As it stands a very solid 93.
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6/25/2017 - AdamGoldston Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very young. Opened in the glass with great blackberry and tannins, but young.
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6/9/2017 - tomherer Likes this wine: 94 Points
PnP at the office thanks to a colleague's generosity. Brutally tight/young off the pop, but transformed nicely in the glass over ~90 minutes. Still plenty of dusty, minty tannins after some air. Gobs of rich blackberry and vanilla. Some blueberry, cedar, mint, and dusty herb. This is very plush underneath the surface, but with plenty of acid to support further evolution. Should be exquisite in a few years. Thanks, J.
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2/19/2016 - walkerjfw wrote: 94 Points
At the "Breakfast Club" during PNV week. Good to taste this next to their auction lot
Had this wine last year, another great vintage for Napa. Nose was really jumping out of the glass. Dark fruit and floral nose. Palate was blackberry, cedar, vanilla bean, "blueberry liqueur", lavender/floral. Sweet oak on the back palate. Full bodied wine, rich mouth feel and texture but not over the top. This wine stood out for its rich mouthfeel. Long finish...
This is a hedonistic CA Cab from a big vintage. As nice as it was to drink, it will need several years to settle in. Lots of upside, way too soon...
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