Opened to replace a ‘92 ACVV Estate Cab with an initial funk and astringency that turned me off.
This wine was a deep, dark opaque purple with black and blue fruits on the nose. Visually, I’m not sure it was any different from when my wife and I tasted and purchased at the winery. Aromatically, it was more complex than what memory serves. Not any change to speak of really after two hours in the glass. It was a nice pairing with the American wagyu ribeyes as it cut through the fat and complimented the steak’s flavors extremely well. The aforementioned fruit came through on the palate and tannins were velvety with good balance between the tannins fruit and acid. My guess is this wine will chug along unfazed for at least 5 years and maybe longer.
Enjoy if you have it! I did!
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PNP. Vivid deep purple to the edge with no bricking. blackberry, elderberry and cassis on the nose that carry through to the palate with a hint of sweetness and balanced fruit and acidity with velvety tannins on the persistent finish.
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Decanted over the course of the evening. Jammy nose. Same on the palate but a bit thin. Well made and relatively balanced but not very memorable. Drink or hold.
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Delicious! Blueberries and pipe tobacco on the nose. These make their way to the palate, with ripe blueberries, molasses, and a hint of pipe tobacco on the taste.
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Pretty much a pop&pour with a very quick decant. Dark purple hue, dark berry jam and brambly on the nose and palate with significant hit of oak with some dark chocolate and florals bringing up the rear. Full bodied and big with a medium finish and some high ETOH which brings it out of balance a bit. Would have garnered more points with a longer decant to blow of the alcohol. Drinking well now but could use another year or two. Drink or hold.
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Bestdamncab nailed the notes on this one but I liked this bottle a little more than he did in terms of performance. I agree maybe a slight improvement going forward a year but I really enjoyed it now. Had at a birthday bash and this bottle was popped and gone within two hours along with several others. Thrilled actually to have consumed this one since this bottle had made it to dinners and back many times and survived. My very last bottle of Cade in my cellar. All of them have been very well received and consistent so I may look out for future vintages but prefer O’Shaughnessy, Aonair, Mt. Brave and Outpost wines a little more than Cade so it is a much rarer purchase for me.
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This bottle was enjoyed over 3 nights, nose of black berry, briar, dry earth, chocolate, with a floral nose, same on the palate, big body, tasty, mouth filling fruit, delicious tasting, best the second night which shows it is 1 year to peak drinking or enjoy now with a 2 hour decant, no tannins on the flavorful, long finish, pleasant aftertaste, photo uploaded.
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It tastes of blackberry, fig, blueberry, black currant (cassis) and cherry. The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are slow. There is no sediment in the bottle. Decanted 4 hours. Just delicious
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I had tasted this at the winery at the beginning of 2018 and loved it, but now it is shedding tannins and is quite fruit forward, more than expected. Not bad, but not as great as hoped.
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Rich, structured dark fruits, with abundant, layered tannins, minerality, and a long, cassis finish. Not overly ripe, a huge plus. Showed remarkable flavor development over a 4-hour decant. Delicious now with lots of air, this will be an amazing re-visit in 5+ years. Very nice wine.
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Muscular and structured, this Cab needs at least an hour to decant. It then opens up with dark, blackberry fruit along with notes of chocolate, cassis, lavender and hints of sweetness on the finish. This wine has a long life ahead and is just starting into its drinking window.
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Lots of dark chocolate, black cherry, and minerals on the nose and palate, very tasty, big body, mouth filling fruit, rich fruit, at peak with 6 years to hold at this level, lovely finish and aftertaste. Photo uploaded.
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I don't know if this quite ready yet or if it is then it needs a 3+ hr decant. It was very concentrated and holds a lot of promise but just needs time. Especially for the tannins to round a bit. It took me by surprise a bit as the 12 was beyond ready, so took this along but now know I should have left this for a few more years. Wish I had another to age and try again.
Deep ruby in color. Pronounced intensity with aromas of cassis, black currant, bramble, super concentrated black fruit, pepper, medicinal herbs, vanilla, cloves, dark chocolate. On the palate full body, medium+ tannins that and long and smooth but a bit rough. Medium+ acidity. High alcohol, dry, medium + flavor intensity with black fruit, black currant, cloves, bits of red fruit raspberries, cedar, crushed rock. medium+ finish. Needs a 3+ hr decant today but can wait another 2+ years to show better.
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Open at the Winewatch and drank after a 6 hour decant. The nose is perfume with oak and vanilla cream, and enticing. It swirls around on the palate with dark fruit, sweet blackberry and blac cherry, and a good amount of deep earthiness. I can’t be derogatory against the wine because of its price, but it’s a fairly decent wine
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Your A typical Napa wine, obviously over priced, but this had some back bone to make it somewhat enjoyable. Not a rebuy at the current tariff. Drink now thru 25.
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Second night of this bottle, nose of black berry, touch of earth and chocolate, very floral nose, medium/big body, tasty, mouth filling fruit, better the second night than the first, and a long finish, about a year from peak drinking, small mount of silky tannins left, photo uploaded.
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Very nice bottle. Robust, red and black fruit, hints of dark chocolate. Seems well-integrated, not as big and bold as some Napa Cabs, but plenty of complexity.
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Fun fun wine. Lots of wood...oak..vanilla ..semi sweet with the silky chocolate cream finish. Definitely a modern style wine with a broad appeal flavor profile.
We opened for 30 min and decanted for 10min. 2nd pour muted the wood a bit so maybe a coupe hours open would bring out a bit more flavor hidden behind the oak.
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Some fruit on the approach blackberry, blueberry pie, vanilla extract, clove. Good texture and integrated tannins. On the palate are flavors of black cherry, boysenberry, pepper. Nice finish. Would lay down for several more years.
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Still very young and tight. Needs a few hours on air. Structure is powerful and tannins are present but already integrated. Will wait two years for next bottle.
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Lots of oak action, chocolate, silky smooth, dark fruits. As good as this may sound I really did not like this wine. There was no structural character and did not taste like a mountain side wine at all. The immense amount of oak regiment which really smoothed out the tanins really gave it a almost milk chocolate character which despite tasting pleasant felt extremely artificial. People who love new world may dig this but it is not my cup of tea. It might age over the next decade but in my opinion there is not enough structural stuffing and acid to balance this in the long term. Just glad I got to drink this wine on my friend's benevolence of opening this bottle. If you enjoy silky smooth chocolate dark fruit character drink this soon. If you are a old world lover, I strongly advise you to stay away.
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A fantastic wine, perhaps king of the Howell Mountain wines. Drinking very well now, wish I had a case on reserve. Well integrated tannins, toast, a hint of chocolate and a slightly sweet finish mark this excellent wine. Never fails to please.
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Truly delicious wine and agree with others that although not aged, it drinking wonderfully right now. Really enjoyed this wine and it was the hit of the evening.
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This is a rich and modern style Cab (not normally my style) that is drinking really well right now despite its youth. Aromas of blackberry, leather, and toast. Big, lush, and ripe fruit with silky tannin. Black cherry, vanilla, and some baking spices on the palate. A little one note mid-palate which makes this a great, not exceptional, wine.
92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 4% Merlot.
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Super open and expressive right after opening. Ultra ripe red fruit and sweet oak dominate. Not overly complex but balanced and silky smooth. Drink with beef and enjoy. Not sure how this will age more than additional 2-3 years but singing now. However at $90 there are some options out there though...
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This rich and modern Cabernet is drinking well right now: it has ripe fruit and silky tannins, but it had a shallow mid-palate and linear, somewhat diluted mouthfeel that held it back from being truly impressive. I was worried that this would be a tannic and burly monster that was too thick to enjoy right now, but instead it suffered from the opposite issue: it's too thin and agreeable - well-integrated and pretty enough, there's not a lot of there there. Howell Mountain can produce intense and unique wines (e.g., Outpost, La Jota), but this is not one of them. The Cade isn't bad, but it's not exciting, either.
Ruby red in color, medium in body, expansive aromas of blueberry, leather, and fresh toast. The wine has somewhat narrow tastes of black cherry, vanilla, and baking spices (narrow in the sense that they drop through your mouth quickly, more like water than milk). The sweet finish, too, is brief, though it carries well-integrated tannins, especially for a mountain wine. Blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 4% Merlot. 15.2% alcohol. Decant at least an hour, since the wine gained (some) substance with air.
I might wait another year, in order to see if the silkiness becomes more of an asset than a liability. Right now, this reminded me of some kind of watered down Revana Estate Cabernet; the Cade is silky and integrated, but less intense or complex than the valley floor wine (?!). It's like the vinous equivalent of a sycophant - pleasant and agreeable, it doesn't say much of anything unique or interesting. Enjoyable, but straightforward. 91-92.
easy to drink--nice depth and balance...harder to drink in a line up of great bordeauxs--the uneven sweet fruit really stood out...but nice gritty tannins that were impressive.
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Tasting pour from machine. Purple in color. Dense dark fruits, stones, grilled herbs, huge tannins, built for the cellar, needs years, highly extracted, and a finish that keeps on going. Raspberry preserves with vanilla.
The wine has low acidity. It smells like light toast, walnut and cool/menthol. The wine finishes medium. It tastes like diacetyl (butter) and red currant. The wine looks inky colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. The wine has satin-like texture.
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Cracked open a bottle of this last night, and going in this morning to post a note, I am a bit surprised by all the recent hate.
This is NOT a wine worthy of a rating with an 8 in front of it. Perhaps people's expectations are a bit unrealistic?
This wine is what it is- a solid effort for the price point. If this carried a price tag in the $150-200 range, then absolutely, a major disappointment when it comes to QPR.
I feel this wine is a nicely balanced effort, with a somewhat muted nose, nice mid, and approachable finish. Having recently had a 2014 CADE Reserve, that wine is clearly on another level. But this is serviceable as a nice everyday drinking wine.
92 points with slight upside over next couple years. Drinking well with a 90 minute decant...
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Frankly, this wine is an abomination, and an insult to the long history of great Howell Mountain wines which, over time, reveal complex high elevation acidity balancing rich dark fruit in an elegant structure. This wine is the antithesis: overripe, near caramelized dark fruit, really a candied wine, freakish and manipulated to impress with power, sweetness and concentration, without grace.
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Can there be such a phenomenon as a too-rich wine? Very alcoholic (15.2%) . also highly tannic. Delicious, yet ultimately unfulfilling. An excellent product based on a number of individual criteria, but it doesn't hang together for me. But such pleasant points. Do I sound conflicted?? Conflict is something I don't need from my wine. Not bad. Not good.
All too indicative of the troubling modern California trend: bomb the taste buds at the outset to create that WOW! First impression; but subtley, nuance, development are not on the agenda, and soon boredom and numbness win out....
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5 oz. pour at West Indies Wine Company in Grand Cayman. Always a special treat to taste a quality wine before buying. Served chilled. Dark garnet red in the glass. Nose of dark fruits, cassis, wood and eucalyptus. Cherry, blue fruit, cola, white pepper and pine nut flavors and a medium-full mouth feel. Structured and tannic texture with a moderately long finish. Consumed very young so secondary flavors and nuances had not yet developed. Beautiful wine that should develop into a cellar-worthy offering at this price point.
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Gritty, tannic, and taught, with much potential. Very early to drink now. Aromas of blueberry pie with dark fruit flavors of blueberry and blackberry and dark chocolate. Fantastic long finish.
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Howell Mountain Spring Wine Tasting, SF, nose of black cherry fruit, same on the palate, medium/big body, soft tannins present, touch simple, long finish, for $98 pass.
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3/2/2024 - COWine-Oh Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened to replace a ‘92 ACVV Estate Cab with an initial funk and astringency that turned me off.
This wine was a deep, dark opaque purple with black and blue fruits on the nose. Visually, I’m not sure it was any different from when my wife and I tasted and purchased at the winery. Aromatically, it was more complex than what memory serves. Not any change to speak of really after two hours in the glass. It was a nice pairing with the American wagyu ribeyes as it cut through the fat and complimented the steak’s flavors extremely well. The aforementioned fruit came through on the palate and tannins were velvety with good balance between the tannins fruit and acid. My guess is this wine will chug along unfazed for at least 5 years and maybe longer.
Enjoy if you have it! I did!
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3/2/2024 - COWine-Oh Likes this wine: 93 Points
PNP. Vivid deep purple to the edge with no bricking. blackberry, elderberry and cassis on the nose that carry through to the palate with a hint of sweetness and balanced fruit and acidity with velvety tannins on the persistent finish.
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2/8/2024 - Bodyfxr wrote: 91 Points
Decanted over the course of the evening. Jammy nose. Same on the palate but a bit thin. Well made and relatively balanced but not very memorable. Drink or hold.
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9/2/2023 - Noel's Cellar Likes this wine: 95 Points
Delicious! Blueberries and pipe tobacco on the nose. These make their way to the palate, with ripe blueberries, molasses, and a hint of pipe tobacco on the taste.
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6/29/2023 - bradfriedlander Likes this wine: 95 Points
Deep extraction. Dark cherry is the dominant taste. What you expect from a great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Full bodied. Soft tannins. Long finish.
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12/17/2022 - Blue Jay Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nice flavors of blueberry, leather and mocha, but still had gripping tannins.
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7/4/2022 - Bodyfxr wrote: 92 Points
Pretty much a pop&pour with a very quick decant. Dark purple hue, dark berry jam and brambly on the nose and palate with significant hit of oak with some dark chocolate and florals bringing up the rear. Full bodied and big with a medium finish and some high ETOH which brings it out of balance a bit. Would have garnered more points with a longer decant to blow of the alcohol. Drinking well now but could use another year or two. Drink or hold.
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1/1/2022 - travelme Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bestdamncab nailed the notes on this one but I liked this bottle a little more than he did in terms of performance. I agree maybe a slight improvement going forward a year but I really enjoyed it now. Had at a birthday bash and this bottle was popped and gone within two hours along with several others. Thrilled actually to have consumed this one since this bottle had made it to dinners and back many times and survived. My very last bottle of Cade in my cellar. All of them have been very well received and consistent so I may look out for future vintages but prefer O’Shaughnessy, Aonair, Mt. Brave and Outpost wines a little more than Cade so it is a much rarer purchase for me.
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11/2/2021 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 92 Points
This bottle was enjoyed over 3 nights, nose of black berry, briar, dry earth, chocolate, with a floral nose, same on the palate, big body, tasty, mouth filling fruit, delicious tasting, best the second night which shows it is 1 year to peak drinking or enjoy now with a 2 hour decant, no tannins on the flavorful, long finish, pleasant aftertaste, photo uploaded.
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10/9/2021 - Jointsrme wrote:
It tastes of blackberry, fig, blueberry, black currant (cassis) and cherry. The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are slow. There is no sediment in the bottle. Decanted 4 hours. Just delicious
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7/4/2021 - jbuckey2000@yahoo.com Likes this wine: 90 Points
I had tasted this at the winery at the beginning of 2018 and loved it, but now it is shedding tannins and is quite fruit forward, more than expected. Not bad, but not as great as hoped.
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6/6/2021 - ralstenm Likes this wine: 93 Points
Agree with wine2372
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5/30/2021 - Wine2372 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Rich, structured dark fruits, with abundant, layered tannins, minerality, and a long, cassis finish. Not overly ripe, a huge plus. Showed remarkable flavor development over a 4-hour decant. Delicious now with lots of air, this will be an amazing re-visit in 5+ years. Very nice wine.
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12/31/2020 - Schiffy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Muscular and structured, this Cab needs at least an hour to decant. It then opens up with dark, blackberry fruit along with notes of chocolate, cassis, lavender and hints of sweetness on the finish. This wine has a long life ahead and is just starting into its drinking window.
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11/5/2020 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lots of dark chocolate, black cherry, and minerals on the nose and palate, very tasty, big body, mouth filling fruit, rich fruit, at peak with 6 years to hold at this level, lovely finish and aftertaste. Photo uploaded.
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10/16/2020 - Vinofitz wrote: 95 Points
Still has some years to go: tannins still bite bit black fruits and warm leather are forward. Silky and intense.
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9/17/2020 - JidR Likes this wine: 94 Points
I don't know if this quite ready yet or if it is then it needs a 3+ hr decant. It was very concentrated and holds a lot of promise but just needs time. Especially for the tannins to round a bit. It took me by surprise a bit as the 12 was beyond ready, so took this along but now know I should have left this for a few more years. Wish I had another to age and try again.
Deep ruby in color. Pronounced intensity with aromas of cassis, black currant, bramble, super concentrated black fruit, pepper, medicinal herbs, vanilla, cloves, dark chocolate.
On the palate full body, medium+ tannins that and long and smooth but a bit rough. Medium+ acidity. High alcohol, dry, medium + flavor intensity with black fruit, black currant, cloves, bits of red fruit raspberries, cedar, crushed rock. medium+ finish. Needs a 3+ hr decant today but can wait another 2+ years to show better.
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9/11/2020 - aerosol Likes this wine: 92 Points
Open at the Winewatch and drank after a 6 hour decant. The nose is perfume with oak and vanilla cream, and enticing. It swirls around on the palate with dark fruit, sweet blackberry and blac cherry, and a good amount of deep earthiness. I can’t be derogatory against the wine because of its price, but it’s a fairly decent wine
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7/27/2020 - wino121 wrote: 91 Points
Your A typical Napa wine, obviously over priced, but this had some back bone to make it somewhat enjoyable.
Not a rebuy at the current tariff.
Drink now thru 25.
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5/7/2020 - Kdad Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drink now.
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3/12/2020 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 92 Points
Second night of this bottle, nose of black berry, touch of earth and chocolate, very floral nose, medium/big body, tasty, mouth filling fruit, better the second night than the first, and a long finish, about a year from peak drinking, small mount of silky tannins left, photo uploaded.
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1/25/2020 - Kdad Likes this wine: 94 Points
Damn that was good.
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1/21/2020 - FoinZap Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice bottle. Robust, red and black fruit, hints of dark chocolate. Seems well-integrated, not as big and bold as some Napa Cabs, but plenty of complexity.
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11/29/2019 - mmcleod Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank at Anniversay dinner
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9/16/2019 - mmcleod Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wonderfully round and silky smooth
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7/11/2019 - Insane Diego Likes this wine: 92 Points
Fun fun wine.
Lots of wood...oak..vanilla ..semi sweet with the silky chocolate cream finish. Definitely a modern style wine with a broad appeal flavor profile.
We opened for 30 min and decanted for 10min.
2nd pour muted the wood a bit so maybe a coupe hours open would bring out a bit more flavor hidden behind the oak.
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7/4/2019 - Rossdhu House wrote: 93 Points
Some fruit on the approach blackberry, blueberry pie, vanilla extract, clove. Good texture and integrated tannins. On the palate are flavors of black cherry, boysenberry, pepper. Nice finish. Would lay down for several more years.
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3/17/2019 - Vinofitz wrote: 93 Points
Still very young and tight. Needs a few hours on air. Structure is powerful and tannins are present but already integrated. Will wait two years for next bottle.
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3/14/2019 - sung251 Does not like this wine:
Lots of oak action, chocolate, silky smooth, dark fruits. As good as this may sound I really did not like this wine. There was no structural character and did not taste like a mountain side wine at all. The immense amount of oak regiment which really smoothed out the tanins really gave it a almost milk chocolate character which despite tasting pleasant felt extremely artificial. People who love new world may dig this but it is not my cup of tea. It might age over the next decade but in my opinion there is not enough structural stuffing and acid to balance this in the long term. Just glad I got to drink this wine on my friend's benevolence of opening this bottle. If you enjoy silky smooth chocolate dark fruit character drink this soon. If you are a old world lover, I strongly advise you to stay away.
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2/14/2019 - Rossdhu House wrote: 94 Points
A fantastic wine, perhaps king of the Howell Mountain wines. Drinking very well now, wish I had a case on reserve. Well integrated tannins, toast, a hint of chocolate and a slightly sweet finish mark this excellent wine. Never fails to please.
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2/9/2019 - chuckos77 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Truly delicious wine and agree with others that although not aged, it drinking wonderfully right now. Really enjoyed this wine and it was the hit of the evening.
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1/26/2019 - GiWineDoc Likes this wine: 92 Points
Blackberry and smooth tannins. Agree with it being somewhat one-note. Touch of alcohol on the finish.
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12/15/2018 - mghomula wrote: 90 Points
This is a rich and modern style Cab (not normally my style) that is drinking really well right now despite its youth. Aromas of blackberry, leather, and toast. Big, lush, and ripe fruit with silky tannin. Black cherry, vanilla, and some baking spices on the palate. A little one note mid-palate which makes this a great, not exceptional, wine.
92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 4% Merlot.
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12/13/2018 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 93 Points
Super open and expressive right after opening. Ultra ripe red fruit and sweet oak dominate. Not overly complex but balanced and silky smooth. Drink with beef and enjoy. Not sure how this will age more than additional 2-3 years but singing now. However at $90 there are some options out there though...
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11/20/2018 - dclaggett wrote: 90 Points
Med mouthfeel, dark red, sweet fruit, oak, cassis, some dark chocolate, finishes sweet. Not complex, good steakhouse wine.
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6/26/2018 - msuwine wrote: 92 Points
This rich and modern Cabernet is drinking well right now: it has ripe fruit and silky tannins, but it had a shallow mid-palate and linear, somewhat diluted mouthfeel that held it back from being truly impressive. I was worried that this would be a tannic and burly monster that was too thick to enjoy right now, but instead it suffered from the opposite issue: it's too thin and agreeable - well-integrated and pretty enough, there's not a lot of there there. Howell Mountain can produce intense and unique wines (e.g., Outpost, La Jota), but this is not one of them. The Cade isn't bad, but it's not exciting, either.
Ruby red in color, medium in body, expansive aromas of blueberry, leather, and fresh toast. The wine has somewhat narrow tastes of black cherry, vanilla, and baking spices (narrow in the sense that they drop through your mouth quickly, more like water than milk). The sweet finish, too, is brief, though it carries well-integrated tannins, especially for a mountain wine. Blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 4% Merlot. 15.2% alcohol. Decant at least an hour, since the wine gained (some) substance with air.
I might wait another year, in order to see if the silkiness becomes more of an asset than a liability. Right now, this reminded me of some kind of watered down Revana Estate Cabernet; the Cade is silky and integrated, but less intense or complex than the valley floor wine (?!). It's like the vinous equivalent of a sycophant - pleasant and agreeable, it doesn't say much of anything unique or interesting. Enjoyable, but straightforward. 91-92.
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4/4/2018 - richshoes Likes this wine: 93 Points
easy to drink--nice depth and balance...harder to drink in a line up of great bordeauxs--the uneven sweet fruit really stood out...but nice gritty tannins that were impressive.
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2/3/2018 - Bucket Likes this wine: 95 Points
Great nose and very drinkable now. Love to try it in a few years. Smooth but with enough tannins to last.
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2/3/2018 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasting pour from machine.
Purple in color. Dense dark fruits, stones, grilled herbs, huge tannins, built for the cellar, needs years, highly extracted, and a finish that keeps on going. Raspberry preserves with vanilla.
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2/3/2018 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Purple dark Blackberry/raspberry. Tannins are there for sure, some earth and minerality. Nice, do like it. Mountain fruit for sure.
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1/30/2018 - drwc wrote:
The wine has low acidity. It smells like light toast, walnut and cool/menthol. The wine finishes medium. It tastes like diacetyl (butter) and red currant. The wine looks inky colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. The wine has satin-like texture.
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1/5/2018 - blarmston Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cracked open a bottle of this last night, and going in this morning to post a note, I am a bit surprised by all the recent hate.
This is NOT a wine worthy of a rating with an 8 in front of it. Perhaps people's expectations are a bit unrealistic?
This wine is what it is- a solid effort for the price point. If this carried a price tag in the $150-200 range, then absolutely, a major disappointment when it comes to QPR.
I feel this wine is a nicely balanced effort, with a somewhat muted nose, nice mid, and approachable finish. Having recently had a 2014 CADE Reserve, that wine is clearly on another level. But this is serviceable as a nice everyday drinking wine.
92 points with slight upside over next couple years. Drinking well with a 90 minute decant...
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12/24/2017 - Demogirl06 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent. Balanced. A bit pricey perhaps.
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12/6/2017 - OenoEd Does not like this wine: 84 Points
Frankly, this wine is an abomination, and an insult to the long history of great Howell Mountain wines which, over time, reveal complex high elevation acidity balancing rich dark fruit in an elegant structure. This wine is the antithesis: overripe, near caramelized dark fruit, really a candied wine, freakish and manipulated to impress with power, sweetness and concentration, without grace.
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11/13/2017 - propapapa Does not like this wine: 85 Points
I love the chalky nose. But this wine is way too sweet.
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11/6/2017 - Jmf17 wrote: 89 Points
Can there be such a phenomenon as a too-rich wine? Very alcoholic (15.2%) . also highly tannic. Delicious, yet ultimately unfulfilling. An excellent product based on a number of individual criteria, but it doesn't hang together for me. But such pleasant points. Do I sound conflicted?? Conflict is something I don't need from my wine. Not bad. Not good.
All too indicative of the troubling modern California trend: bomb the taste buds at the outset to create that WOW! First impression; but subtley, nuance, development are not on the agenda, and soon boredom and numbness win out....
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10/25/2017 - Tahlequahdave1972 Likes this wine: 92 Points
5 oz. pour at West Indies Wine Company in Grand Cayman. Always a special treat to taste a quality wine before buying. Served chilled. Dark garnet red in the glass. Nose of dark fruits, cassis, wood and eucalyptus. Cherry, blue fruit, cola, white pepper and pine nut flavors and a medium-full mouth feel. Structured and tannic texture with a moderately long finish. Consumed very young so secondary flavors and nuances had not yet developed. Beautiful wine that should develop into a cellar-worthy offering at this price point.
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10/4/2017 - BigBoy_Sonoma Likes this wine: 90 Points
dark fruit, spice, chocolate, spice, pepper, smokey oak. A-
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8/12/2017 - Tym4wine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Gritty, tannic, and taught, with much potential. Very early to drink now. Aromas of blueberry pie with dark fruit flavors of blueberry and blackberry and dark chocolate. Fantastic long finish.
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7/18/2017 - AlejandroAcostaPolo wrote: 94 Points
Well Balanced wine, Drink after 2020.
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7/4/2017 - motteatoj wrote: 80 Points
Not a summer night red. Too rich and woody. Save for winter or lay to age a bit yet
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5/1/2017 - franinnyc Likes this wine: 89 Points
Easy drinking but way overpriced.
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3/29/2017 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Howell Mountain Spring Wine Tasting, SF, nose of black cherry fruit, same on the palate, medium/big body, soft tannins present, touch simple, long finish, for $98 pass.
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