PNP through an aerator. Huge, big and bold. One of the most intense cabs we have had in a while. Spouse loved it, seemed a bit too much for me. Still lots of fruit, corners are rounding off. Will try again in a few years.
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Been about 18 months since my last bottle of this '14. Notes pretty much as before with hours 2-3 being the best window for it right now. Might just be a point less overall fruit wise than when last having it 18 months ago. Still, not bad for the '14 which is often looked at in Napa as the red headed stepchild vintage, when compared against those more popular vintages of '12, '13, '15 and '16 during the five consecutive drought years.
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Pretty typical 2014. Huge fruit bomb, acid is decent but not enough to balance the fruit. Medium body. Tannins are pretty integrated. Not very nuanced outside the fruit. As the previous commenter noticed, the high alcohol on the nose is off putting. Decanted for 90 minutes. Probably would have been better to PnP at cellar temperature.
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My last bottle, wish I had bought more of this near perfect wine. See my previous note below. This wine was smooth and absolutely delicious. Decanted for one hour and consumed over the following two... Drink now or cellar for another 10-15.
Tasted alongside 2012 Cask 23 and 2014 Caldwell Tannat. This has the most ripe fruit and a bit too much VA for my taste. Well balanced on the palate, you can see MR’s blending expertise shining here. Nice finish maybe 20-25 seconds. Overall a solid wine but hot on the nose for a wine of this caliber.
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Not rating this bottle tonight, as I just reviewed this wine a month ago.....but suffice it to say, this bottle performed exactly the same over time and would have been scored exactly the same at 96-97. This bottle was obtained from a different vendor via auction just a few weeks ago, after the success of the last bottle of '14. So good to see this kind of consistency across multiple purchases....especially via the secondary (auction) marketplace and different vendors.
this was wonderful... huge nose with notes of menthol, eucalyptus... dark chocolate, dark/black fruits, deeply colored with a bright ruby rim, a silky mouthfeel... just absolutely fabulous. Decanted about an hour before consuming. Wish I had more
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Another in a long list of '14s that is drinking very well right now.....imo.
Pnp'd an hour before dinner and it's pretty good from the get-go. Maybe a 92 with a little grit to the fruit and tannins. One hour in, garnet in the glass with the most beautiful red ruby rim. Any grit from the opening is long gone. The nose is classic Napa cab, so much so that for a moment I think I can smell the yellow paint on the sweet cedarwood No. 2 pencil......the fruit is decidedly red and blue, a beautiful 50-50 mix. At this point the wine is impeccably balanced and drinking at a 94-95+....but dinner isn't ready, lol. I guess I'll just have to sit here and read, listening to Zucchero and keep sampling, til it is? Rough life, I know.....
2 hours in and I'm informed dinner is still about an hour away....Carol and I are through 3/4ths of the bottle already so opening a '15 of this one, to have with dinner. This '14 is easily in the 96+ range now. Purity of fruit, balanced and very clean. The taste profile would be very hard to improve upon. Will this blow your socks off if you are a big Cali fruit ho? No. It's too good for you! It's better than that! It has finesse and precision and balance AND fruit.
3+ hours in and this one remains just a beautiful wine in all respects. It made it til the start of dinner and the poorly overcooked ribeyes, courtesy of yours truly, and I saved a small glass to play with after dinner. This is proving to be one of my fav '14 cabs from Napa, no doubt. It is smooth and integrated yet still so full of great fruit and so well balanced. Tremendous density of cassis is unfurling in the glass now. It fully deserves the score I'm giving it tonight. Takes a lot of effort for me, NOT to give it a 97. I guess the wine 'experts' over at WA really did know what they were talking about........
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Brought two bottles to a local steakhouse for a team dinner. Both decanted separately for about an hour before consuming. Both were delicious and drinking well after the decant. Stylistically it is a nice balance of Napa fruit with old world influence. Black and blue fruits, graphite, licorice. Nicely balanced wine with some acid that made for a food friendly experience. Was a great selection to pair with a steak dinner.
Grabbed these from a Last Bottle sale. Will be sure to grab more if they ever re-appear. A bargain and <$100. It is in line with the scores from WE and WA.
Fruity nose of blackberries, cooked cherries, chocolates, black currants, tobacco, vanilla, licorice, cedar, spices, light alcohol, eucalyptus and peppercorn.
Full bodied, bold and smooth, with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry and very fruity on the palate with blackberries, black currants, plums, cooked cherries, vanilla, cedar, licorice, cloves, spices, tobacco, chocolates, dark coffee, graphite and peppercorn.
Medium plus on the finish with soft tannins and tangy cherries.
A delicious Cabernet Sauvignon Bordeaux blend from the great 2014 vintage. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel.
Fruit forward, elegant and rich. Opulent and tasty. Shows great complexity already, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.
I've had many wines from Michel Rolland, from all over the world, and I always enjoyed them. Never disappoints and always a pleasure.
Wine Enthusiasts 95 points. Robert Parker 96 points.
Good right out of the bottle and better with airtime, and good by itself as a sipping wine. No need for food at all, but will pair nicely with a big piece of steak.
A blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Aged for 22 months in French oak barrels (80% New). Only 370 cases produced. Some of the fruit come from To Kalon and Stagecoach Vineyards.
Decanted for 90 minutes then consumed over the next 3 hours. This bottle was lush, satiny and so smooth delivering impressive fruit with energy and drive. For those who like fully integrated oak, me included, well you will need to wait another year or two as a sweet vanilla overlay is still part of the package. For those who seek complexity, I am not sure that was ever intended. This bottle was predominantly Hef in expensive silk pajamas.
Just a beautiful bottle, right from the pnp but got even better over 1 hour of air.....classic Napa cab nose, awesome dark red/black fruit and perfectly matched acidity, tannins and balance throughout. One of the better balanced '14s I've ever had! Awesome wine!
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I agree wholeheartedly with Jeff's note. Blackberry, graphite, dark licorice and dark fruited profile. Sophisticated and luxurious entry, incredibly smooth and seamless on the palate. Concentrated wine that portrays a weightlessness on the palate. Absolutely delicious and incredibly appealing. This represents a good qpr at around the $145/btl mark.
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Concentrated, polished fat, round, ripe and delicious, the wine is filled with fresh, sweet, black fruits, dark chocolate, licorice and blueberries. Luxurious textures, length and palate coating fruits are found in every sniff, swallow and sip. This is a wine for pleasure seekers.
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4/20/2024 - MrSkimo Likes this wine: 95 Points
PNP through an aerator. Huge, big and bold. One of the most intense cabs we have had in a while. Spouse loved it, seemed a bit too much for me. Still lots of fruit, corners are rounding off. Will try again in a few years.
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12/8/2023 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 95 Points
Been about 18 months since my last bottle of this '14. Notes pretty much as before with hours 2-3 being the best window for it right now. Might just be a point less overall fruit wise than when last having it 18 months ago. Still, not bad for the '14 which is often looked at in Napa as the red headed stepchild vintage, when compared against those more popular vintages of '12, '13, '15 and '16 during the five consecutive drought years.
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10/20/2023 - cblinstrub wrote: 91 Points
Pretty typical 2014. Huge fruit bomb, acid is decent but not enough to balance the fruit. Medium body. Tannins are pretty integrated. Not very nuanced outside the fruit. As the previous commenter noticed, the high alcohol on the nose is off putting. Decanted for 90 minutes. Probably would have been better to PnP at cellar temperature.
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6/19/2023 - brennan18 Likes this wine: 96 Points
My last bottle, wish I had bought more of this near perfect wine. See my previous note below. This wine was smooth and absolutely delicious. Decanted for one hour and consumed over the following two... Drink now or cellar for another 10-15.
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6/10/2022 - CGC2012 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted alongside 2012 Cask 23 and 2014 Caldwell Tannat. This has the most ripe fruit and a bit too much VA for my taste. Well balanced on the palate, you can see MR’s blending expertise shining here. Nice finish maybe 20-25 seconds. Overall a solid wine but hot on the nose for a wine of this caliber.
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4/9/2022 - domestic_primate Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow. Drinking beautifully but still seems so new many years left here if you choose.
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4/8/2022 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:
Not rating this bottle tonight, as I just reviewed this wine a month ago.....but suffice it to say, this bottle performed exactly the same over time and would have been scored exactly the same at 96-97. This bottle was obtained from a different vendor via auction just a few weeks ago, after the success of the last bottle of '14. So good to see this kind of consistency across multiple purchases....especially via the secondary (auction) marketplace and different vendors.
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3/7/2022 - brennan18 Likes this wine: 96 Points
this was wonderful... huge nose with notes of menthol, eucalyptus... dark chocolate, dark/black fruits, deeply colored with a bright ruby rim, a silky mouthfeel... just absolutely fabulous. Decanted about an hour before consuming. Wish I had more
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3/6/2022 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 96 Points
Another in a long list of '14s that is drinking very well right now.....imo.
Pnp'd an hour before dinner and it's pretty good from the get-go. Maybe a 92 with a little grit to the fruit and tannins. One hour in, garnet in the glass with the most beautiful red ruby rim. Any grit from the opening is long gone. The nose is classic Napa cab, so much so that for a moment I think I can smell the yellow paint on the sweet cedarwood No. 2 pencil......the fruit is decidedly red and blue, a beautiful 50-50 mix. At this point the wine is impeccably balanced and drinking at a 94-95+....but dinner isn't ready, lol. I guess I'll just have to sit here and read, listening to Zucchero and keep sampling, til it is? Rough life, I know.....
2 hours in and I'm informed dinner is still about an hour away....Carol and I are through 3/4ths of the bottle already so opening a '15 of this one, to have with dinner. This '14 is easily in the 96+ range now. Purity of fruit, balanced and very clean. The taste profile would be very hard to improve upon. Will this blow your socks off if you are a big Cali fruit ho? No. It's too good for you! It's better than that! It has finesse and precision and balance AND fruit.
3+ hours in and this one remains just a beautiful wine in all respects. It made it til the start of dinner and the poorly overcooked ribeyes, courtesy of yours truly, and I saved a small glass to play with after dinner. This is proving to be one of my fav '14 cabs from Napa, no doubt. It is smooth and integrated yet still so full of great fruit and so well balanced. Tremendous density of cassis is unfurling in the glass now. It fully deserves the score I'm giving it tonight. Takes a lot of effort for me, NOT to give it a 97. I guess the wine 'experts' over at WA really did know what they were talking about........
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1/1/2022 - yasha Likes this wine: 96 Points
Very good, open for about an hour and loved !
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11/30/2021 - mattiolaj wrote: 96 Points
Silky smooth with excellent complexity and depth. Will likely hold my remaining bottles for a some years to see how this evolves.
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11/22/2021 - JLuch1 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Brought two bottles to a local steakhouse for a team dinner. Both decanted separately for about an hour before consuming. Both were delicious and drinking well after the decant. Stylistically it is a nice balance of Napa fruit with old world influence. Black and blue fruits, graphite, licorice. Nicely balanced wine with some acid that made for a food friendly experience. Was a great selection to pair with a steak dinner.
Grabbed these from a Last Bottle sale. Will be sure to grab more if they ever re-appear. A bargain and <$100. It is in line with the scores from WE and WA.
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7/30/2021 - Odedis.Wine.reviews Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dark ruby in color with a short purple rim.
Fruity nose of blackberries, cooked cherries, chocolates, black currants, tobacco, vanilla, licorice, cedar, spices, light alcohol, eucalyptus and peppercorn.
Full bodied, bold and smooth, with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry and very fruity on the palate with blackberries, black currants, plums, cooked cherries, vanilla, cedar, licorice, cloves, spices, tobacco, chocolates, dark coffee, graphite and peppercorn.
Medium plus on the finish with soft tannins and tangy cherries.
A delicious Cabernet Sauvignon Bordeaux blend from the great 2014 vintage. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel.
Fruit forward, elegant and rich. Opulent and tasty. Shows great complexity already, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.
I've had many wines from Michel Rolland, from all over the world, and I always enjoyed them. Never disappoints and always a pleasure.
Wine Enthusiasts 95 points. Robert Parker 96 points.
Good right out of the bottle and better with airtime, and good by itself as a sipping wine. No need for food at all, but will pair nicely with a big piece of steak.
A blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet
Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Aged for 22 months in French oak barrels (80% New). Only 370 cases produced. Some of the fruit come from To Kalon and Stagecoach Vineyards.
14.9% alcohol by volume.
96 points.
$175.
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6/25/2021 - FlyPig Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drink or hold for 3-5, fantastic old world approach to Napa fruit.
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5/30/2021 - tonyhuang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Slightly alcoholic nose, medium body, not as tannic as I thought, and surprisingly not jammy at all. Very enjoyable with a Tomahawk steak.
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5/24/2021 - pakabear wrote: flawed
Heat Damage
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3/25/2021 - jeagle Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 90 minutes then consumed over the next 3 hours. This bottle was lush, satiny and so smooth delivering impressive fruit with energy and drive. For those who like fully integrated oak, me included, well you will need to wait another year or two as a sweet vanilla overlay is still part of the package. For those who seek complexity, I am not sure that was ever intended. This bottle was predominantly Hef in expensive silk pajamas.
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1/23/2021 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 95 Points
Just a beautiful bottle, right from the pnp but got even better over 1 hour of air.....classic Napa cab nose, awesome dark red/black fruit and perfectly matched acidity, tannins and balance throughout. One of the better balanced '14s I've ever had! Awesome wine!
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8/3/2019 - L&LChiang wrote:
Double entry
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5/8/2019 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dunn Howell Mountain 1982, 1983, 1986; The Debate Cabernet Franc; & More (Yan's China Bistro, Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of black berry pie, heat, currants, and black cherry, same on the palate, medium/big body, mouth filling fruit, rich fruit, very tasty, needs 2 years to peak, good acid on the long, long finish.
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3/2/2019 - bubbachumps wrote: 96 Points
I agree wholeheartedly with Jeff's note. Blackberry, graphite, dark licorice and dark fruited profile. Sophisticated and luxurious entry, incredibly smooth and seamless on the palate. Concentrated wine that portrays a weightlessness on the palate. Absolutely delicious and incredibly appealing. This represents a good qpr at around the $145/btl mark.
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3/15/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Concentrated, polished fat, round, ripe and delicious, the wine is filled with fresh, sweet, black fruits, dark chocolate, licorice and blueberries. Luxurious textures, length and palate coating fruits are found in every sniff, swallow and sip. This is a wine for pleasure seekers.
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