Double decanted 375 mL bottle about an hour prior to serving, and it opened within 30 min. Deep ruby color. 👃🏻 blackberry, plum, pencil shavings, hint of vanilla 👅 dense plum, black cherry, blackberry, leather, mineral with 35 sec finish The balance of this wine is its forte, as it has a prominent graphite component that balances out the plum and berry. Not crazy about the QPR but it is nicely made.
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Really masterful, polished Rutherford Bordeaux. Maybe less of an eye opening experience than the first time I tasted this wine, but it continues to impress.
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Great balance of fruit and earthy notes. Powerful tannins perhaps some greenish notes which may go away in time but overall excellent. I will try and hold off on my remaining bottles for a few years.
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MSB: Biiig wine. High alcohol, long lasting finish. Blackberry, raspberry, cherry, lots of jam. Expect this to age really really well in a couple of years. Very silky smooth.
IWB: Smooth and grapey
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Deep ruby with purple hue. Plum, pencil shavings, fig, flowers, and balsamic nose. Full-bodied, with ripe and silky tannin. Good acidity for a Napa wine. Finish is long but somewhat simple. A good wine, but not my preferred style.
Decanted several hours prior to serving. Tons of dark berried fruit on the palate and nose. Color is inky purple. This is much more opulent than prior Quintessa vintages I remember that I drank soon after release. Not my preferred style but the fruit is beautifully pure and the structure is massive. I would tuck these away in the back of the cellar for at least 10 years. When the rest of the wine integrates with the fruit, I think it will be an incredible wine. 91/92 today. 95+ potential in 10 years.
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Plums, Rasperries, Compote. Fine Dusty Tannins. Nuts,cedar, lead pencil, very complex with Layer after Layer of depth, finish longer than the Great Wall of China. Reminds me of a young Hulk Hogan. All the parts are there but needs Andre the Giant to be 100.
Decant for a couple hours at least. Has the stuff to last 20 years. Going to pickup a few more.
Plum Market luxury wine tasting. In my opinion these kind of wine tastings are almost worthless for such young/higher-end wines that need more time. Dark ruby fruit - currants, dark cherry, raspberry, and plum. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity but a lighter profile than expected - medium body. Nice flavors of dark berries, a little floral profile, some spice, cassis, and a little mineral/graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. I’ll refrain from rating this bottle because it needs more time to open-up/develop further; however, I expected more in light of the 100 rating from WE and 99 from Suckling. In my opinion, the 95 rating from WA appears to make sense with more time but hopefully more time proves me wrong and it approaches the WE rating. According to WA, best from 2023 to 2040. 91% cab sauvignon, 4% cab franc, 2% merlot, 2% carmenere, and 1% petit verdot.
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The first glass was, well, just immediately pure and beautiful purple black raspberry fruit. Didn't want to like it because of pre-disposition but yet I did. The palate had lots of tannin. Polished for sure, but not integrated. Set aside for day two, when everything was more together but the fruit more ox-d. So over rather darn amazing Rutherford cab, and to hold.
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Aiolos En Primeur Tasting (Aiolos HQ): Rutherford, 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet France, 2% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 2% Carmenere Very different in style than the Inglenook tasted before, the fruit core is far more dense, blue and black fruit notes, floral notes, violet, fruit liqueur. Palate is amazing, showing fruit intensity, chocolate and coffee notes, very hot from alcohol (14.50%), beautiful fruit core, very tight tannins, full body, long finish. This one will need time
2014 - Drought year, rich, dark taste with long finish, high tannin, dark fruit, tastes like aged Bordeaux. Suberb. Bought for Jorgen ($280). Daves favorite. 2015 - Drought but earthquake open aquafores, 86% Cab Saug, 14% merlot, dark entry then lighter and easy going. Gina and Steves favorite. 2016 - 87% Cab/7% merlot/6% petite Verdot, very rich and balanced, smooth, definitely tasted aged relative to 2019, light oak/vanilla finish. 2019 - Year 2018 introduced concrete tanks after oak to continue micro oxygenation but without increasing tannins - accelerates aging, rich and bold body, bright, fruit forward. Everyone loved.
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Expressive with lots of fruit on the nose and palate. Just released last week on the 1st. Still a bit primary as you would expect but a lot of complexity and baking spices. Very good.
Epic Napa Trip - Day 6: Tasted at Quintessa - This was interesting.....we were given barrel samples from two different vineyards (Mount Calise and Bench) and tasted each, then we could combine them to make our own blend....was a fun experiment! It did make me wonder though if I took a VHR, a MacDonald and a Harlan, and blended them together, would I come up with the most stupendous wine in the world, or just end up wasting three awesome wines? I think I will let someone else experiment! Was still a fun experiment!
Also, it does reinforce my initial feelings that 2019 will be a great vintage too!
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5/11/2024 - Joe K wrote:
Smooth and soft. Better than vice versa tonight
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5/4/2024 - nicholasagonzales Likes this wine: 95 Points
Incredible wine. Beautiful dark purple color. Tastes like velvet. It has dark fruit flavors. Cannot wait to go back to this wine in a few years
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4/17/2024 - Asull2k Likes this wine: 94 Points
Double decanted 375 mL bottle about an hour prior to serving, and it opened within 30 min. Deep ruby color.
👃🏻 blackberry, plum, pencil shavings, hint of vanilla
👅 dense plum, black cherry, blackberry, leather, mineral with 35 sec finish
The balance of this wine is its forte, as it has a prominent graphite component that balances out the plum and berry. Not crazy about the QPR but it is nicely made.
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3/9/2024 - Taterhaus Likes this wine: 98 Points
Really masterful, polished Rutherford Bordeaux. Maybe less of an eye opening experience than the first time I tasted this wine, but it continues to impress.
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2/15/2024 - Rich_S Likes this wine: 98 Points
Fantastic as always. A touch of sweetness. Probably our favorite red. Tiny bit of sediment in this bottle.
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2/12/2024 - rnjbond wrote: 93 Points
Napa and Sonoma, January 2024: Tasted at winery.
Deep purple color.
On the nose, earthy notes with nectarine and cherry. Also hint of Indian spice on the nose, almost garam masala notes.
Easy drinking on the palette, mellow.
Would pair well with paneer lollipops on a rainy day (who said Napa cabs can't pair with spicy Indian food?)
Our favorite wine at Quintessa!
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1/13/2024 - splavski wrote: 90 Points
Drank at the winery
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1/1/2024 - bflood16 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Great balance of fruit and earthy notes. Powerful tannins perhaps some greenish notes which may go away in time but overall excellent. I will try and hold off on my remaining bottles for a few years.
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12/31/2023 - MESbowles wrote:
12/31/23– first of six bottles
MSB: Biiig wine. High alcohol, long lasting finish. Blackberry, raspberry, cherry, lots of jam. Expect this to age really really well in a couple of years. Very silky smooth.
IWB: Smooth and grapey
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12/25/2023 - bflood16 wrote: 92 Points
Still quite young but we wanted to try. Great nose and well polished all around. Dark berry, vanilla and hints of lead and earth.
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10/26/2023 - Ohlawuly wrote: 92 Points
Deep ruby with purple hue. Plum, pencil shavings, fig, flowers, and balsamic nose. Full-bodied, with ripe and silky tannin. Good acidity for a Napa wine. Finish is long but somewhat simple. A good wine, but not my preferred style.
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8/19/2023 - Rich_S Likes this wine: 98 Points
Fantastic! Maybe the best cab we’ve ever had. Decanted for an hour. Super smooth and just right.
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3/18/2023 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 94 Points
Napa tasting (K&L Wine Merchant - San Francisco): Awesome aromas of red flowers, pencil shavings, forest floor (from the new world, not old world).
Flavors of dark red fruits, pencil shavings, and dark earth.
New world Bordeaux style, pretty good, should be better with time. Tied with Baker & Hamilton for wine of the flight.
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3/18/2023 - Wine Lover 916 Likes this wine:
Dark purple red, fig, bell pepper, pencil lead, vanilla, ripe red berries. Silky&buttery tannin, remarkably long finish.
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12/26/2022 - Grapetimescomin Likes this wine:
Decanted several hours prior to serving. Tons of dark berried fruit on the palate and nose. Color is inky purple. This is much more opulent than prior Quintessa vintages I remember that I drank soon after release. Not my preferred style but the fruit is beautifully pure and the structure is massive. I would tuck these away in the back of the cellar for at least 10 years. When the rest of the wine integrates with the fruit, I think it will be an incredible wine. 91/92 today. 95+ potential in 10 years.
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12/6/2022 - Monk’s Magic Sauce Likes this wine:
A favorite!
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11/29/2022 - RJJ78 wrote: 98 Points
Plums, Rasperries, Compote. Fine Dusty Tannins. Nuts,cedar, lead pencil, very complex with Layer after Layer of depth, finish longer than the Great Wall of China. Reminds me of a young Hulk Hogan. All the parts are there but needs Andre the Giant to be 100.
Decant for a couple hours at least.
Has the stuff to last 20 years. Going to pickup a few more.
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11/12/2022 - kmm5f9 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Still too young for me even after 2+ hour of decanting. Adding “do not touch until at least 2028” stickers on my bottles.
Blended Perfection!
91% Cabernet Sauvignon
4% Cabernet Franc
2% Merlot
2% Carmenere
1% Petit Verdot
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11/4/2022 - Badmonkey wrote:
Plum Market luxury wine tasting. In my opinion these kind of wine tastings are almost worthless for such young/higher-end wines that need more time. Dark ruby fruit - currants, dark cherry, raspberry, and plum. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity but a lighter profile than expected - medium body. Nice flavors of dark berries, a little floral profile, some spice, cassis, and a little mineral/graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. I’ll refrain from rating this bottle because it needs more time to open-up/develop further; however, I expected more in light of the 100 rating from WE and 99 from Suckling. In my opinion, the 95 rating from WA appears to make sense with more time but hopefully more time proves me wrong and it approaches the WE rating. According to WA, best from 2023 to 2040. 91% cab sauvignon, 4% cab franc, 2% merlot, 2% carmenere, and 1% petit verdot.
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10/24/2022 - richshoes Likes this wine: 95 Points
always refined and exquisite, this bottle lives up to the past--cherry, raspberry, blackberry...
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10/24/2022 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
The first glass was, well, just immediately pure and beautiful purple black raspberry fruit. Didn't want to like it because of pre-disposition but yet I did. The palate had lots of tannin. Polished for sure, but not integrated. Set aside for day two, when everything was more together but the fruit more ox-d. So over rather darn amazing Rutherford cab, and to hold.
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10/10/2022 - Steve500 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Excellent well balanced Bordeaux blend. Nice acid, fruit and light tannis. Drinkable now but will age for many years.
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9/12/2022 - kostaslonis Likes this wine:
Aiolos En Primeur Tasting (Aiolos HQ): Rutherford, 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet France, 2% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 2% Carmenere
Very different in style than the Inglenook tasted before, the fruit core is far more dense, blue and black fruit notes, floral notes, violet, fruit liqueur.
Palate is amazing, showing fruit intensity, chocolate and coffee notes, very hot from alcohol (14.50%), beautiful fruit core, very tight tannins, full body, long finish. This one will need time
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5/15/2022 - StoneRidgeCellars Likes this wine: 97 Points
2014 - Drought year, rich, dark taste with long finish, high tannin, dark fruit, tastes like aged Bordeaux. Suberb. Bought for Jorgen ($280). Daves favorite.
2015 - Drought but earthquake open aquafores, 86% Cab Saug, 14% merlot, dark entry then lighter and easy going. Gina and Steves favorite.
2016 - 87% Cab/7% merlot/6% petite Verdot, very rich and balanced, smooth, definitely tasted aged relative to 2019, light oak/vanilla finish.
2019 - Year 2018 introduced concrete tanks after oak to continue micro oxygenation but without increasing tannins - accelerates aging, rich and bold body, bright, fruit forward. Everyone loved.
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4/7/2022 - jimyeni Likes this wine: 97 Points
Expressive with lots of fruit on the nose and palate. Just released last week on the 1st. Still a bit primary as you would expect but a lot of complexity and baking spices. Very good.
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12/10/2021 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine:
Epic Napa Trip - Day 6: Tasted at Quintessa - This was interesting.....we were given barrel samples from two different vineyards (Mount Calise and Bench) and tasted each, then we could combine them to make our own blend....was a fun experiment! It did make me wonder though if I took a VHR, a MacDonald and a Harlan, and blended them together, would I come up with the most stupendous wine in the world, or just end up wasting three awesome wines? I think I will let someone else experiment! Was still a fun experiment!
Also, it does reinforce my initial feelings that 2019 will be a great vintage too!
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12/10/2021 - galewskj wrote:
Napa trip day 6: Barrel sample of 2019 Mount Calise. Lots of red fruit, chocolate, tannins are fine, quite accessible for a barrel tasting.
Barrel sample of 2019 Bench. Plummy, drak fruit, hight tannins but a short finish.
Mixing the two improved the wine overall.
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