deepish red color, fresh cherry and pepper nose, dried herbs, on the palate a ripe cherry fruit in the center with substantial aged herb notes around the edges, fine classic finish of good length, a calm midweight and quite good, ready to go.
****, ready to drink and time in hand
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Cork crumbled when trying to remove it. On the palate it still showed some structure w softer tan is due to the age. The color is purple with brown edges so it looked like it was getting close. It was soft On the tongue w plenty of fruit ... dark cherry, casks, brown leather ... acidity low and tannis were pretty muted. Felt more like a merlot vs a Napa cab.
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Enjoyable for our palate. Wine has aged nicely and retains some power & fullness (but if you are expecting full power cab, this ain't it). The softness balances nicely with the remaining acidity and fruit. You can still feel some tannin and alcohol. Drink up
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Cork crumbled upon opening. Color still fresh purple not bricking. Wine has secondary notes of dusty leather overriding a little fruit. Somehow still showing some tannin and alcohol. Not bad but can’t imagine it getting better.
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Strongly adhered cork came out in pieces, decanted for 6 hours before pairing with grilled prime rib roast. Was poured alongside an identically decanted bottle of 2008 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Toscana IGT.
The Neal was a bit ponderous and monolithic compared with the Oreno. It had neither the complexity nor acidity of the Super Tuscan, and lost the direct shootout when paired with the medium rare roast. 88-90
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Blind Reds (Tilia): Served blind. This wine is clean and delicious. I is a slutty rockstar wine that would please anyone with an American palate. The fruit is so vibrant. This is about as high of a score I can give for this fruit-forward style that doesn't have much in the way of complexity.
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Double Blind Reds at Tilia (Tilia, Mpls): Very dark purple red color. Drank 1 glass double blind over an hour plus. This was a big wine, lots of dark fruits, black currants, blackberry, new oak, licorice, . The palate was similar with black berry fruits, lush fruits, round and full bodied, oak, licorice, blackberry liqueur, aggressive tannins. A big mountain fruited, forward wine, but needs a little more time to settle down. I thought this was an amped up CDP, wrong. 91+pts.
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Big, luscious cab. A hedonist's wine, really fun to drink. Dark fruit, not overly sweet. Delicious. Flashy, fleshy. Decanted about 90 min before pouring and that was a strong call. Let the fruit show its stuff. Continued to get better with air in the glass. No obvious oak, nicely balanced. Great now, but likely will hold for some time.
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S&E Wine Club - Battle of the AVAs: Howell Mountain vs Stags Leap District (S&E): Eighth wine and sixth from Howell Mountain. Deep garnet red. Very tight initially on the nose with some undertones of red fruits, slight vegetal characteristics and some metallic elements. Heavy tannins (8/10) with a moderate body that leads to a long dry finish. A little bit of minerality, some earthiness and vegetal notes apparent throughout. Tannins still lingering into the finish. Drink til 2023.
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Limited fruit on the nose in a traditional french sense.
Full bodied but the same metallic and vegetal finish as the other Howell Mountains - I am definitely getting a theme here in the Howell mountain finishes. Definitely not my favorite as I prefer the more integrated and silkier finish.
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CLASSIC Howell Mountain Cab. And NOWHERE near over the top or down the hill given the 2009-2017 supposed drinking window. Has longevity to last until and through 2020. This wine was uncorked to a DARK stain on the cork, with zero bleed. Poured a violet color into the glass. The nose here has just about everything....vanilla, blackberry, clove, and just the right amount of age. Right at the top of the hill. The front of the palate is robust blackberry on a full bodied Howell Mountain cabernet. This wine moved to a hints of earth, saddle leather, fig, and mint...on a beautifully aged blackberry core. The finish is TORQUED UP black pepper, tannins that have softened but still rather present. This wine was SINGING tonight, and we fought for who was going to take the last 50ml.....I lost. I wish I had a few more of these. Done by 2020 with good cellaring.
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Tasted double blind. Nose was strong but also elegant with a pleasant mature leather note. Black cherry and currant on the palate. Tannic, but fresh and juicy. Really beautiful.
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Note after 3 hours in the decanter. A bit rustic and brambly on the nose. Similar on the palate. A bit dark and brooding. Liked this better at the tasting room then I do now.
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Decent cab, but didn't blow me away. Had a nice fruit to it, but had a slightly off finish. It didn't seem to go away after the bottle had been opened for a while either. Usually love Neal wines, but this one was disappointing.
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Nice mountain cab that didn’t overpower. Structured with presence, but not over bearing or one to overwhelm the palate. Personally I often want this big, bold mountain fruit and tannic experience from these wines but am finding the 2005 Neal’s to have a bit more balance and finesse making them great complements to the meal rather than the meal itself.
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9/16/2021 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
deepish red color, fresh cherry and pepper nose, dried herbs, on the palate a ripe cherry fruit in the center with substantial aged herb notes around the edges, fine classic finish of good length, a calm midweight and quite good, ready to go.
****, ready to drink and time in hand
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3/5/2021 - UMRich Likes this wine: 92 Points
Well balanced with some tannins and fruit alongside savory notes. Don't imagine this getting better, so drink up.
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12/22/2020 - DouglasTyler wrote: 89 Points
Cork crumbled when trying to remove it. On the palate it still showed some structure w softer tan is due to the age. The color is purple with brown edges so it looked like it was getting close. It was soft On the tongue w plenty of fruit ... dark cherry, casks, brown leather ... acidity low and tannis were pretty muted. Felt more like a merlot vs a Napa cab.
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11/14/2020 - bboard Likes this wine:
Enjoyable for our palate. Wine has aged nicely and retains some power & fullness (but if you are expecting full power cab, this ain't it). The softness balances nicely with the remaining acidity and fruit. You can still feel some tannin and alcohol. Drink up
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7/8/2020 - danscellar wrote: 92 Points
Nice single vineyard cab from Mark Neal.
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4/25/2020 - borneman wrote: 89 Points
Cork crumbled upon opening. Color still fresh purple not bricking. Wine has secondary notes of dusty leather overriding a little fruit. Somehow still showing some tannin and alcohol. Not bad but can’t imagine it getting better.
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1/8/2019 - budman Likes this wine: 93 Points
Silky tannins. Fruit was on the blue side. Medium to long finish. Drinking very well at this time. Wish I had more.
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7/4/2018 - wicozani wrote:
Strongly adhered cork came out in pieces, decanted for 6 hours before pairing with grilled prime rib roast. Was poured alongside an identically decanted bottle of 2008 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Toscana IGT.
The Neal was a bit ponderous and monolithic compared with the Oreno. It had neither the complexity nor acidity of the Super Tuscan, and lost the direct shootout when paired with the medium rare roast. 88-90
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10/29/2016 - galewskj wrote: 93 Points
Blind Reds (Tilia): Served blind. This wine is clean and delicious. I is a slutty rockstar wine that would please anyone with an American palate. The fruit is so vibrant. This is about as high of a score I can give for this fruit-forward style that doesn't have much in the way of complexity.
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10/27/2016 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
Double Blind Reds at Tilia (Tilia, Mpls): Very dark purple red color. Drank 1 glass double blind over an hour plus. This was a big wine, lots of dark fruits, black currants, blackberry, new oak, licorice, . The palate was similar with black berry fruits, lush fruits, round and full bodied, oak, licorice, blackberry liqueur, aggressive tannins. A big mountain fruited, forward wine, but needs a little more time to settle down. I thought this was an amped up CDP, wrong. 91+pts.
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10/27/2016 - btock Likes this wine: 93 Points
Big, luscious cab. A hedonist's wine, really fun to drink. Dark fruit, not overly sweet. Delicious. Flashy, fleshy. Decanted about 90 min before pouring and that was a strong call. Let the fruit show its stuff. Continued to get better with air in the glass. No obvious oak, nicely balanced. Great now, but likely will hold for some time.
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4/22/2016 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 91 Points
S&E Wine Club - Battle of the AVAs: Howell Mountain vs Stags Leap District (S&E): Eighth wine and sixth from Howell Mountain. Deep garnet red. Very tight initially on the nose with some undertones of red fruits, slight vegetal characteristics and some metallic elements. Heavy tannins (8/10) with a moderate body that leads to a long dry finish. A little bit of minerality, some earthiness and vegetal notes apparent throughout. Tannins still lingering into the finish. Drink til 2023.
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4/22/2016 - cab blends Does not like this wine: 90 Points
Limited fruit on the nose in a traditional french sense.
Full bodied but the same metallic and vegetal finish as the other Howell Mountains - I am definitely getting a theme here in the Howell mountain finishes. Definitely not my favorite as I prefer the more integrated and silkier finish.
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5/4/2015 - mflesh wrote: 92 Points
CLASSIC Howell Mountain Cab. And NOWHERE near over the top or down the hill given the 2009-2017 supposed drinking window. Has longevity to last until and through 2020. This wine was uncorked to a DARK stain on the cork, with zero bleed. Poured a violet color into the glass. The nose here has just about everything....vanilla, blackberry, clove, and just the right amount of age. Right at the top of the hill. The front of the palate is robust blackberry on a full bodied Howell Mountain cabernet. This wine moved to a hints of earth, saddle leather, fig, and mint...on a beautifully aged blackberry core. The finish is TORQUED UP black pepper, tannins that have softened but still rather present. This wine was SINGING tonight, and we fought for who was going to take the last 50ml.....I lost. I wish I had a few more of these. Done by 2020 with good cellaring.
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2/28/2015 - gmbdds wrote: 92 Points
Tasted double blind. Nose was strong but also elegant with a pleasant mature leather note. Black cherry and currant on the palate. Tannic, but fresh and juicy. Really beautiful.
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4/14/2014 - Murf130 wrote: 90 Points
Bought at Prospect for dinner. Opened up nicely after decant.
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5/1/2013 - KVM wrote: 90 Points
DArk red. Blackberry, mineral, airy nose. Very fresh dark flavours. Vanilla on the med-long finish. Acid is fresh. Good 'til 2020
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9/29/2012 - PML Likes this wine: 93 Points
Really enjoyed this bottle. Fragrant, Dark, very well balanced, big & bold. Drinking well at this age.
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5/7/2012 - cookie7 wrote:
Note after 3 hours in the decanter. A bit rustic and brambly on the nose. Similar on the palate. A bit dark and brooding. Liked this better at the tasting room then I do now.
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1/19/2012 - texag96 wrote: 86 Points
Decent cab, but didn't blow me away. Had a nice fruit to it, but had a slightly off finish. It didn't seem to go away after the bottle had been opened for a while either. Usually love Neal wines, but this one was disappointing.
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6/25/2011 - vegasoenophile wrote: 87 Points
Big, burly and a tad rustic in style. Heavy tannin.
- Tasted at winery 12/30/10
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2/18/2011 - muredskin14 wrote: 92 Points
Nice mountain cab that didn’t overpower. Structured with presence, but not over bearing or one to overwhelm the palate. Personally I often want this big, bold mountain fruit and tannic experience from these wines but am finding the 2005 Neal’s to have a bit more balance and finesse making them great complements to the meal rather than the meal itself.
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3/12/2010 - joshwoodward wrote: 90 Points
Cincinnati Wine Festival (Cincinnati, OH): Juicy, very tannic, food wine.
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3/4/2010 - Mike V wrote: flawed
Corked
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