What a delight to drink an older Pride. The fruit forward merlot is still there but leaner than Pride would become in the 2000s. A little bricking but that has not touched the poise and freshness of this wine. It has some of the trademark and enchanting Pride perfume on the nose.
I’ve loved drinking older Napa wines as they made the transition from the 90s to the bolder, more robust styles in the next decades. And in recent vintages it feels like winemakers are dialling down the fruit volume - a welcome development.
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Drank over three nights. Definite bricking, and very dark color. Over the hill as fruit is faded, but still enough other stuff, balance and complexity going on to make in enjoyable. Hurry.
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Given the age and the vintage of this Merlot, I was pleasantly surprised by how it's done. It's drinking very well now, with less fruit showing than the 97, but good weight on the palette with secondary flavors building with some chocolate and cherry. Overall, this will not improve and is past its peak on the way down.
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Aromas of saddle leather, currants, wet tobacco and plum. Tannins are present but soft, has a nice mix of red and dark fruit, tobacco and even some iron. Develops a great floral quality with lavender and rose petals. Red fruit and iron with a long finish. Guessed CA Bordeaux blend.
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This was a better bottle compared to previousa bit over a year ago. Some bricking, but mostly a pretty medium red. A good expressive nose of blackberry, coffee and milk chocolate. 98 was not a fruit driven vintage after '97, but many of my good Cali bottles have stood the test of time, Cab's & Merlots
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14.1% ABV. Mostly translucent dark garnet in the glass. Leafy mocha nose with a touch of cocoa and metal. Medium bodied (med-full?) with somewhat tangy red berry fruit. Revisiting the nose, there is a slight veggie note with air, but it is not really off putting. Perhaps disappointing in the sense of the purchase price and time in cellar, but this is surprisingly in a pretty good place given the vintage and bottle age.
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Soft fruit flavors plus light coffee and chocolate overtones. I don't get the green flavors that some other reviewers mentioned. In balance but definitely fading. Has probably been on the downslope for awhile. Pleasant, at least.
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This was a coffee and blackberry nose in its prime. Now these are muted. Very soft in the mouth. Poured along with a 98 Pride Cab Sauv., side by side, at a dinner. A few liked the Merlot more.
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nose - roasty red fruit, licorice, coffee, smelling lovely. sniff and sniff mouth - dark red cherry fruit on the attack which quickly gives way to cocoa, coffee, and oak. still with decent tannic structure. The fruit while there is fleeting, leading me to believe this wine is past its prime. nevertheless terrific to sniff
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based on the reviews i was worried about this bottled, but it turned out to be just fine. An earthy, coffee, plum nose slowly opened up over the course of prolonged decantation. A mature nose for sure. On the mouth predominantly plum, with a trace of cocoa, and all very mellow and well integrate - a mature wine. possibly lacking sex appeal/fireworks and thus may disappoint some. Drink now while still lively.
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Once again proving the old adage regarding no good wines, only good bottles, I pulled this from my father's cellar in expectations it would be dead, but in actuality it was showing a little bit of life with soft red currant fruit and cedar flavors. A little muddy and certainly a weak vintage and past its prime, but better than I expected. NR
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Dark garnet color in the glass, fairly clear hue throughout. Horsey nose with added notes of leather, aspirin and a hint of red fruit. Flavors of red berries with a little mint. Medium acidity, fully resolve tannins, light to medium body. Drink a long time again, over the hill and through the woods. Therefore not rated.
el nino year merlot...shatter(casues some grapes to ripen and others to remain green) (green grapes can cause bitter taste) some notes of vegetation. over all not bad for an older merlot...perhaps low end of good(80)
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Warm, slightly roasted plum flavors. A little bit of vanilla & some drying tannins (artifact of the vintage). Actually quite good for a '98, but never going to be confused with a great wine.
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Opened with friends during dinner at the Anvil Club. I had decanted this to remove sediment just before leaving for the restaurant. Aromas of chocolate, plum and blackberry exploded from the glass, as you could smell this while it sat on the table. Flavors of sweet red fruit and plum on the attack. It turns a bit thin through the midpalate, with a soft tobacco-like tone on the finish.
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Drank from 1.5ml that was purchased and picked up from winery. I agree with Mr. T as this seemed like a French bordeaux; very soft with subtle fruit but not much going on with seconday flavors or attributes. just Ok to good.
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Very nice w/ grilled pork sirloins and almost seemed French with a nice level of restraint but good fruit. Could have imagined right bank. Losing my mind?
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This wine was sensational and easily beat the 03 Barnett Merlot and the Behrens and Hitchcock 01 Beckstoffer Amigas Merlot. The color was a medium dark reddish purple. The was filled with scents of cherries, plums and wildflowers. The taste was gripping and well balanced with flavors of red and black cherries, casis, wild mushrooms and plum. These flavors had all come together into this wild, wonderful complex fruit. Wow!
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Most of the fruit seemed gone and the wine was a bit woody and mostly tasted of oak. Any fruit was well hidden behind the oak. This is quite different than a couple of years ago when this wine was quite tasty. I think I'll need to have another bottle to see if this was representative or just a bad bottle.
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($48) A nice showing for this wine. Aromas of red and light black fruit - black raspberries might be closest - tinged with some toasted oak and hints of menthol and earth. Medium-full bodied. Not exactly an soft or easy wine, but not quite full-throttle in your face Merlot. Good.
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Excellent wine. Very rich taste and mouth feel. Long finish. Heavy wood and vanilla, but strong fruit flavors carry thourgh. Blackberry, dark cherry, and vanilla. Tasted at Friday night tasting.
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($48) A strong showing for this wine - the nose shows sweet oak, black fruits with a touch of herbaceousness. Ripe, round black and red fruit. Perhaps not worth the money, but not bad.
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Christine's Going Away Party: Magnum - this showed better than any of the previous Pride 1998 Merlots I have tasted. Still rather chunky and out of balance with caramel oak and mocha, espresso dominating the black raspberry? Fruit.
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($48) Splash decanted and run through a venturi pipe gadget. Yum nose of bitter chocolate, toasty oak, and deep fruit. Sweet attack with an edge of acidity. Delicious.
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Dark ruby, aromas of brown sugar, spice, caramel, chocolate, toasty oak, body(4), acid(3), sweet fruits, caramel, toast, just enough acid(3) to balance, slight green streak on finish but very nice, lots of tannins dry the finish a bit, very nice, rich, tobacco, licorice, dense glassy fruit, spice, bread dough, caramel, butter, toasty oak, a very pleasant an complex wine
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10/23/2023 - Ravi Deshpande Likes this wine: 92 Points
What a delight to drink an older Pride. The fruit forward merlot is still there but leaner than Pride would become in the 2000s. A little bricking but that has not touched the poise and freshness of this wine. It has some of the trademark and enchanting Pride perfume on the nose.
I’ve loved drinking older Napa wines as they made the transition from the 90s to the bolder, more robust styles in the next decades. And in recent vintages it feels like winemakers are dialling down the fruit volume - a welcome development.
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6/1/2021 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
This really stood out for me. Well made wine, perfectly aged, in a great drinking spot. Got me online putting in some bids for future bottles as well.
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9/20/2020 - Vascular46 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still has deep color and black fruit. Great pairing with rack of lamb
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2/27/2018 - levinml wrote: 89 Points
Drank over three nights. Definite bricking, and very dark color. Over the hill as fruit is faded, but still enough other stuff, balance and complexity going on to make in enjoyable. Hurry.
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4/19/2017 - AlexHop Likes this wine: 89 Points
Nice but a little past it's prime. Started out somewhat acidic but mellowed after a bit.
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9/9/2016 - AlexHop Likes this wine: 91 Points
Full bodied and rich flavors. Still plenty of life.
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11/27/2015 - Legend38 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nose: lush, dark fruit. Plums, blackberries, boysenberry. Cocoa, eucalyptus and tree bark.
Taste: raspberry jam, stewed blackberry and blueberry. Restrained oak, black dirt and dark cocoa powder.
This is tasting great right now and I think it has some time left. Nice acidity and tannin.
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5/28/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Bonhams Pre-Auction Tasting (Bonham's - San Francisco, CA): Tasting, brief note. Still holding up nicely with rounded fruit that are evolving slowly and elegantly.
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12/25/2014 - Mark Likes this wine: 89 Points
Given the age and the vintage of this Merlot, I was pleasantly surprised by how it's done. It's drinking very well now, with less fruit showing than the 97, but good weight on the palette with secondary flavors building with some chocolate and cherry. Overall, this will not improve and is past its peak on the way down.
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11/16/2014 - AlexHop wrote: 92 Points
Great- another great example of how many 1998s were under-rated in Napa.
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8/1/2014 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
Aromas of saddle leather, currants, wet tobacco and plum. Tannins are present but soft, has a nice mix of red and dark fruit, tobacco and even some iron. Develops a great floral quality with lavender and rose petals. Red fruit and iron with a long finish. Guessed CA Bordeaux blend.
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7/3/2014 - Whodeyinsea wrote:
PnP - Very stringent. Needs at least 1-hr decant (2-hrs preferable). Moderate bricking, medium + body, not enough fruit for my taste in Merlot.
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12/26/2013 - johnwine Likes this wine:
This Merlot was still intense and fully expressed at probably its peak.
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11/13/2013 - RR47 wrote: 88 Points
Fading
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6/9/2012 - RR47 wrote: 90 Points
This was a better bottle compared to previousa bit over a year ago. Some bricking, but mostly a pretty medium red. A good expressive nose of blackberry, coffee and milk chocolate. 98 was not a fruit driven vintage after '97, but many of my good Cali bottles have stood the test of time, Cab's & Merlots
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5/26/2012 - OneLastSyrah Likes this wine: 91 Points
14.1% ABV. Mostly translucent dark garnet in the glass. Leafy mocha nose with a touch of cocoa and metal. Medium bodied (med-full?) with somewhat tangy red berry fruit. Revisiting the nose, there is a slight veggie note with air, but it is not really off putting. Perhaps disappointing in the sense of the purchase price and time in cellar, but this is surprisingly in a pretty good place given the vintage and bottle age.
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4/2/2012 - alpha_ori wrote: 86 Points
Soft fruit flavors plus light coffee and chocolate overtones. I don't get the green flavors that some other reviewers mentioned. In balance but definitely fading. Has probably been on the downslope for awhile. Pleasant, at least.
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9/26/2011 - bcmatthias wrote: 89 Points
Soft flavors, some red cherry and chocolate. Past it's prime, but still nice.
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2/25/2011 - RR47 wrote: 88 Points
This was a coffee and blackberry nose in its prime. Now these are muted. Very soft in the mouth. Poured along with a 98 Pride Cab Sauv., side by side, at a dinner. A few liked the Merlot more.
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11/10/2010 - soyhead wrote: 88 Points
nose - roasty red fruit, licorice, coffee, smelling lovely. sniff and sniff
mouth - dark red cherry fruit on the attack which quickly gives way to cocoa, coffee, and oak. still with decent tannic structure. The fruit while there is fleeting, leading me to believe this wine is past its prime. nevertheless terrific to sniff
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10/9/2010 - soyhead wrote: 90 Points
based on the reviews i was worried about this bottled, but it turned out to be just fine. An earthy, coffee, plum nose slowly opened up over the course of prolonged decantation. A mature nose for sure. On the mouth predominantly plum, with a trace of cocoa, and all very mellow and well integrate - a mature wine. possibly lacking sex appeal/fireworks and thus may disappoint some. Drink now while still lively.
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10/3/2010 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
Once again proving the old adage regarding no good wines, only good bottles, I pulled this from my father's cellar in expectations it would be dead, but in actuality it was showing a little bit of life with soft red currant fruit and cedar flavors. A little muddy and certainly a weak vintage and past its prime, but better than I expected. NR
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5/8/2010 - RedLoverJim wrote:
Green, herbal flavors dominate with some faint red berry creeping around. Past drinking point?
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5/8/2010 - wineismylife Does not like this wine:
Saturdays at One - Volume 22: WIMLNR
Dark garnet color in the glass, fairly clear hue throughout. Horsey nose with added notes of leather, aspirin and a hint of red fruit. Flavors of red berries with a little mint. Medium acidity, fully resolve tannins, light to medium body. Drink a long time again, over the hill and through the woods. Therefore not rated.
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12/5/2009 - hapabuddha wrote:
el nino year merlot...shatter(casues some grapes to ripen and others to remain green) (green grapes can cause bitter taste)
some notes of vegetation.
over all not bad for an older merlot...perhaps low end of good(80)
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4/13/2009 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Warm, slightly roasted plum flavors. A little bit of vanilla & some drying tannins (artifact of the vintage). Actually quite good for a '98, but never going to be confused with a great wine.
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12/29/2007 - sw92130 wrote: 93 Points
Prime Drinking right now - not old at all. Plenty of fruit and well-balanced. Very, very fun to drink! Wish all Prides would age like this!
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11/25/2007 - SethR wrote: 92 Points
Still good.
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11/3/2007 - AllRed wrote: 90 Points
Opened with friends during dinner at the Anvil Club. I had decanted this to remove sediment just before leaving for the restaurant. Aromas of chocolate, plum and blackberry exploded from the glass, as you could smell this while it sat on the table. Flavors of sweet red fruit and plum on the attack. It turns a bit thin through the midpalate, with a soft tobacco-like tone on the finish.
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10/31/2007 - johnwine wrote: 95 Points
Amen to the above it is still an absolute bombshell of a vino.
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9/29/2007 - AllRed wrote: flawed
Corked.
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7/18/2007 - theferb wrote: 87 Points
Waited too long.
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3/2/2007 - Bryan wrote: 90 Points
Drank from 1.5ml that was purchased and picked up from winery. I agree with Mr. T as this seemed like a French bordeaux; very soft with subtle fruit but not much going on with seconday flavors or attributes. just Ok to good.
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11/30/2006 - Mr T wrote: 90 Points
Very nice w/ grilled pork sirloins and almost seemed French with a nice level of restraint but good fruit. Could have imagined right bank. Losing my mind?
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11/6/2006 - olivethegreat wrote: 91 Points
very drinkable, not past its prime as notes suggested it might have been. very concentrated fruit and very smooth, hint of tobacco but mostly fruit.
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10/14/2006 - pakabear wrote: 89 Points
Drink now
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1/14/2006 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Mostly vaporous oak. Some tired and currant-y fruit in the back. Not as unpleasant as it sounds, but no reason to actually drink it.
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12/11/2005 - Monetthecat wrote: 88 Points
Seemed watered down, but lots of vanilla up front.
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11/28/2005 - johnwine wrote: 94 Points
This wine was sensational and easily beat the 03 Barnett Merlot and the Behrens and Hitchcock 01 Beckstoffer Amigas Merlot. The color was a medium dark reddish purple. The was filled with scents of cherries, plums and wildflowers. The taste was gripping and well balanced with flavors of red and black cherries, casis, wild mushrooms and plum. These flavors had all come together into this wild, wonderful complex fruit. Wow!
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10/19/2005 - skwid wrote:
Most of the fruit seemed gone and the wine was a bit woody and mostly tasted of oak. Any fruit was well hidden behind the oak. This is quite different than a couple of years ago when this wine was quite tasty. I think I'll need to have another bottle to see if this was representative or just a bad bottle.
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8/27/2005 - Monetthecat wrote: 85 Points
Lots of tobacco and oak. Not much of a finish. Might have waited to long, but will try another bottle in a year
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12/4/2004 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($48) A nice showing for this wine. Aromas of red and light black fruit - black raspberries might be closest - tinged with some toasted oak and hints of menthol and earth. Medium-full bodied. Not exactly an soft or easy wine, but not quite full-throttle in your face Merlot. Good.
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9/20/2004 - veniceslug1 wrote: 90 Points
Excellent wine. Very rich taste and mouth feel. Long finish. Heavy wood and vanilla, but strong fruit flavors carry thourgh. Blackberry, dark cherry, and vanilla. Tasted at Friday night tasting.
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7/7/2004 - Jim wrote: 92 Points
Medium Ruby color, v. fruity aroma, leather spice, cinnamon long lingering finish with hints of cedar and cocoa. very nice
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6/4/2004 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($48) A strong showing for this wine - the nose shows sweet oak, black fruits with a touch of herbaceousness. Ripe, round black and red fruit. Perhaps not worth the money, but not bad.
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3/23/2004 - JKahn wrote: 91 Points
Wonderful taste. Complex with very nice balance of fruit and tannins. A real pleasure to drink.
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10/3/2003 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
Christine's Going Away Party: Magnum - this showed better than any of the previous Pride 1998 Merlots I have tasted. Still rather chunky and out of balance with caramel oak and mocha, espresso dominating the black raspberry? Fruit.
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6/3/2003 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($48) Coffee and mocha, oak. Not showing well.
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4/2/2002 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($48) Splash decanted and run through a venturi pipe gadget. Yum nose of bitter chocolate, toasty oak, and deep fruit. Sweet attack with an edge of acidity. Delicious.
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3/2/2002 - Easter Everywhere wrote: 90 Points
Dark ruby, aromas of brown sugar, spice, caramel, chocolate, toasty oak, body(4), acid(3), sweet fruits, caramel, toast, just enough acid(3) to balance, slight green streak on finish but very nice, lots of tannins dry the finish a bit, very nice, rich, tobacco, licorice, dense glassy fruit, spice, bread dough, caramel, butter, toasty oak, a very pleasant an complex wine
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