Opened, given more time tonight. Now has black cherry, black tea, subtle herbs, no prune tonight, soft Tannins and a pretty finish. Really nice mature Cab
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Wonderful surprise! Decanted 3hrs. This is one of the first Napa cab for me, having had a lot of experience with bordeaux and super-tuscans. I think surely more tuscan than french. I also found something of great Amarone. All in all, a really great wine experience and this has surely more years to go
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An easy 94 points and with more aeration I expect that score to maybe even improve a point. We recently acquired 3 of these as part of a much larger cellar contents purchase and will definitely decant the other 2 bottles. A beautiful high end Napa cab in a perfect drinking window, I don't think this is past prime at all and would expect it to hold well for at least another 2-3 years with proper cellaring. Pristine cork using tongs, soft mouth feel, a core of well balanced oak, soft tannins and dark fruit still very much present, dark purple with peripheral bricking and a long aftertaste. Nose of cassis, oak, dark fruit and a hint of black tea with oak, earth, dark fruit, cassis and stewed plums on the palate. Highly recommend but given the price this is not a particularly good QPR wine for whom that matters.
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The comments on this wine are interesting ranging from flawed to 90++++. I found this wine after aeration to be alive with additional life to it. Good color, lots of complexity and still a strong finish
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We Coravin this wine as part of a wine tasting dinner, so naturally did not aerate, but it wasn't necessary. Tasted great, very much a right bank wine, with strong notes of dark fruits, blackberries and plumbs with a certain aroma of pine straws. it is definitely at its prime now, not sure if it will improve with additional cellaring.
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This bottle was all prunes and raisins and clearly over the hill. Could just be a bad bottle, as Togni's wines usually have very long life. I have one bottle left and hope it lives up to its reputation. The wine looks brick colored. The legs are slow. There is moderate sediment in the bottle.
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Deep dark brooding fruit would hint that this could not be a 1998 — let alone the vintage, but the age, too. Black cherry, coffee grounds, and a hint of mint on the nose, with long full-bodied mouthfeel showing pomegranate, plum, and subtle dried herb—youthful, but I don't think it will get better. Yum!
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Wine Flock Intro Retro - Cabs (Jordan's): Have to believe this was an off bottle as it was totally dead and falling apart -- all prunes and raisins with no structure. A 97 tasted earlier in the evening was glorious. Too bad ...
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This bottle needed about 30 minutes to let the dust off. After that, it became great and improved over the next few hours. Well balanced, smooth, classic Dalla Valle well matured and in great form.
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Alex's MNSC (The Pawn): 2hr decant. pretty and expressive nose but started to fade a little towards the end. structurally not as good as '99 when paired together.
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90 minute decant. Dark red still, with black currants and charcoal. Dark fruits on the palate, very much a Napa cab. Great structure still, tannins are still present. I feel this is on the verge of being a great wine, but lacks the acidity to acheive truly great balance. Still has a few years left, but could be an all-timer if there was a little more pow!
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This really rocked with grilled lamb chops. Mature, but this bottle did not taste over the hill at all. Still had good fruit, soft tannins, balanced, and multiple layers of dried cherry, currants and a very nice finish. Excellent staying power for the vintage. This was a nice surprise to be in this good of a place now. I don't see any reason to hold these but this bottle was still drinking well.
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Cork completely intact, pulled nicely, little wine migration. Medium body some bricking. PnP, citrus, orange, dried prune, forest floor, mineral, green moss on the nose. On the palate, similar notes, but no tannins, some acid, very faint fruit, if any. Drink up, not much life left. Good wine, nevertheless!!
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Purple color with a hint of brown in the rim. Somewhat muted bouquet and flavor of eucalyptus, followed by some barbecue notes Fairly good balance with moderate finish. Ditto for a second bottle.
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Medium crimson color. Opened in anticipation of decanting, an exploratory taste indicated that no aeration was necessary. This has a very oily nose of Kalamata olives and shoe polish. The palate is dense but smooth, with black fruit and very subtle flavors of wood, spice and earth. The overall mouthfeel on this is velvety, with tannins that have integrated seamlessly. This requires no further maturation; it is an interesting and delicious wine drinking optimally at the moment.
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took about 30-40 minutes for this to finally open up. Nice nose, NO FRUIT to speak of, needs to be had with food. Color was very good, almost no bricking, clean. Finish was nice, kept saying "go ahead take another sip" .... which i did... biggest disappointment was the fruit had all dried up ...
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"Best bottle for about 100 Euro" (Daniels Home): Colour: Dark & young in colour. Nose: Dark fruit, blackberry, black + red currant, herbs, tobacco and a bit of eucalyptus. Palate: A spicy (Cab. Franc) steam hammer with a lot of power. Good structure, round & silky mouthfeel. Long finish.
You can easily cellar this stuff for 5 more years.
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Rob_Sutherland nailed the notes on this: mostly black plum, with herbs, and damp leaves. It turned pruney with a lot of air. Few tannins on the decent finish. I'd drink these sooner, rather than later.
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nose was great when I pulled the cork. The cork was totally together and no wine seepage at all. I was excited for the wine...after 10 min in the glass there was a vegital nose no fruit. It had no fruit taste, just tasted black and charcoali...
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Fully mature but in a very nice place. Initial overwhelming plummyness backed off a bit but still plenty of fruit backed by nice forest herbaceousness.
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January 2013 CT Northern Virginia Off-Line "The Inaugural" (AngryPrez's home, Falls Church VA): Decanted for sediment and returned to the bottle immediately. tasted 1 hour later and then moved to decanter as was muted and needed air. after about 30 minutes in the decanter, it was much more open. This hit me with rich, stinky cheese on the nose at first and then cocoa/leather underneath as it evolved. Give this some air. Fully mature but definitely still well within its window so no rush.
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Beautiful. Nice nose, but the body is perfectly mellow, with complex flavors of spice, toast and a nice medium long finish. Seems like it's at its peak so drink now.
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Gorgeous nose of dark red and black fruits including cherries and spice. Silky texture. Still somewhat tannic. As it opens up, it shows an unpleasant green streak in the finish.
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A lovely wine, although didn't like quite as much as the one we had a year ago. Not as powerful as the '97 or '99, but a very nice drinking wine with cassis, lead, medium-bodied. Quite nice.
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Some stewed character and porgy notes. A bit disconnected on the palate surprisingly ripe fruit for the vintage. Medium grain tannins. Possibly not correct.
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Another Saturday at Knightsbridge - mostly blind (Northbrook, IL): Tasted double blind. Mature black currant and cassis aromas with some lead pencil elements that gave it a Bordeaux character. Modest degree of good barnyard comes through on both nose and palate. Same fruit on palate with modest spice increasing towards the wine's moderate finish.
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pop and pour. Very developed and mature. while the fruit initially wasn't really present it did develop after a half an hour or so, combined with some earthiness and bit of eucalyptus. Nice round mouthfeel. While not the top of the vintages i've had with DV cabs, certainly a value play for them. nice.
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Really enjoyable wine. Nose had currant and chocolate on it. Was an interesting contrast to the '95 Volcanic Hill Diamond Creek that C brought. They both were great, but you could easily tell the different in the mountain from the non-mountain fruit. I probably liked the DV better. The fruit was still spot on and the alcohol and tannins were both in check.
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Black currant, not as ripe but deep with micro density of tannins that carry through the finish. Felt the age in a good way. One of the best 98's I've had.
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Superbly balanced, elegant style Napa Cab. Expressive red currant and plum flavors shine, while tobacco, cardamon spice and mineral add nuance to the long finish. Velvelty with perfectly intergrated tannins and acidity, yet still has a lot of life to it. Drink now-2016. 93 pts.
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Bravo! Shockingly good wine from one of my least favorite NApa vintages. Still fresh and vibrant with classic Calicab notes of cassis and blackcurrant with secondary notes of licorice and tobacco. Full bodied and mouth-coating. Last glass was better than the fiorst and this should drink well for another decade.
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Terrific! Color is still deep ruby, with no signs of age yet; smells of dark fruit, vanilla; tastes incredible, surprisingly young and fresh, dark fruit, perfectly balanced, medium weight, and a long finish. Can't wait to have another.
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Pop and pour. Cassis, blackberry, vanilla, and touches of smoke and cedar. Silky with juicy acidity but a bit short on the finish. A bit simple but quite enjoyable and an excellent match for food.
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i really liked this wine tonight. fresh nose, bright fruits, mild oak. palate is rather lush with very good dark fruits, vanilla and well integrated oak. finish is very good with follow thru of fruits. little shorter than i'd like but maybe splitting hairs. i enjoyed this.
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Decanted for 3 hours prior to taking to the restaurant, and then re-corked. The color was a light raspberry red. The nose was a bit muted, but quite fresh. On the palate, the wine was chalky, with signature Cabernet fruit. However, the wine was still quite tanic, and needs at least 5 more years to settle in. Very enjoyable now, but will get better with more time.
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Wow! Had this at a restaurant in Denver. Fantastic!! Great nose. Flavors burst in your mouth- wild berries, currants, hint of vanilla. Great finish. I'd have to try it one more time to see if it was truly the real deal, but so far, so great!
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Really nice effort in this average vintage. I am finding some nice surprises in the 98's I am consuming now. This wine was realy tasty with lots of dark berry and and roasted coffee on the noste. very good balance and finnish. quite enjoyable
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Bigger than I remembered. This wine was a little tight, even almost herbal green - early on, but quickly opened up and drank fabulously well. This goes down as my favorite CA cab in what was otherwise a lackluster vintage. I decant first and then get ready to enjoy. We drank during and after dinner as we prepared (the night before) for Thanksgiving.
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In spite of a average vintage, this wine showed quite nicely tonight. There was plenty of dark fruit . lots of spice on the nose. Deep dark purple color and plenty of body. Fruit and Tannins were well intergrated and the overall balance was good. This showed better than the 95 Mondavi Reserve it was paired with .. strange but true!
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Surprisingly enjoyable for a 1998. Lots of dark fruits, coffee and minerals. Drinking great now, although not a blockbuster. A somewhat diluted finish.
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It just goes to prove that it's tough to beat a bad vintage. Not a bad wine by any means (quite the contrary) but not flawless either. Black fruit, licorice, cedar and tobacco notes. Supple in the mouth and longish finish but there is a streak of astringency that it takes it down a notch. There aren't vegetal notes or anything like that that ruin the concentrated core of fruit, but I think at the end of the day it's just the tannins aren't quite ripe enough. Steak certainly helped to mask that. Maybe it just proves that being the star of the 1998 vintage is being the cream of the crap.
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Last of two - the other was consumed about 18 months ago. Either my expectations of $100 cabs have changed since then or this one wasn't quite as good. Delicious and full bodied but with a slight bitterness on the finish that I didn't remember/expect. Went great with filet mignon.
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Subdued nose mostly alcoholic, never really opened up. Nice deep purple color but surprisingly much of the fruit is lacking. Plenty of tannins left with a rather hot alcoholic finish. I had higher expectations from DV from this spotty vintage.
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2/19/2022 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened, given more time tonight. Now has black cherry, black tea, subtle herbs, no prune tonight, soft Tannins and a pretty finish. Really nice mature Cab
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2/18/2022 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 90 Points
Major bricking on the edges. Very mature, maple, herbs, hint of prune, baking spices smooth, with a touch of acidity on the finish.
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1/15/2022 - RED AND BLACK wrote: 93 Points
Wonderful surprise! Decanted 3hrs. This is one of the first Napa cab for me, having had a lot of experience with bordeaux and super-tuscans. I think surely more tuscan than french. I also found something of great Amarone. All in all, a really great wine experience and this has surely more years to go
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9/12/2021 - ikkaariainen Likes this wine: 94 Points
An easy 94 points and with more aeration I expect that score to maybe even improve a point. We recently acquired 3 of these as part of a much larger cellar contents purchase and will definitely decant the other 2 bottles. A beautiful high end Napa cab in a perfect drinking window, I don't think this is past prime at all and would expect it to hold well for at least another 2-3 years with proper cellaring. Pristine cork using tongs, soft mouth feel, a core of well balanced oak, soft tannins and dark fruit still very much present, dark purple with peripheral bricking and a long aftertaste. Nose of cassis, oak, dark fruit and a hint of black tea with oak, earth, dark fruit, cassis and stewed plums on the palate. Highly recommend but given the price this is not a particularly good QPR wine for whom that matters.
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4/25/2021 - Handy1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fruit is fading but still very good. Some cassis on nose and cherry with plums. Was delicious with NY strip steak. Drink up!
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9/7/2019 - wa2ofd Likes this wine:
Dense, dark still very good...no need to rush on this late 90s Cali...Paired with 3lb bone in ribeye...
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7/30/2019 - Old Joe Likes this wine: 93 Points
The comments on this wine are interesting ranging from flawed to 90++++. I found this wine after aeration to be alive with additional life to it. Good color, lots of complexity and still a strong finish
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7/24/2018 - Winedog62 Likes this wine: 95 Points
We Coravin this wine as part of a wine tasting dinner, so naturally did not aerate, but it wasn't necessary. Tasted great, very much a right bank wine, with strong notes of dark fruits, blackberries and plumbs with a certain aroma of pine straws. it is definitely at its prime now, not sure if it will improve with additional cellaring.
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7/21/2018 - scasbeer Does not like this wine:
flawed
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7/19/2018 - drcookie wrote: flawed
This bottle was all prunes and raisins and clearly over the hill. Could just be a bad bottle, as Togni's wines usually have very long life. I have one bottle left and hope it lives up to its reputation.
The wine looks brick colored. The legs are slow. There is moderate sediment in the bottle.
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6/23/2018 - passion4wine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep dark brooding fruit would hint that this could not be a 1998 — let alone the vintage, but the age, too. Black cherry, coffee grounds, and a hint of mint on the nose, with long full-bodied mouthfeel showing pomegranate, plum, and subtle dried herb—youthful, but I don't think it will get better. Yum!
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5/28/2018 - Old Joe Likes this wine: 92 Points
Good finish fruit forward still tannins in it
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12/10/2017 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Wine Flock Intro Retro - Cabs (Jordan's): Have to believe this was an off bottle as it was totally dead and falling apart -- all prunes and raisins with no structure. A 97 tasted earlier in the evening was glorious. Too bad ...
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12/10/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Chicago Wine Flock..."Bordeaux and Cali Cab from Jordan" (Chez Whitehead - Northbrook IL): Tasted double blind in what turned out to be 1998 flight. Terrible, almost completely fallen apart.
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10/11/2017 - Winokdub wrote: 94 Points
Agree with the other recent post. In really great place right now. Very enjoyable
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6/30/2017 - tmhouse wrote: 94 Points
This bottle needed about 30 minutes to let the dust off. After that, it became great and improved over the next few hours. Well balanced, smooth, classic Dalla Valle well matured and in great form.
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5/7/2017 - jermainiac Does not like this wine: 84 Points
Past it's prime
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5/1/2017 - Lord Rayas wrote: 92 Points
Alex's MNSC (The Pawn): 2hr decant. pretty and expressive nose but started to fade a little towards the end. structurally not as good as '99 when paired together.
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12/3/2016 - nm10 Likes this wine: 93 Points
90 minute decant. Dark red still, with black currants and charcoal. Dark fruits on the palate, very much a Napa cab. Great structure still, tannins are still present. I feel this is on the verge of being a great wine, but lacks the acidity to acheive truly great balance. Still has a few years left, but could be an all-timer if there was a little more pow!
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8/21/2016 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 94 Points
This really rocked with grilled lamb chops. Mature, but this bottle did not taste over the hill at all. Still had good fruit, soft tannins, balanced, and multiple layers of dried cherry, currants and a very nice finish. Excellent staying power for the vintage. This was a nice surprise to be in this good of a place now. I don't see any reason to hold these but this bottle was still drinking well.
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6/7/2016 - Old Joe Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lots of color, decent finish, low on fruit. Still has tannin. Was tight initially. Not sure how much time on the bottle is left
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1/22/2016 - Geaux Tigers wrote: 91 Points
Cork completely intact, pulled nicely, little wine migration. Medium body some bricking. PnP, citrus, orange, dried prune, forest floor, mineral, green moss on the nose. On the palate, similar notes, but no tannins, some acid, very faint fruit, if any. Drink up, not much life left. Good wine, nevertheless!!
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12/16/2015 - tcosgriff Likes this wine: 87 Points
Purple color with a hint of brown in the rim. Somewhat muted bouquet and flavor of eucalyptus, followed by some barbecue notes Fairly good balance with moderate finish. Ditto for a second bottle.
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11/25/2015 - jsteach Likes this wine: 94 Points
World class California cab.
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9/20/2015 - ipp wrote: 89 Points
a bit disappointing ... has lost a lot of fruit and a little dry and "dusty"
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10/12/2014 - mwanasheria wrote: 89 Points
Quite sweet and ripe, with plums, black cherries, kirsch, cedar, vanilla and quite hot at the backend. A strange bottle I thought.
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7/18/2014 - NineteenEightyTwo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium crimson color. Opened in anticipation of decanting, an exploratory taste indicated that no aeration was necessary. This has a very oily nose of Kalamata olives and shoe polish. The palate is dense but smooth, with black fruit and very subtle flavors of wood, spice and earth. The overall mouthfeel on this is velvety, with tannins that have integrated seamlessly. This requires no further maturation; it is an interesting and delicious wine drinking optimally at the moment.
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4/26/2014 - JPF16 wrote: 90 Points
took about 30-40 minutes for this to finally open up. Nice nose, NO FRUIT to speak of, needs to be had with food. Color was very good, almost no bricking, clean. Finish was nice, kept saying "go ahead take another sip" .... which i did... biggest disappointment was the fruit had all dried up ...
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3/9/2014 - m_arcon wrote: 92 Points
"Best bottle for about 100 Euro" (Daniels Home): Colour: Dark & young in colour.
Nose: Dark fruit, blackberry, black + red currant, herbs, tobacco and a bit of eucalyptus.
Palate: A spicy (Cab. Franc) steam hammer with a lot of power. Good structure, round & silky mouthfeel. Long finish.
You can easily cellar this stuff for 5 more years.
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3/7/2014 - reichken wrote: 90 Points
Big dark youthful wine. A bit of a hi note of red fruit. Still a fair amount of wood on it long finish
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12/31/2013 - DarinC wrote: 88 Points
Rob_Sutherland nailed the notes on this: mostly black plum, with herbs, and damp leaves. It turned pruney with a lot of air. Few tannins on the decent finish. I'd drink these sooner, rather than later.
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11/23/2013 - spts1000 Does not like this wine: 85 Points
nose was great when I pulled the cork. The cork was totally together and no wine seepage at all. I was excited for the wine...after 10 min in the glass there was a vegital nose no fruit. It had no fruit taste, just tasted black and charcoali...
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8/8/2013 - Rob_Sutherland Likes this wine: 92 Points
Fully mature but in a very nice place. Initial overwhelming plummyness backed off a bit but still plenty of fruit backed by nice forest herbaceousness.
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7/6/2013 - boreddoughboy wrote: 93 Points
Drinking very well right now.
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6/15/2013 - ipp wrote: 91 Points
This vintage of Dalla Valle has always been one of my favorites. This time around, it was very good but lacked the "wow" factor.
Nice, herbaceous nose. Good balance. Lacked the fruit that I remember the last time I drank it. It was a little tired.
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4/6/2013 - markydecker Likes this wine: 94 Points
CLASSIC Cali Cab. Currants, mocha, ripe plummy fruit, please give it an hour or two of air. Massively good. Fully mature and in the zone.
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1/27/2013 - hellowine Likes this wine: 89 Points
Had it at the NoVA offline last night. Very nice wine. Typical California Cab, lots of dark chocolatey and dirt notes.
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1/26/2013 - ericindc Likes this wine: 89 Points
Funky nose, earthy nose. Mellowed out, black fruits, slight herbal note, some tannins, slightly drying, nice finish.
Tasted at the DC/NOVA offline
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1/26/2013 - grayfont Likes this wine: 90 Points
January 2013 CT Northern Virginia Off-Line "The Inaugural" (AngryPrez's home, Falls Church VA): Decanted for sediment and returned to the bottle immediately. tasted 1 hour later and then moved to decanter as was muted and needed air. after about 30 minutes in the decanter, it was much more open. This hit me with rich, stinky cheese on the nose at first and then cocoa/leather underneath as it evolved. Give this some air. Fully mature but definitely still well within its window so no rush.
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1/18/2013 - no leashes wrote: 92 Points
Delicious dark cherry, cassis, mineral and earth, perfectly balanced, elegant. Drinking beautifully!
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11/9/2012 - AlexHop wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful. Nice nose, but the body is perfectly mellow, with complex flavors of spice, toast and a nice medium long finish. Seems like it's at its peak so drink now.
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10/29/2012 - kenv wrote:
Gorgeous nose of dark red and black fruits including cherries and spice. Silky texture. Still somewhat tannic. As it opens up, it shows an unpleasant green streak in the finish.
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7/16/2012 - kenthargis wrote: 90 Points
A lovely wine, although didn't like quite as much as the one we had a year ago. Not as powerful as the '97 or '99, but a very nice drinking wine with cassis, lead, medium-bodied. Quite nice.
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5/25/2012 - tjom wrote:
Gone. Not sure if bottle or whole lot. Will try another soon
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2/12/2012 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
Dark red violet color; tart berry, rich cassis, plum nose; tasty, complex, tart berry, cassis, blackberry palate; medium-plus finish 92+ points
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2/11/2012 - psmith wrote:
Some stewed character and porgy notes. A bit disconnected on the palate surprisingly ripe fruit for the vintage. Medium grain tannins. Possibly not correct.
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2/11/2012 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Another Saturday at Knightsbridge - mostly blind (Northbrook, IL): Tasted double blind. Mature black currant and cassis aromas with some lead pencil elements that gave it a Bordeaux character. Modest degree of good barnyard comes through on both nose and palate. Same fruit on palate with modest spice increasing towards the wine's moderate finish.
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10/9/2011 - mdefreitas wrote: flawed
Football and Cabs from around the world @ Howards (Old Greenwich, CT): This could have been an eye-opening wine, especially given the vintage. I've had this before with impressive results... but alas this bottle was oxidized.
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6/1/2011 - bruinesq84 wrote: 93 Points
pop and pour. Very developed and mature. while the fruit initially wasn't really present it did develop after a half an hour or so, combined with some earthiness and bit of eucalyptus. Nice round mouthfeel. While not the top of the vintages i've had with DV cabs, certainly a value play for them. nice.
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1/1/2011 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 93 Points
soft, light, but quite nice. underrated vintage. reserved wine.
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12/31/2010 - Stan wrote: 95 Points
Great stuff. Liked better than '01 Insignia we had just before it.
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6/29/2010 - kenthargis wrote: 94 Points
Really enjoyable wine. Nose had currant and chocolate on it. Was an interesting contrast to the '95 Volcanic Hill Diamond Creek that C brought. They both were great, but you could easily tell the different in the mountain from the non-mountain fruit. I probably liked the DV better. The fruit was still spot on and the alcohol and tannins were both in check.
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3/8/2010 - Phin wrote: 95 Points
Black currant, not as ripe but deep with micro density of tannins that carry through the finish. Felt the age in a good way. One of the best 98's I've had.
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12/27/2009 - wa2ofd wrote:
Delicious, still young and vibrant
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12/5/2009 - mwanasheria wrote: 91 Points
Fresh nose, fruit and tobacco notes, nicely integrated and complex
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5/27/2009 - riccodog13 wrote: 93 Points
Superbly balanced, elegant style Napa Cab. Expressive red currant and plum flavors shine, while tobacco, cardamon spice and mineral add nuance to the long finish. Velvelty with perfectly intergrated tannins and acidity, yet still has a lot of life to it. Drink now-2016. 93 pts.
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3/25/2009 - MJTed wrote: 95 Points
Bravo! Shockingly good wine from one of my least favorite NApa vintages. Still fresh and vibrant with classic Calicab notes of cassis and blackcurrant with secondary notes of licorice and tobacco. Full bodied and mouth-coating. Last glass was better than the fiorst and this should drink well for another decade.
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2/7/2009 - surfcityusa wrote: 95 Points
Terrific! Color is still deep ruby, with no signs of age yet; smells of dark fruit, vanilla; tastes incredible, surprisingly young and fresh, dark fruit, perfectly balanced, medium weight, and a long finish. Can't wait to have another.
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12/7/2008 - rsepulve wrote: 91 Points
Pop and pour. Cassis, blackberry, vanilla, and touches of smoke and cedar. Silky with juicy acidity but a bit short on the finish. A bit simple but quite enjoyable and an excellent match for food.
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8/11/2008 - jc-mmb wrote: 94 Points
i really liked this wine tonight. fresh nose, bright fruits, mild oak. palate is rather lush with very good dark fruits, vanilla and well integrated oak. finish is very good with follow thru of fruits. little shorter than i'd like but maybe splitting hairs. i enjoyed this.
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4/22/2008 - Lainie wrote:
Ripe, garlic, mercaptans? vitamins
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4/5/2008 - A&C wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for 3 hours prior to taking to the restaurant, and then re-corked. The color was a light raspberry red. The nose was a bit muted, but quite fresh. On the palate, the wine was chalky, with signature Cabernet fruit. However, the wine was still quite tanic, and needs at least 5 more years to settle in. Very enjoyable now, but will get better with more time.
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1/7/2008 - GPujia wrote: 96 Points
Wow! Had this at a restaurant in Denver. Fantastic!! Great nose. Flavors burst in your mouth- wild berries, currants, hint of vanilla. Great finish. I'd have to try it one more time to see if it was truly the real deal, but so far, so great!
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1/5/2008 - SteveHoch wrote: 91 Points
Really nice effort in this average vintage. I am finding some nice surprises in the 98's I am consuming now. This wine was realy tasty with lots of dark berry and and roasted coffee on the noste. very good balance and finnish. quite enjoyable
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11/21/2007 - etirer wrote: 94 Points
Bigger than I remembered. This wine was a little tight, even almost herbal green - early on, but quickly opened up and drank fabulously well. This goes down as my favorite CA cab in what was otherwise a lackluster vintage. I decant first and then get ready to enjoy. We drank during and after dinner as we prepared (the night before) for Thanksgiving.
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10/13/2007 - SteveHoch wrote: 90 Points
In spite of a average vintage, this wine showed quite nicely tonight. There was plenty of dark fruit . lots of spice on the nose. Deep dark purple color and plenty of body. Fruit and Tannins were well intergrated and the overall balance was good. This showed better than the 95 Mondavi Reserve it was paired with .. strange but true!
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6/23/2007 - tonyo123 wrote: 89 Points
Didn't drink as well as in past. Fruit was there but bottle gave an overall impression of slight sour taste.
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8/25/2006 - mdefreitas wrote: 91 Points
Surprisingly enjoyable for a 1998. Lots of dark fruits, coffee and minerals. Drinking great now, although not a blockbuster. A somewhat diluted finish.
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7/27/2006 - bsherwin wrote:
It just goes to prove that it's tough to beat a bad vintage. Not a bad wine by any means (quite the contrary) but not flawless either. Black fruit, licorice, cedar and tobacco notes. Supple in the mouth and longish finish but there is a streak of astringency that it takes it down a notch. There aren't vegetal notes or anything like that that ruin the concentrated core of fruit, but I think at the end of the day it's just the tannins aren't quite ripe enough. Steak certainly helped to mask that. Maybe it just proves that being the star of the 1998 vintage is being the cream of the crap.
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1/30/2006 - davetong wrote: 91 Points
Last of two - the other was consumed about 18 months ago. Either my expectations of $100 cabs have changed since then or this one wasn't quite as good. Delicious and full bodied but with a slight bitterness on the finish that I didn't remember/expect. Went great with filet mignon.
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4/15/2005 - JeffO wrote: 92 Points
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. It was well rounded with lots of fruit, very smooth.
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12/3/2004 - RandyD wrote: 87 Points
Subdued nose mostly alcoholic, never really opened up. Nice deep purple color but surprisingly much of the fruit is lacking. Plenty of tannins left with a rather hot alcoholic finish. I had higher expectations from DV from this spotty vintage.
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