Cork in good shape despite age; color deep red with a clear halo; Nose black fruits and esters; very pleasant mouth feel with fruit and sweetness and a medium fruit and tannin (a bit) finish; Surprisingly good give other reviews;
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Well, I was afraid I'd waited too long on this one, given the CT drink by dates and historical reviews. I've had this on my "drink now" rack for a few years. But my tastes have shifted, and I've been drinking far more "destination wines" (obscure varietals from regions I've adventured in, like Croatia or the Swiss Alps or even North Dakota or Arizona). So I just never found an opportunity to open this. But tonight was sous vide Bison ribeyes with a mushroom sauce ... and if not now, when? I figured if it was badly faded, I'd pour it out and drink the more modest Napa Cab I opened for cooking the mushroom sauce.
To my surprise, this Stags' Leap is drinking beautifully. I pulled the crumbling cork to give it about 2 hours of air, then decanted. The tannins are fading, but certainly not gone. I'm tasting plenty of dark berry fruit, with perhaps some modest secondary and tertiary notes, but really, there's more fruit right up front than I was expecting. Everything's in balance, there's a nice structure to it, it has no problem standing up to the bison. I don't know if this will get better, and this is my last bottle anyways - but I think if it had taken me another year or two to get to this one, it'd still show real well.
Really lovely right now. Served double-blind, I was thinking a really nice mature Brunello - of the high-scoring sort. One of the big shockers when this was revealed - which is to say if all California Cabs were this elegant, I'd still be drinking them. Bravo to these folks for marching to their own drum. Really elegant now, this has the structure and balance to last another five years with no problem. 13,8% abv. highly recommended
Not sure if this bottle was representative; if not, what great luck to have this kind of (positive) bottle variation. Classy.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Taste at FHE. Showing well - still young even. Touch age in the color but there's still ripe and slightly stewed red fruit on the nose. Herbs, potpourri, dried vegetables. Aged green pepper. A little menthol. Clean finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.
8/6/2021 - mru12000 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cork in good shape despite age; color deep red with a clear halo; Nose black fruits and esters; very pleasant mouth feel with fruit and sweetness and a medium fruit and tannin (a bit) finish; Surprisingly good give other reviews;
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/16/2021 - Adventr.us Likes this wine: 92 Points
Well, I was afraid I'd waited too long on this one, given the CT drink by dates and historical reviews. I've had this on my "drink now" rack for a few years. But my tastes have shifted, and I've been drinking far more "destination wines" (obscure varietals from regions I've adventured in, like Croatia or the Swiss Alps or even North Dakota or Arizona). So I just never found an opportunity to open this. But tonight was sous vide Bison ribeyes with a mushroom sauce ... and if not now, when? I figured if it was badly faded, I'd pour it out and drink the more modest Napa Cab I opened for cooking the mushroom sauce.
To my surprise, this Stags' Leap is drinking beautifully. I pulled the crumbling cork to give it about 2 hours of air, then decanted. The tannins are fading, but certainly not gone. I'm tasting plenty of dark berry fruit, with perhaps some modest secondary and tertiary notes, but really, there's more fruit right up front than I was expecting. Everything's in balance, there's a nice structure to it, it has no problem standing up to the bison. I don't know if this will get better, and this is my last bottle anyways - but I think if it had taken me another year or two to get to this one, it'd still show real well.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
1/15/2020 - orange boy wrote: 90 Points
bit old Covidian opened cork spilled as held in wine cellar OK
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/1/2017 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
Really lovely right now. Served double-blind, I was thinking a really nice mature Brunello - of the high-scoring sort. One of the big shockers when this was revealed - which is to say if all California Cabs were this elegant, I'd still be drinking them. Bravo to these folks for marching to their own drum. Really elegant now, this has the structure and balance to last another five years with no problem. 13,8% abv. highly recommended
Not sure if this bottle was representative; if not, what great luck to have this kind of (positive) bottle variation. Classy.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/14/2015 - beezer6 wrote: 91 Points
Taste at FHE.
Showing well - still young even.
Touch age in the color but there's still ripe and slightly stewed red fruit on the nose.
Herbs, potpourri, dried vegetables. Aged green pepper.
A little menthol. Clean finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment