2010 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (22) Avg Score: 94.6 points

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  12/2/2023 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 95 Points

  Drinking great now. Loads of ripe plum, cassis and cooling minerals.

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  8/12/2022 - gew71walsh wrote: 93 Points

  Five years later and this is still a great wine. Deep purple in the glass. Aromatics of dark fruits and some leather at this point. Two hour decant and drank over two hours and this continued to evolve. Lingered on the palate. Paired well with grilled ribeyes. This has many years left although was my last bottle.

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  2/12/2022 - webbaker Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Multiple tastings with consistent notes. Classic Paul Hobbs Cabernet, drinking perfectly.

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  7/6/2021 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  A real treat for my 32nd bday. Extremely beautiful and complex. Starts austere, but wants you to fall in love with it before too long. This is a very taut, compact wine that feels far younger than it is. Didn't decant- followed evolution in bottle slowly over half a day (with my wife, who loved it too.) Decanting wouldn't hurt it, although it opened beautifully in bottle after an hour.
  
  Heavy Bordeaux influence (yes, actually) but still powerfully Napa. Amazingly, oak was the least influential component for me- some beautiful baking spice and black licorice, but almost all about the fruit and earth. On the nose, deep blackberry, blueberry, cassis, black cherry, but extremely fresh, bright, ripe but vibrant, nearly the "brightest" very black fruit can get, if that makes sense. Also an intense earthy component, a little on the green side for my tastes at first and cloaking the fruit, but eventually making space for the fruit to harmonize beautifully. Tons of bitter dark chocolate, fresh brewed coffee, mint, cigar, even violets, all very Bordeaux, even without the woodsy funk. As earthy as it was, thankfully, I got zero bell pepper. The more you huff the nose, the more is revealed (it just keeps going.)
  
  The palate is so dramatic- a burst of salty acidity that was so meaty/briney it almost evoked Northern Rhone syrah (awesome)- then the floodgates open and a torrent of black/blue/dark red fruit comes riding out on a black licorice surfboard. There's some cedary oak near the finish before the fruit washes it away in an endless wave. Then the tannins! Very powerful and dusty, but at this stage already fine-grained enough to be enjoyable without food- and this wine worked perfectly with a simple medium-rare ribeye, which heightened the fruit. Maybe a little less obviously complex with food, but also friendlier.
  
  Is it worth ~$250+ (the average on WineSearcher) or $175 on WineBid? Hard for me to say; this is the most expensive wine we've ever purchased, and only a few have come close. It was absolutely gorgeous, complex, delicious, and balanced. Felt like it could use a little more time to coalesce, even if it's already highly enjoyable. Interesting to compare to the 2011 Hobbs Napa Cuvee, which felt much more immediately friendly, although much less complex and elegant. I found the 2014 Dunn Howell Mountain to be slightly better QPR, but only slightly, and it's nearly half the price of this (and both seem to need a little cellar nap). This Piedras wasn't so stunning that I'd call it /top-notch/ QPR, but even for the high price, I found it moving and memorable. Could easily improve with time as well.

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  7/6/2021 - DesMarteau Likes this wine: 96 Points

  give a hour to open....in bottle / glass is ok. perfectly integrated dusty cherries and blueberries...long finish laced with licorice and spice. really seamless and wonderful.

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