1997 Viansa Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Community Tasting Notes (7) Avg Score: 92.8 points

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  4/23/2015 - skurtz Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Outstanding and consistent with my previous notes. The California natives at my dinner party thought this was the best wine of the evening.

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  12/17/2014 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This is my first time trying magnums purchased at auction, with an older vintage no less. So it is with some trepidation that I pulled the cork - lots of saturation but the nose has lots of vibrant red fruit, an encouraging sign. Decanted and will sample over the next few days to observe the evolution. The color is garnet with slight bricking around the edges.
  
  It's about an hour after decanting and time to give it a try. Earthy leaves, mushrooms, spicy fresh strawberries on the nose. Intense red cherries on the palate, strawberries, and red plums, baking spices, cinnamon, nice oak in the background, and some alcohol too. Tannins completely integrated, subliminal. Light, smooth, and surprisingly fresh for a '97. Delicious. Not much of a finish, however.
  
  After 3-4 hours, the wine is now fully integrated and the finish has improved. Alcohol has blown off. Really smooth and delicious. This has evolved noticeably with decanting and aeration. I'm pumping down the magnum to see how it holds up over night.
  
  On day 2 and 3, still very pleasant, but losing some of its charm from Day 1. More acid and oak, less fruit.
  
  My impression is that about 2h is really all that is needed for decanting, it doesn't seem to improve much beyond that. Glad I got this, probably should have purchased more!

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  12/9/2014 - grumi62 wrote: 93 Points

  have to agree with the previous notes. very good wine, secondary at best after an hour. from magnum, only 1 left.

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  5/3/2013 - TennesseeZ4 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Exceptional balance; great legs, great body; a surprise in our cellar as we forgot that we had this one. Not a stretch to say that this was a very pleasant surprise.

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  4/27/2013 - normanfekrat Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Even after all these years of being stored properly (50-55F), this bottle was much better than I anticipated. Strong plum flavor and tannins. Enjoy.... My thought is if not stored properly this bottle may not make it.

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