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2009
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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2014 and 2022 (based on 3 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 31 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by annerk on 5/24/2021: Tannins silky and integrated, classic Napa nose and profile, well balanced. one bottle left, drink in three years. (613 views) | | | Tasted by Millennial Drinkers on 9/14/2018 & rated 91 points: Medium garnet red with lighter edges. Lovely nose with dark cherries, dustiness, truffles, spices and forest floor. Medium tannins (5.5/10) and acidity is a bit high. Medium to medium plus bodied with notes of forest floor, dark spices, bramble berries, cherries, and a little floral. Medium plus bodied. Aged nicely for a 9 year old bottle. Drink till 2024. (860 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 2/19/2017 & rated 92 points: Popped and poured. Deep garnet with no bricking. Nose of black currants, sour cherry, hints of blackberry and spicy oak. On the palate lush but not heavyweight with flavors of red currant, blackberry, black cherry, with hints of vanilla. Long balanced finish. This would show well in a lineup of high priced wines. Drink or hold, this has a good life ahead. (1336 views) | | | Tasted by fingers on 2/3/2017 & rated 91 points: Over two years since I last checked in on this. Uncorked and slow-Od for about 4 hours. Still a nice dark ruby color, about 80% saturated with clear legs and a tiny amount of sediment. Nose is still quite primary and berry-driven. The palate is also quite unchanged from how I remember, but I also sense the cusp of maturity just setting in. I think another year or so will make this much more interesting, if not qualitatively better. It's always been a bit over-ripe in my mind and the heat will never go away, but age and oxygen should broaden the profile and add some intrigue.
Day two update: I gotta say, this really blossomed out with the long aeration and showed a lot more complexity and depth. By the end of the bottle, it was a "wow" wine. 5+11+17+8= 91 (1362 views) | | | Tasted by Bob in NC on 12/23/2016 & rated 86 points: Still on the fruity side with little depth of flavors. Nothing offensive, but no wow factor. Tannins have mostly resolved. (1025 views) | | | Tasted by Wrighty on 10/26/2016: OK, this was popped and poured but didn't really hold my attention tonight. Little nose, maybe some dark fruit, leather and peppers followed by fumes. This followed through on the palate then a strong tannic, although very fine and integrated finish and a hit of alcohol.
To be fair as well, not in the best frames of mind and in that respect, probably hit the mark as a nice wine after a while of not drinking wine.... (1038 views) | | | Tasted by Wrighty on 12/24/2015: This was a lot better than previous bottles - had settled down. Nose has mint and a little earth plus some small berries. Palate has a little tannin and a decent finish. (1115 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 5/17/2015 & rated 92 points: By far the best bottle of this to date. Great nose with tons of florals, black currant, cherry, and red currant. On the palate black and red currants with a hint of sour cherry. Tannins are there but well integrated. Nice grip on a balanced finish. I have two more and will put them away for while to see if they develop any secondary characteristics. (1141 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 5/7/2015: John comes to town! (Amali (115 E 60th Street, NY, NY)): I remember hearing that the blend was the clear winner from the wines this year. To me, it was a bit overshadowed by the other wines we had at the table. Much younger (and I tend to prefer my wines with a bit more age) and also just a bit less connected. Had a slightly offputting aftertaste. A bit unfair though as it was next to a 1992 Chateau Montelena Estate and a 2003 Joseph Phelps. (1716 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 12/15/2014 & rated 90 points: Consistent with previous notes. (1190 views) | | | Tasted by mclancy10006 on 10/18/2014: A bit hot at the open and wasn't liking it at first after the pop and pour, but after the venutri and some hang time in the glass it came around very nicely. I think these will have some shelf life, but have just started to open into their window. Glad I have many more in the cellar. (1261 views) | | | Tasted by fingers on 7/9/2014 & rated 90 points: At the pop, it was showing reductive and jammy, even sulphury. But after two hours of air it was humming, and after a day open, singing. Aroma is really sweet but somehow the palate pulls in the reins and holds the alcohol and ripeness to more modest levels. 4+12+17+7= 90 (1541 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 6/1/2014 & rated 89 points: Nice aroma of red and black fruits along with spice and vanilla. On the palate, sour cherry, black currant, vanilla, spicy oak. Finishes a little too hot but overall very nice. (1180 views) | | | Tasted by brigcampbell on 3/30/2014: OCPoker4wine - Ashley and Brian come home (WCC - Irvine CA): Blind - guessed cali.
Medium dark color and very good clarity. Sweet aromas pour out of the glass. Very fruit forward. Sweet cherry flavor, oak, and mocha.
Medium plus finish. (1827 views) | | | Tasted by grafstrb on 3/29/2014: -- popped and poured --
-- tasted a single pour, blind, over approx. 20 min. --
Intense dark red color. Nose was very ripe: rich red berries, and a touch floral. Medium to medium-full bodied. Palate: young; oaky; ripe red fruits. (1111 views) | | | Tasted by fingers on 11/6/2013 & rated 89 points: Not much to add to two previous notes except that it's progressing in fine manner. Big bodied and slippery smooth with a lot of fruit stuffing that promises to develop over the next year or so, but still quite enjoyable now. Bouquet is backing off of the vegetal and pepper notes and giving up more of the underlying dark berry sweetness. I think this might be showing more heat than the non-blended Gerlach and Black Sears single vineyard bottles do. 5+10+16+8 = 89 (1459 views) | | | Tasted by fingers on 8/26/2013 & rated 90 points: Notes after 1hr open. Similar to floydtp's cork, this showed about a 1/4" of seepage. I think the color has also lightened a bit since my first bottle 13 months ago to a medium ruby, 70% saturated with wide, very slow and clear legs. The nose is not profound, but perfumed nicely and gaining in complexity now. A bit less vegetal than before and the dominant cassis is mixing with the pepper, tobacco, and floral notes and creating a bouquet that leads me to think even better days are ahead. The palate is also more complex than before and displays a very nimble structure as I feel a happy dance going on in my mouth that I don't get from most Cali Cabs. If I didn't know better, I'd think some Grenache had made it into the barrel ;) I'm loving the delicacy and balance of this and feeling pretty good about where this wine is heading. I'm not sensing any overt alcohol as some other reviews have noted. Good to go now, but still on it's way up. 5+11+16+8 = 90 (1538 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 5/20/2013 & rated 91 points: Consistent with previous note, after three hours of air, this really took on some gorgeous floral aromas. (1306 views) | | | Tasted by floydtp on 5/18/2013 & rated 88 points: Tasted non-blind at home. I noted that the wine had soaked through a little more than half the cork all the way around so hopefully this cork is an anomoly otherwise these might not age as long as we would like. PnP'd a small sample then slow oxed. Initial sample had notes of green pepper, black currants and quite a bit of alcohol. On the palate, it was mostly cassis with just a hint of green pepper. The medium length finish was mostly sour fruit and maybe the tiniest hint of leather. Medium-firm tannins but not as much as I was expecting.
I slow oxed it for 5 hours then decanted for another 3-4 before taking to a large tasting. I ended up not taking detailed notes but did taste it alongside 30+ mostly Napa cabs of varying pedigree that were very young on average. I remember the alcohol being upfront both on the nose and palate and that the wine wasn't remarkable in any other way especially in comparison to the other cabs in the tasting. (1288 views) | | | Tasted by annerk on 3/6/2013 & rated 90 points: 50+5+12+16+7 mountain fruit dominates in the 50-50 blend. Nice tannins. Should age well for another 5+ years. Great QPR. (1508 views) | | | Tasted by hellowine on 1/27/2013 & rated 92 points: Tasted at NoVA offline last night courtesy of Grayfont. Great salinity, black fruits, meatiness. Delicious. (1562 views) | | | Tasted by grayfont on 1/26/2013 & rated 90 points: January 2013 CT Northern Virginia Off-Line "The Inaugural" (AngryPrez's home, Falls Church VA): decanted 4 hours & then returned to bottle for serving an hour later. I think 8 hours decanting would have been even better at this point. The nose is pure napa (I got a touch of a green note but I'm very sensitive to that) with loads of dark fruit and a rich full mouthfeel. Very well enjoyed. (1731 views) | | | Tasted by ericindc on 1/26/2013 & rated 87 points: Big alcohol nose with mainly coffee. Black fruits, bitter, nicely saline in the middle, with pretty big and drying tannins. Most people at the offline liked this, but i didnt get it.
Tasted at the DC/NOVA offline (1288 views) | | | Tasted by Rob MacKay on 1/22/2013: Decanted this for 7 hours this time and it really helped to open up the wine. I'd recommend this for any of these CT cabs if you are going to drink them in the near term. (1172 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 12/9/2012 & rated 91 points: Nice nose of black currant, blackberry, spicy oak, red plum. On the palate black currant, red currant, blackberry, hints of cedar. Substantial tannins and great acidity. Needs more time to integrate. Hold 3+ years. (1212 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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