MacDonald vertical

In tasting order.

• 2014 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  A more effusive showing of this wine (and certainly on the nose) than a bottle last year. A distinct red currant profile on the nose, which is made even more stark given the 2015 alongside (which is black currant). There's a lithe elegance that doesn't show on most other wines in the vertical tonight. I loved the aromatics here -- there's a coolness to the fruit profile. On the other hand, the palate feels a little weak and missing the oomph of the better vintages that were opened tonight.

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• 2015 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Quite a strong vintage contrast between the cooler, red-accented 2014 and this wine, which features a black fruit profile. The nose isn't as expressive here, there's almost a touch of closedness from the stern black fruit. On the palate, there are definitely strong cassis vibes, and the tannins are still incredibly youthful and coarse. An unabashedly brawny wine.

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• 2010 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  I think this was the runt of the litter. It feels to me that the style is not as dialled in as the vintages 10 years younger. Starting to show some nascent secondary maturity, there's a distinct earthiness that every other wine didn't have, and the quality of the fruit here isn't as transparent. It's a great wine, no doubt, but the modern iterations show a marked improvement in style. And just to be extra clear, I don't think this suffered on account of its age.

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• 2013 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  I quite like the modest sweetness of the fruit here, with a very nice mix of red and black. This is kind of like a more sedate version of the 2015, where everything is not full-throttle. Or as I put it at the time, the 2015 but calm your tits. The tannins aren't as prickly and harsh -- there's an emergent worn leather quality to the texture here.

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• 2016 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  My favourite of the evening. Kind of has a juicy, Swedish berry quality to the fruit here. It's so incredibly perfumed and expressive, but with a lovely freshness to the fruit as well. Silky tannins that are nowhere as prominent as the 2015. For my palate, this comes across like a more refined, fuller 2014, in that the fruit profile leans red, but in this case, riper. Crystalline purity to that fruit, too. Brilliant.

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• 2017 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Surely it can't be a surprise that this is one of my less favourite vintages tonight. Again, like the 2014, this has a relatively lighter disposition. The fruit profile is very clean and bright, but overall on the palate, this doesn't feel like it's as properly integrated as the better vintages tonight, with angular tannins and slightly prickly oak and alcohol.

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• 2018 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Despite what most others at the table said, this was better than the 2019. There's an expansiveness on the palate here that I just really love. Intense fruit perfume, with a bent towards red fruit. Plush and expressive, this is full-throttled MacDonald in all the best ways. The tannins aren't as pronounced as I would have expected for a wine of this age which makes this particularly approachable right now.

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• 2019 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Most of the people at the table preferred this to the 2018 alongside -- they are all wrong. This is a coiled up ball of cabernet right now. Not giving on the nose or palate, just a structural concretion of black fruit, tannins, and raw potential. I expect to see great things from this wine in the future, but for drinking now, I think it's a bit of a waste.

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• 2021 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Just way too young. May as well be a barrel sample at this point. This is the only wine where the oak lactones are at the forefront. Quite disjoint, with the fruit, alcohol, and tannins all kind of elbowing each other out. Like the 2019, not too interesting to open now, though I would not be surprised at all that this rounds out and improves in the next decade, especially given how the older vintages of this wine showed.

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• NV J.L. Vergnon Champagne Grand Cru Conversation Blanc de Blancs 88 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Disgorged December 21, 2022. A pleasant, relatively rounded Champagne. Not too complex, though for my taste, the rounded, peachy fruit helps give this wine more breadth on the palate.

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• 2015 Michel Gonet Champagne Grand Cru Le Mesnil sur Oger Blanc de blancs 83 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Disgorged June 2023, 0 g/L dosage. Really didn't like this at all. Thin, emaciated, and angular, with sour lemon acidity dominating over everything else. Short on the palate. Very much the opposite of what I want in champagne, and a great exemplar of what I dislike about these 0 g/L champagnes.

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• 2019 001 Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon Ecotone Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Definitely a step down in quality from the MacDonald alongside. This doesn't have the fruit presence of its bigger brother -- it's a little cooler, so the structural elements and oak seem to stick out much more, without that cushion of fruit to blend everything together.

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• 2021 001 Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon Ecotone Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Similar to the 2019, this just isn't as good as its big brother of the same vintage. It's very much lighter and missing the fruit plushness that the MacDonald has, even if it has substantially the structure, minerality, and tannins. The oak lactones show too prominently here for my taste.

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• 1966 Charles Krug Winery (Peter Mondavi Family) Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection Flawed

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Corked.

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• 1966 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Definitely shows its age. Some rustiness along the edges, both in terms of colour and on the palate. Quite rustic, there's a slight hint of brett here. Fully mature, this was probably better a decade ago, as the fruit has faded significantly, and this is almost all mulchy, autumnal tones.

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• 1978 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 98 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I don't know what happened with the previous bottle of this wine that I had, but tonight's bottle is among the best Napa cabernet I've ever tasted. Tastes a decade and a half younger than it is, with this incredible dried red fruit perfume on the nose. Stunning aromatics and freshness, with maturity in all the right places. On the palate, this is similarly ridiculously fresh and bright with that old school cabernet complexity -- leather, pencil shavings, and dried figs. Remarkable.

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