Community Tasting Note

• Badmonkey wrote: 94 points

  December 7, 2017 - Decided to give this a shot in light of the great vintage and professional reviews - 95 to 97 from Parker and 98 from James Suckling. Dark red and black fruit - dark cherry, blackberry, and dark currants. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth. Flavors of dark berries, some spice, and a little mineral component. Nice finish but not overly long nor deep - it needs some more time to open-up on the back-end in my opinion. Decanted for two hours and drank over another two. Improved with time and enjoyable after the decant, however, once again this vintage needs some more time for the fruit to soften and open-up which is no surprise in light of the vintage and producer. According to Suckling, drink in 2020 which I can't argue.

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6 Comments

• #1Winelover commented:

  12/7/17, 5:17 AM - Interesting note with comparable professional reviews. I shared a bottle of '07 Dunn Howell Mtn last night. It was good, but a little light on it's feet. My buddy brought the bottle, we were both expecting a really big effort, but it was just a nice enjoyable bottle. Nothing wrong with it - nothing memorable.

• Badmonkey commented:

  12/7/17, 6:06 AM - #1winelover, this vintage is clearly going to get better with some time but that's the dilemma that I always face with Dunn cabs is when are they going to show their best. I guess that doesn't surprise me in regards to the 2007 vintage. I had a bottle of the 2008 vintage a couple months ago and it was good but I was somewhat underwhelmed especially in consideration of Parker's 98 rating - although it apparently needs more time as well. I don't believe I've ever had a Dunn cab in its prime - at least in consideration of the high ratings they tend to get from the professionals. Although I would probably say the same for a number of other producers like Spottswoode and Phillip Togni where due to the style of their cabs they need a lot longer to develop. Probably the reason why I tend to gravitate towards Mike Smith's cabs since they usually drink quite well after a year or two in light of his style. Takes a lot of guessing out of the equation in regards to prime drinking time. Take care.

• Eye Drink Reds commented:

  12/7/17, 11:34 AM - Dunn, especially the HM, always requires patience. You have to also understand that Dunn's style is more old school and NOT modern/in-your-face style of winemaking where the fruit hits you like a tank, hence, you don't see the big 96-99 scores from Parker. However, Galloni is a big Dunn fan because he tends to appreciate the more nuance style that Dunn delivers.
  
  For a more 'forward' (again relatively) Dunn HM, you should try the 2001 and 2003, which are drinking great right now. I'm actually a fan of in-you-face Napa style (e.g. Hundred Acres, Buccella, Bevan, Hobbs), but have quite a few Dunn HMs to balance things out ;)

• Badmonkey commented:

  12/7/17, 11:49 AM - Eye Drink Reds, I knew it probably wasn't ready in light of my experience with previous vintages. However, in consideration of Parker's anticipated maturity for this vintage of 2014 to 2040 I figured I would give it a shot with a decent decant. I should have known better. I'll have to keep my eyes out for some younger vintages. I have a couple bottles of the 2008 and 2009 vintages but they apparently need some more time as well. I believe Galloni recommended around 2030 for the 2008 vintage. Take care.

• amauryc1 commented:

  5/26/18, 6:58 PM - Badmonkey,. Michael Dunn, Randy's son has started to take over the production so, like the 13 they will be more approachable early but will still be much better after bottle aging.
  
  I'm drinking 2005 Dunn now and it's awesome, but again it's totally different than any of Mike's wines. I would put Dunn in the same category maybe a half notch below Spottswoode. You can find older Dunn's in auction for decent prices if you want to give them a shot. 2003 (2hr decant),2005(2hr decant), 2007 (4hr decant), 2010 (4hr decant) and 2011 (slow ox and 1hr decant) are drinking great now.

• Badmonkey commented:

  5/27/18, 6:03 AM - amauryc1, I've always enjoyed Dunn's Napa Valley and Howell Mtn. cabs - especially the Howell Mtn. I have some bottles of the 2008 and 2009 vintages that I should revisit soon. I also picked-up some of the 2013 in light of the great vintage but I'm going to give those bottles more time. I wasn't aware that Randy's son was taking over production - good to know. Take care.

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