Community Tasting Note

• Mark1npt Likes this wine: 92 points

  February 7, 2021 - A nice bottle, no real hint of being 8 years old. Fruit still very strong and dark, color dark, however the nose just a bit restrained overall. Not nearly as perfumed or floral as the bottle of '14 from last week. This'13 seems to be missing something, can't quite put my finger on it. It's very good but a good 2 or 3 points less than the '14 right now. Open to room temp and consumed over 3 or 4 hours with HMC on SB Sunday. It stayed consistent with no drop off over time but didn't improve further either. A very nice wine overall.

  4 people found this helpful 5,195 views

30 Comments

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  2/8/21, 9:36 AM - I liked this a bit more than you did, and the bottle evolved differently, more like what Sean describes. It was pretty tight on opening, wonderful after a couple of hours for a couple of hours, then clenched again on night 2. My sense is that the best days are still ahead for this wine, but it’s hard to know for sure. Btw, the ‘05 vintage, the last pre-Benoit, which you put me onto, is still drinking magically with no sign of fading. One of the best app wines I’ve had.

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/8/21, 9:46 AM - So good to hear, sf. Wish I had some of those.....I really, really liked the '14 last week. Still going very strong but the perfumed floral nose was like Pontet Canet! Heaven.....I have one more '13 and will hold it for another year or two. I'm really curious if the Benoit wines will hang as long and stay as good as the pre Benoit wines have? This '13 was still very nice but that '14 was even better, IMO.....

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  2/8/21, 9:54 AM - Just noticed that CT decided it liked its word choice better than mine. App should be qpr. Agree will it be interesting to see if Benoit can capture the longevity of his predecessor.

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/8/21, 10:08 AM - sf, I have liked Realm, though currently only buying Bard as I just need to scale back on costs. Not sure if these bigger, silkier fruit bombs from him will last like the old ones? Will any Venge or Mike Smith wines, either? I tend to think no....but yet they seem to say they will go 20-30 years. My worry is many of these current wines won't be what we are expecting them to be by then, they won't be like the 15-20 yo Napa cabs we've been drinking in the past.....

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  2/8/21, 11:07 AM - Mark: I’m far from an expert on Benoit; all I’ve had is this and the ‘14 FM LPV. I thought that both of those wines were well-structured, more likely to have 15+ runs of really good drinking and distinguishable from the wines of Mike Smith and Kirk Venge, which at their best, offer incredibly pure fruit out of the bottle in their infancy, but with relatively high abv and light structure, are unlikely to really develop, and in fact will struggle to hold quality even over 10 years (I personally think that the entry level of wines of Smith and Venge don’t offer even that, but agree to respectfully disagree about wines like Silencieux, Scarlet and Becklyn NV). On the other hand, I had a ‘13 Bevan Tench EE a couple of months ago which I thought was early drinking window, likely to be really good for at least another 5-10, and the ‘09 Outpost True was also drinking beautifully a few months ago. So, both personal tastes and bottling to bottling, imo. Certainly interesting to discuss.

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/8/21, 11:51 AM - sf, we are more similar than you know! I am in agreement with your Smith/Venge drinking windows, too. Seems so many now are just into making pure fruit pleasure for immediate consumption vs any aging whatsoever......it's like we are now a country if ADHD wine drinkers!

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  2/8/21, 12:07 PM - We’re way more similar than not! My tastes are just a bit more classic, yours a bit more modern, but we both like a variety of varietals, styles and vintages (you definitely drink more Bordeaux and I more Tuscan/Rhône, but I’m certainly not adverse to drinking more Bordeaux!). Your tastings with HMC are also an inspiration of mine with A_M. As an aside, I think that not only are we a nation of adhd wine drinkers, we’re an adhd nation, full stop, alas.

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/8/21, 12:27 PM - Yep, big time ADHD Nation! I do have more fruit bombs now than I ever have....but I'll be 'circling back'....to traditional aged Napa and BDX over the next 10 years, I'm sure......I like them all. Carol, not so much...she's a real fruit bomb ho'.....and she knows it too, so I don't even get any satisfaction out of referring to her as such!

• Cablover1982 commented:

  2/9/21, 8:46 AM - Mark - Thanks for the notes. Now I’m wondering if I should open the 2013 this week or 2014. Maybe give 2013 a 4-6 hour decant? Or just not mess with and go straight to 14!

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/9/21, 9:15 AM - Open which ever you have more of! Both good! I just preferred the perfume of the '14 right now. Seems to be the more complete wine right now. Just bought the last 2 Vivino had.

• Cablover1982 commented:

  2/9/21, 9:17 AM - Oh my god. It was you! I was eyeing those last 2 hahaha ! Nice going man. And sounds good. Thanks !

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/9/21, 10:32 AM - Lol.....I left them there for 2 weeks and finally succumbed to the temptation....luckily someone already beat me to the last of the '13s or I might have scarfed them up, too. $99 is a great value for that '14 and especially the way it's drinking right now......

• Cablover1982 commented:

  2/9/21, 10:40 AM - Haha. Nice. The last 13s? I got them haha. Too good of a deal man. Cheers. Can’t wait to try these!

• Mark1npt commented:

  2/9/21, 11:33 AM - You gotta be kidding! Too funny!

• Bin707LoversDetroit commented:

  7/24/21, 9:58 PM - Another great review! Thanks for sharing. The follow up comments are terrific assistance as well. This for us WANTED to be more impactful, more memorable, but something was holding it back. Still really good juice, but it seemed to be poised for an epic 93+ yet never got there for us... We'll try the next one in many years to see if it smooths out and into that AMAZING world (and score). Be well.

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/24/21, 10:34 PM - I don’t think im not opening a 2013 until 2022. Seems at a very tight spot right now

• Bin707LoversDetroit commented:

  7/25/21, 6:32 AM - Cab, thanks, you say that yet you noted you really enjoyed your '10 in 2021...
  
  Maybe we're just novice (yup) but we set up these beauties in reference to our Penfolds-love. Bin 389 we don't touch for pertineer a decade. Even Bin 707 Cabernet racks over 15 years for us. And these Hartwells are taking $199.99 per on Vivino today.
  
  This juice is as well or better built than 389, the punt is deep, bottle heavy, scores high, and all the drinking windows on CT, vintage after vintage, seem to be 6-15 years...
  
  So, yeah, we'll keep our other two-vivino-bought 2013 beverages (for $63 each) for another year or more each, just to see...
  
  Maybe you'll come on by in 2023 and try it at a decade!!!
  
  We're really looking forward to seeing where these go!
  
  Thanks! Love this site and all the conversations.
  
  Noroc.

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/25/21, 7:25 AM - Bin707......glad you are enjoying this forum! So many good people here. Cab and I have been enjoying these Hartwell for quite some time. The '14 of this is really doing well right now with a healthy decant. Much more ready to drink than the '13 IMO. Cheers!

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/25/21, 7:33 AM - Bob: nice insight on the age. I definitely want to hold the 2013 and 2014 for a decade. Experiencing how 2010 went, I won’t be surprised if these still taste wonderful in 2023/2024.
  In addition to those, I also have a 2011 that I will open end of the year!
  Great price! Mark and I and few others for these beauties at that amazing 65$ price!

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/25/21, 7:44 AM - Cab...lol....but the '14 is sooo good now!

• Bin707LoversDetroit commented:

  7/25/21, 7:49 AM - And hope you dig the pics we added, w our grapes & Stilton cheese, and w our corkboard...
  
  BTW we also pulled the trigger on those Sterling Iridium bottles for $90 with Viv when we got this Hartwell juice...
  
  Enjoy, all!
  
  Noroc.

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/25/21, 8:47 AM - Mark : I’m gonna have to open one of these before our trip to Napa (Thursday)

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/25/21, 8:49 AM - Bin707: nice 👍🏼. Good finds. Another one I recommend is Amulet Red Blend 2014 : one of the best wines we tasted this year! It’s a Melka wine with premier Beckstoffer fruit.

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/25/21, 8:56 AM - Lol....binging BEFORE you go to Napa? Lots of guts! I usually try not to drink at all for a few days before flying out!

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/25/21, 10:22 AM - Mark ha. Just softly priming myself for the Napa nectars in actual Napa!

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/25/21, 11:39 AM - Cab, jealous of all yougoing out there this year. My trip in Sept during covid and with the fires was very underwhelming. I bet they are firing on all cylinders, now! Have a great time! Drink a bottle, or seven for me.....

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/25/21, 12:41 PM - Mark : tough luck about that trip. Looks like they are doing well. It’s busy. And will definitely taste the best I can.

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/25/21, 12:49 PM - No worries, Cab....I took my sons out with us and we had some great family time, even if the wines weren't that great (they were pouring a lot of their '17s) we were often the only ones in the winery all day! And it was the only week out of 3 months where there were no fires and no smoke in the valley. We were tremendously lucky......

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/25/21, 8:59 PM - Nice to hear that Mark. Family plus wine - love it. Weather is looking like low 80s there when we go. Hope it stays nice! Added Chase Cellars to the tasting menu!

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/26/21, 11:26 AM - Cab, looks like you'll have a good time! Have a ton of fun!

Add a Comment