Light gold color. The nose shows creme brulee with some nail polish and a hint of apricot. This is the most delicious, honeyed nectar I have ever tasted. Open and delicious (unlike a 1990 which I tasted last June). This was an AMAZING pairing with sauteed foie gras on brioche and sauteed mango slices, so perhaps my score is a little carried away.

This is a gorgeous, mature California Cab that is drinking beautifully. Very light color. This shows a hint of mint with a slightly medicinal overtone. This is very earthy and mushroomy with a slightly sweaty element. That said, this shows sweet, pure, black fruit on the palate. There is lots of life left in this wine, very soft and resolved with a lot of acidity on the finish. This was served with tuna loin stuffed with herbs & feta. James acquired this bottle directly from the winery after a lot of bargaining.

This was far, far better than the last bottle I tasted at Patrick's. Very light in color with obvious bricking. This has soaring aromatics that I feel very high in my nasal cavity. The signature element of this wine is amazing spiciness with an almost Asian characteristic. What a nose!!! On the palate this only shows medium power with a really spicy and silky feel. Delicious wine. Served with grilled duck breast and a honey tangerine and plum reduction.

This was my bottle (a magnum), and I am now 4 for 4 with this wine. This wine consistently takes me to my "happy place." This shows a stunningly youthful nose of tobacco, minerals and black fruit. The cassis and purity on the attack is just mindblowing. This is clearly the most youthful of the four bottles of this I have tasted. This wine is utterly seamless, just so smooth and powerful from entry all the way through the 30 second finish. Served with a timbale of wild grains, sauteed leeks and grilled portabello mushroom.

The nose shows cedar, lead pencil and a hint of coffee (as suggested by Aaron). This is still very tight and not giving much right now, the most closed of three tastes I have had of this. That said, there is clearly so much lurking under the surface. For me this was a disappointing showing, as I have seen what this wine can do with 12+ hours of decanting. It needs time, lots more time. This was served with two dishes. Roasted quail over sauteed red cabbage (and apple?) along with greens in a vinaigrette. The latter was tasty, but the vinaigrette was utterly palate smashing and an insanely tough match with the wine. The second course was tri-tip beef in a wine reduction served atop potato gratin.

This was a controversial wine at the tasting, especially following the other mature wines. I found it to be both insanely impressive and enjoyable. The nose shows lots of volatile acidity, violet, raspberry, a simply soaring nose. The palate is just unreal, amazingly concentrated, pure, powerful, structured and long. The balance on this was amazing, but this is not a wine for the tannin averse. This has a stunning amount of structure, almost jaw crushing. I have never tasted so much power in a non-Australian dry red wine. Remarkable. We all wondered how it would age. Served with filet mignon in a cabernet and demi glace reduction.

This was an unreal port. Spirit, coffee, lilac, and violet, oh my! This is amazingly smooth, complex and long. Hurt me! Served with molten chocolate cake, another ultimate match.

This is a 5 varietal Bordeaux blend. The nose shows caramel with a slightly green, stemmy note. This shows a bit grapey with a lot of brown sugar but has nice grip and spice.

Aaron made this wine, and served to him blind he knew it down to the vintage. Very impressive. This has amazing minerality. A hint of lead pencil and maybe some licorice. This shows somewhat tannic but is also quite approachable.

Gary brought this wine. Wow, this is jammy, black and awesome with sweet fruit and very nice grip, typical Klipsun. A number of folks mentioned "fruit cake" as a descriptor.

Poured by Ron Lachini. Funky and mushroomy with some pretty strawberry. This is quite ripe but with really nice acid. A really nice Oregon Pinot.

Poured by Ron Lachini. Vanilla, piercing cherry and charcoal with obvious heat. (The label shows a whopping 14.9% alcohol. Is this a Zinfandel?) The fruit is stunningly plush and spicy with nice structure. The finish shows a certain raspiness from the alcohol. This was recently bottled and really needs some time to settle down, but it is also a very ripe style. I preferred the 2001 by a wide margin.

60% merlot, 34% cab sauv, 6% cab franc. This was a very nice mouthful of Washington wine, nicely balanced and structured, settling down well. I would be happy to drink this any day of the week.