Mocha, currant and some blackberry flavors coming out after a while. This wine really smoothed out with 30 minutes of air time. Good finish.

Old & dying. This wine's better days are long gone. It's fading fast. Really not much left to analyze. It did get marginally better with some air time, but it quickly plateaued and began to show browning on the edges.

Color was a little light. Medium bodied wine. Nose of blackberry and something earthlike that we couldn't pin down. Flavors of blackberry, cherry, mocha and some spice. Mouthfeel was pretty light, and the finish was short.

This still has a lot of life left in it. Good dark fruit flavors, and an improving mouthfeel. Love this wine.

Big, buttery and oaky. Just like remembered and enjoyed. It was even better when no one misplaces their purse...

Seemed much lighter this time than previous tastings, though it was not sour at all like it was at the release party. Red licorice nose, a lot of dark fruit flavors, and a nice finish. This wine is very approachable now.

This time I got mostly currant flavors. Still had the same great mouthfeel, and only took about 20 minutes to open up. Really great value.

Good dark fruit flavors, and much bigger than I remembered. I have always thought I liked the Arctos much more than Ursa, but this tasting will make me rethink that.

This was a very fruity cab. It was a little light in color, but turned out to be suprisingly substantial. This was definately a crowd pleaser. None of the bell pepper flavors that were mentioned in the WS review were present in this bottle. None at all - only fruit. There is no way that this wine deserves an 82 score like WS gave it. That's just plain wrong.

Very nice plum and blackberry flavors. That distinctive Howell Mountain earthy flavor was there, and I picked it in a blind tasting. Got the year and the wine wrong, but nailed Howell Mountain. I enjoyed this wine very much, and I usually do not care a whole lot for Howell Mountain wines. Also had the Nickel & Nickel Vogt cab from Howell this evening and liked that as well. Maybe I need to revisit some of the other Howell Mountain wineries.

My first Leonetti Merlot. Nose of oak and dark fruits. Big flavors of currants, blackberries, and some earthiness. Great velvety mouthfeel, and a pretty good finish. Really enjoyed this wine. This one was right up there with the merlots from Lewis and Paloma.

Drank this right after a 2001 Leonetti Merlot. We knew there was Leonetti fruit in here, but it's hard to beat a Leonetti Merlot. This seemed even lighter in the middle than it did before. But there is still some greatness in this bottle. Wish we hadn't consumed all 3 we had so early, but it was hard to hold off.

Barnyard nose that turned to earth and something like cedar. Earthy flavors with dark fruits in there as well. One of the more enjoyable Howell Mountain wines that I have had - but that distinctive earth flavor was still present.

Didn't seem like quite the blockbuster it did back in April, but this wine was in some serious company on this evening. Very nice cherry and currant flavors with a great mouthfeel. Great memories of our first Napa trip too.

On opening there were candied plum flavors that turned to dark fruits with some earth. Very smooth mouthfeel and a long finish. It was New Year's Eve, and this bottle didn't stand a chance to be left alone to really open up, but it was much more enjoyable than the 2001 vintage that I had previously had.

Little bit too sharp and acidic to be really enjoyable, but not too bad.