Very nice. Moderate toasty notes. Yellow apples and pears with some nice peachy stone fruit. Touches of funk with moderate light caramel molasses.
Palate had fine bubbles. Very tasty and still youthful.

Also very enjoyable. Tasted alongside the 2004 Delamotte. This was brighter toned. Nice yellow apples and pears as well as some lemon and lime citrus notes. Lots of acid on the palate. Lots of yellow yellow fruit. Really nice. Not as complex or as much depth as the Delamotte but everyone enjoyed tasting these side by side. Great start to the evening of 'X9s.

Wow. This was a fantastic experience with Pierre Peters for me. Gorgeous and unique nose. Very yeasty and some enjoyable vegetal notes. Savory with a brine element that I fell for.
The palate showed more supple peach and apricot with lemon and lime again. All citrus and stone fruit. Some serious funk on the nose as well that I enjoyed. Fantastic finish. So young. Big fan already of this producer.

This is a unique styling of SB. it is super green and grassy but definitely saw some oak. Under ripe apple and pear with some unique tropical elements.
Can tell a few years are under its belt but the palate is very well integrated. Medium bodied and some floral elements coming through with some air.
This is a SB that can age for years.

Absolutely one of the wines of the night.
You could tell this was a super quality producer. And in fact, I called Pritchard Hill.
Super creamy and plush. Loads of ripe fruit. Baking spices, some floral notes. Mineral elements.
This was a layered wine that still so very very young with the air Ken gave it, showed its stuff well.
Super sexy.

Fresher qualities with rustic tannins. Blue and purple fruit for days. Very nice. Brighter elements and a more balanced finish than lots of the wines tonight.

Classic understated qualities. Very nice but lacking the layers of the other wines as a whole.
Nice dark red fruit and spice. Some oak present but again lots of restraint and austerity.

Nice change of pace from lots of the Napa Cabs. Rustic and elegant. Savory elements with a touch of stewed red fruit.
We all guessed 1999 Napa. Funny.

Upset I liked this as much as I did. Blind tasting for ya.
Elegant leather and savory soy with black tea leaves. Dark cherries and dark chocolate. Very nice.
Aged extremely well. Pre-modern Cali here.

Drinking very nicely now. Elegance and refinement. Dark red fruit, leather and aged tobacco leaf. Some nice mineral elements as well that I didn't find in all the Napa Cabs.
Palate is subtle and shows nice length with nice acidity. This showed very well but didn't have quite the length of some of the Calis but I really enjoyed this in the middle of the tasting.

Really nice wine here and wasn't even aware of this bottling. Lots of mountain fruit and right up front I love the blueberries, blackberries, some unique smokey elements and lots of purple flowers.
The finish is long and this is a winner. Needed some more time open but this is an under the radar recommendation.

Lots of fruit. Very creamy. Limited notes. Showed a lot of oak for me. Good but not worth the coin here. Too much. Didn't have the balance of most this night especially at that price point.

Didn't have the elegance or length of the rest of the pack tonight. Nice straight forward darker red fruit with a good dose of spice. Some austerity. The finish just wasn't there. Fine but I've had better Musar.

Another surprise of the evening this one I've tasted other vintages and we all came away happy with how this was showing.
Really lovely savory notes with soy and balsamic. Caramel doused, milk chocolate covered cherries and some fresh new leather.
Palate is long and the tannins are just so silky now. This was all about mouth feel.
There was the perfect amount of restraint as well that this had ample amounts of fruit but wasn't over the top. Again, this was another surprise from Mark Herold.

Really fun opening this. Most of the guys weren't familiar with the wine but some of them blind said it smelled like SQN - quite the compliment and they had no idea the connection.
Really exotic aromas of blood orange, blood covered cherries, smoke and some dark red and purple flowers.
The palate is really showing nicely and still has lots of body. Long finish that was funky and had the cult qualities I do actually find in SQN. Very nice and from this "maligned" vintage I'd say go out and find some more of the best producers - even in 2011 they put out good juice.

This was a real winner tonight. The second off theme bottle this was full throttle out of the gate. Decanted about six hours and this was undoubtedly SQN not the nose.
Super heady dark berry aromas coupled with camphor, exotic baking spices, freshly picked violets and bloody meat.
The palate was awesome with more dark fruit, smoke and forest floor. The finish went on and on. This showed some subtle signs of age but there is still lots of life left here.
Definitely prefer SQN with some years under their belt. Has more nuance and the finish is more balanced than young SQN.

This was the last wine of the evening and everyone was pretty beat but I wanted one more big boy to break out. Popped and threw into a decanter but this was showing well right out of the gate. Classic cults Napa creme de cassis, dark plum, milk chocolate, some smoke and leather with tobacco. The palate was very well endowed and again, for a 2011 this showed zero sign of dilution or whatever. It was gorgeous. Long finish with more dark purple and blue fruit and loads of milk chocolate. Yes, there was some nice oak but it wasn't overbearing and supported the fruit really well. Recommend again shooting for some of those 2011 that may be priced way below 2012, 13 etc. etc....