Tasted this from bottle on PnP. Has some of the typical 17 qualities of redder fruit and higher acidity, but also is a very complete wine. Fairly lean initially, with lots of blackberries, loamy earth, stark mineral driven flavors and big time tannin. Well structured and built for the long haul, the fruit here was subdued, but likely will show more with a little age and more air. Very long on the finish and an excellent wine given the vintage. 94+

Tasted from barrel. Fantastic expressive nose reminded me a bit of his Cliff Lede BTK from barrel, with black cherry, forest floor, creme de cassis and violets. Still primary, but undeniably pure, rich and layered, I'd expect this to put on some weight and be quite stunning. Lovely integration of expressive fruit and serious backbone, with notable fine tannins and significant length. This was just a tick less concentrated than the 2019. 97-98+

This was a WOW wine right out of the barrel. Coming right after the 2018, this was surprisingly showing even better. Very similar nose as the 18, with lots of expressive creme de cassis, black cherry, violets and forest floor. Chewy tannin gives way to excellent backbone. Super pure and amazingly concentrated, this showed serious depth and great potential to be something near perfect when it gets to bottle. Obviously this is very early (about 10 days in barrel), so lots of potential variability here. 98-100

Drank on PnP. A very typical 2011 nose, with green bell pepper, black olives, menthol, tobacco and lots of herbal qualities. With the aroma, I was prepared for this to be extremely lean, but it actually showed quite a lot of richness for the vintage. Not much fruit showing, but very savory, with earthy and mineral driven flavors abound. As Chris said well, this is a wine you drink on a cold day in your smoking jacket hanging around the house. Showed the potential to age for many more years. Not my favorite profile, but impressive achievement for 2011.

This was certainly the surprise of the tasting. PnP in the cave. This showed just about everything you could want from a wine. Very complex nose of cassis fruit, tobacco, loamy soil and lots of mineral driven goodness. On the palate this is a joy to drink as it melds pure, concentrated and fabulous Napa fruit with exceptional balance, structure and sophistication. There is well rounded-ness and polish to this wine that is undeniable. The tannins are powerful but integrated, and there is no doubt this will continue to age gracefully for a long time to come.