12/5/2019 - NathanT wrote:

Popped the Maison Ilan branded cork, quickly double decanted the wine, poured back into the bottle, and recorked. Opened after 1 hour for dinner with grilled chicken and basmati rice.

Poured a translucent ruby red into a glass that turned dark ruby as the wine mixed with ambient environment, which stayed comfortably at 73F.

Nose of sweet red cherries at the initial bloom. Pure and singular. As the chemical reactions progress in the glass, a different aroma was noticed, more savory, darker, but keeping the sweet cherries characteristics. Some reminiscence of sweet oak, but much faded.

Like a sluggish person just awakened from a deep slumber, the wine seemed heavy and slow to excite the palate. Here the fruit seemed to be vacillating between the spicy, vibrant red and dull, dark plum. As the dinner hours started to wind down, the wine started to pick up pace, but too little, too late. The stomach had been filled and the palate was fatigued.

This wine is hard to judge as there is potential there, but time did not stop for potential to blossom at this dinner. Then again, when the wine was priced like it was in 2013, potential was already priced in. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that the market has spoken loudly in the discounted price when potential did not materialize. The wine was fine to drink, however.

8/25/2018 - NathanT wrote:

Clearly a modern barolo, and I'm a fan. Delicious expressive fruit blended so well with fine tannins, spices, and medium acidity. Although present, barolo characteristics (tar, rose, bitterness) were more in the background behind layers of delicious fruit. Sweet alluring aroma of bright rich red cherries, dark berries, and slight floral scents. Drinking very well with just about an hour of air in the bottle.

12/27/2016 - NathanT wrote:

Wax covered an authentic drc capsule. Cork came out intact. Lovely Ruby color with orange tint at the edge. Sweet aroma of ripe berries, honey. Very much alive and blossoming. Palate was greeted with an initial slight sweetness that transformed into ripe, red berries flavors. Very smooth and pure. Mild acidity provided some freshness. No tannins were detected. This had a delicious factor but was not heavy in any way. Very, very nice bottle of Pinot noir. This was served after a 1959 Latour. I have to give it to the Latour as the better of the two.

7/30/2016 - NathanT wrote:

First of all, I really appreciate a chance to try these so called cult high powered Napa wines. And the review is specifically about the wine, and this is just my impression of it.

The wine was in a decanter for about an hour and I spent about 30 minutes with it in the glass.

The wine had this dark purple tint to it. This is the first I noticed such a color so dominantly geared towards purple.

Sweet fruit nose with some oak and floral note. The aroma similar to most Napa wines although the best aroma to me has some spices in the mix. I didn't detect any spices in this bottle.

The palate was greeted with a layer of chalky, dusty film before the underlining fruit flavor emerged. I did not like the nature of such a dusty, chalky texture. I prefer gritty, fine grains type of texture.

The fruit was a good combination of blue and dark fruit, and it could have been a stand out delicious component of the wine. Unfortunately, it was not dominating, and thereby, took a backseat.

The wine was not tannic, which is surprising since this is a 2012. I highly doubted that the tannins were completely resolved and integrated at this time as some have alluded to. This type of reaction takes time, sometimes requires decades for the high molecular weight tannic acids to react with themselves and other components of the wines.

The acidity was in the light range, and the wine had a slight drag to it.

Overall, I don't think the 95+ scores are justified for this wine. The differential bias may have come from the price range and the mystified nature of exclusivity from the cult wines. If I can freely associate a score to this, it would have been a 90. Even with a 90 score, there is already some of my own positive bias towards the wine given its stature.

11/8/2013 - NathanT wrote:

This bottle performed very well considering that there were a few of Bordeaux first growths on the table. As a matter of taste, it has a beautiful fruit layer that covering different ends of the spectrum, mixed with different spices. These old Napa wines are always a real treat.

4/25/2014 - NathanT wrote:

In an aromatic sense, the wine is beautiful, a wonderful nose that captured the imagination of the palate. Once settled on the palate, the wine expressed sweet fruit mixed with dirt and bitter melon. I do hope with time, the bitter component of the wine won't be as noticeable as this current bottle. Good wine, just too young for now for me. I didn't decant by the way.

11/5/2013 - Tim Heaton wrote:

consistent with the 5 prior bottles, getting better and better. Should peak in 3-4 years and remain there for some time. 13,0% abv

8/10/2013 - NathanT wrote:

3 hours in the decanter

Color- dark, slight purple brown.

Nose- ripe fruit, rich, with slight floral touch. Very good fruit mixture with a touch of Cali pinot twist to it.

Taste- did not match the nose. Red and some dark fruit. Very good acidity backbone mixed very well with the fruit blend. Medium bodied. Some texture. Medium tannins. Good length and slight bitterness on the finish.

6 hours in the decanter, last pour.

Nose- much more expressive than previously. Cali pinot twist was gone.

Palate- Same flavor profile, but much more balanced and toned down. No bitterness on the finish.

5/23/2013 - NathanT wrote:

Beautifully aged bottle. Dull dark maroon color. Sweet dark cherry liquor aroma with lots of alcohol. Bright lively acidity and alcohol gave an intense initial taste that eventually exposed the red cherry, sweet liquor. Medium finish with no tannins. Popped and poured.

About 2 years ago, this wine went through a phase where all I could taste was the metallic alcohol. Now, it has aged beautifully, but on the decline. Have 8 left.

3/16/2013 - NathanT wrote:

K&L #3

Appearance- dark ruby, darker as more time in the glass.

Nose- most complex out of 3, lots of oak, nice fruit, some spices, slight soy, alcohol not distracting at first but brought heat later.

Palate- tannic, chalky, hollow tannins, did not seem to blend well. Good fruit. No green. Medium acidity. Medium finish. Not much intensity. Ok, not great texture. Not as vibrant. Has all the right components, did not seem to integrate at the time. Big wine.