12/26/2023 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

I enjoyed this very much and was surprised at how good it was. It still has fruit, though it will not be getting any better. No noticeable bricking at the edges. Tannins are fully resolved and it retains the flavor profile of it's younger days and some freshness. I get cigar box which I love, dark fruits and light spice. I has a medium body, less of course than when young. I was happy it didn't feel tired as I had expected and is sometimes the case with wine this old, and it held on for the 2 hours it took us to finish the bottle. My wife, who likes mature wine less than I do, quite liked the wine. As fully aged wine the score would be a 93 or so. This bottle has had good storage and might hang on a while longer but I expect there is nothing to gain from waiting any longer.

4/3/2021 - CJChampion wrote:

seeing a little bottle variation now. opened 2 bottles in 3 days first was a 90 , full bodied with a good nose. the second, same flavor but more mature, more mature than I prefer, any freshness mostly gone, an 85 or so.. Drink up, unless you like them on the mature side these are not getting better.

3/18/2019 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Considering the age I was very happy with this bottle. Still has fruit, soft and rich, spicy notes and tannin fully resolved. Medium body and only minor bricking at the edge. I tasted virtually no oxidation and only the lightest of brett. Will it hold longer, it might but why wait? I suspect this was a little better a few years ago, and will be on a slow decline.

12/30/2018 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Very good wine nicely softened tannins , dark fruit still strong. This bottle is not tired and seems like it should hold for a few more years, though, nothing to gain from more time in bottle. Drink and enjoy!

4/7/2018 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Drank with a rich salmon dish, held up well. Full bodied with oak (not overdone) tight for first 15-20 min but opened up nicely. $40 is a little pricey though.

4/6/2018 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Wonderful complex nose ,on the palate plenty of dark fruit, tannins fully resolved. Though mature, and probably at peak, this wine still has a youthful nature. Glad to have a couple more of these

1/24/2018 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

P & P. Tight at first not much fruit. With a little open time the fruit began to emerge. The last glass 3 hours later was very good, wonderful dark sweet fruit, medium/full body , slight bricking. Tannins are soft and nose is very open. This bottle is younger than i expected for it’s 28 years . Happy to have a couple more.

7/9/2017 - CJChampion wrote:

Still has fruit, better than I expected for the age and vintage. Medium body with a nice spicy note, from the cab franc maybe? A little bricking at the edges and opened up nicely with about 30 minutes in the glass. I enjoyed this a lot but should be drunk up sooner rather than later.

3/5/2017 - CJChampion wrote:

delicious, medium body, tannins resolved into a smooth drink. Went well with pot roast. Still has fruit but is fully mature, time to drink em!

7/19/2016 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Loved it, wonderful open complex nose, dark fruit, medium full body and still good fruit. A very successful pick for my birthday!!!

7/8/2016 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Still good fruit! Good nose, a little earth dark cherry flavor a, very happily surprised given the age. Developed in glass for about an hour before it started to fade.

9/17/2015 - CJChampion wrote:

tight on opening, 15 min later opening up, in 30 minutes a beautiful, medium/full bodied cab. Lovely aromatics, long finish. Glad i have more. should hold for a few years.

8/27/2015 - CJChampion wrote:

Happily surprised, thought it might be past. On opening not much nose a little light in body. In 20 minutes the nose develloped and the palate and body began to fill in. After an hour this was a nice medium body mature cab with a good nose and nice finish. The next nite i finished the last glass in the bottle which had been gassed. It was still just a good the the day before, surprising for a 20 year cal cab. My last bottle. Drink up sooner than later. PS never had a bad bottle of KL

6/2/2015 - CJChampion wrote:

good mature pinot, notes of earth and spice, still has enough fruit left, but then I like mature wines. Probably a couple years left if it had good storage BUT not getting better IMHO- drink up

4/1/2015 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Just drank this last night, had forgotten I had it. I was ready for a tired over th hill bottle but it was great. A big wine still retaining lots of fruit and a little earth and never faded over the 3 hours it took to drink it. Very pleased.

2/8/2015 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Very good mature pinot. Still had nice fruit, real pinot nose with just the right amount of forest floor/earth. A little spice and a medium finish. This continued to open over the 2 hours it took to finish the bottle. Still has some life left, though I wouldn't expect it to improve further.

11/5/2014 - CJChampion wrote:

Drank my last bottle with friends, maybe it was the good company but this bottle drank as well as my prior bottle in 2011. I would still say drink sooner than later. The power is gone, that's OK with me, and whats left is an elegant well balanced mature wine.

4/19/2014 - CJChampion wrote:

still tasty but well past peak. drink em up

12/31/2013 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Drank this wine from commercial cold storage. Very nice bottle, wonderfull nose, as much fruit as you would expect for the vintge and more than the last bottle. Medium body, ruby color with no bricking. There should be time left for bottles stored well.

1/3/2014 - CJChampion wrote:

Nice wine, classic bordeaux nose, medium body at most. Fully mature but a plesant surprise- I thought it might be DOA. surely past peak and not for a Zin lover, but went well with my prime rib. Drink now

11/26/2013 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Loved every bottle - all 12. Big california style, butter and oak, perhaps too much for some I admit. This, my last bottle was prob a little past prime. I only say that to indicate time to drink up. Sorry to say goodbye to this fine bottling.

9/18/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

rich full bodied, thought this was going to be DOA but a nice suprise. oak in balance, still some acidity and a light straw color.

8/7/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

drank nicely- the body of a pinot- spice notes- went well with salmon. not over the hill as I had feared.

8/7/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

DOA too bad

7/22/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

Loved this wine- fruit style with only a touch of earth. Full body, on the order of a syrah while still being distinctly pinot. Years of life left.

7/11/2013 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

I thought this would be DOA - but quite nice, wifey even liked it. Prob better a couple years ago but still nice.

6/19/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

declined since last bottle but still very nice. Good aromas but light on fruit since last time. I still have bottles in commercial cold storage will have to try one of those soon. Prob time to drink up;

5/15/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

Happy to say NOT DEAD! Much better than I expected, drinking very nicely, no bricking, medium bodied, tanins fully resolved. Still had fruit. I liked this bottle a lot. 89 pts. and storage was not perfect.

3/19/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

We enjoyed this wine a lot, wonderful nose, medium body now- like a pinot. If I had more I would drink soon.

3/19/2013 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

Loved this bottling- Cali style chard- quality oaking but not overdone rich with some butter- nice round mouthfeel, acidity is subtle, not sharp- good finish. down to 1 bottle sadly

3/19/2013 - CJChampion wrote:

I let this go too long, time to drink up- Liked it a lot 2 years ago

3/19/2013 - CJChampion Likes this wine:

We liked this wine, though usually prefer the Beringer Private Reserve. The Sbragia seems to be a littler higher in acid and lower on the oak scale than the P.R. so might be a better style for some. At the $38 or $40 list the Sbragia is fully priced (overpriced-probly) but at the $19 i paid was a good deal

6/11/2012 - CJChampion wrote:

let this one go too long, still drinkable. My storage was not the best though.

6/11/2012 - CJChampion wrote:

last of a case- all bottles drank well. Still drinking fine but I would drink up sooner rather than later. Not quite as good as the Chalk Hill reserve but close. Oak is noticeable but not overdone. full bodied and spicy. Wish I had more. Good value at the $21 sale price I found it for.

6/11/2012 - CJChampion wrote:

the last of a case, sorry I don't have more. Every bottle was good- no duds. At $48 a bottle too expensive, but i got it at $24 and at that price a sure winner. Noticeable oak and smoke but I like both in chardonnay as long as its not overdone and this was not.

11/2/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

ok bottle- held too long drink up

11/2/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

loved it, I expected it to be good, and it was!

10/1/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

excellent bottle, better than the last which was good also. Seemed quite burgundian, earthy and flavorful. Not a fruit driven style but terroir driven. Wish I had more.

9/13/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

Wonderful bottle. Shockingly good for "Gallo" wine. Medium bodied. Probably near it's peak, but shows no sign of decline. Wish I had more.

8/28/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

My wife and I both loved this wine. Started out a little tight. within 10 minutes started to open. By 20 minutes was drinking beautifully. Plenty of fruit left, tannins nicely resolved, complex nose and palate. Delicious to the last drop -glad I have more.

8/28/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

This was very fruit forward and quite tasty, a wine that many people will love. A little simple but still fun. We had this wine with barbecued ribs, and it went nicely. Opened next to a 1997 Volkhardt Syrah. The Volk was more complex by far(a cool climate wine) but everybody else liked the Koehler better.

8/17/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

good but drink within the year

8/3/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

Still very nice.

8/3/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

nice bottle, mature- drink soon

7/28/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

very nice wine, on first opening noticible acid on front of tongue. After 5-10 min this smoothed out beautifully and got better as time went on. Enough oak, my wife likes more oak but still loved this wine. $21 at a wine dinner. a very good buy. Still has plenty of time left.

6/26/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

this bottle was drinking perfectly- wonderful nose too

4/20/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

very nice bottle of medium weight wine. complex, delicious, ready to drink. Still has nice fruit and completely refined tannins. I was very pleasantly surprised.

3/28/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

I loved this wine. On first pour, the aroma wafted across the table and nosing the glass was wonderful. The wine kept getting better for the entire dinner 1 1/4 hrs. I had forgotten about this wine and was worried that it might be in decline but I was very pleased and I think it has several years to go. If my memory serves me acorrectly KL didn't do a reserve this year so the best barrels went into the standard bottling instead of the reserve wine. One of my favorite bottles of the last year 94 pts.

2/23/2011 - CJChampion wrote:

We thought we might have waited too long to drink this wine, but we were wrong. We opened it last night and it was wonderful. Great Pinot nose. Great flavors. Wish we had more.