6/10/2013 - SteveHoch wrote:

Great wine that was quite tight on opening. After an hour started to show it's beautiful side. This wine has plenty of time to go and I regret not having more in my cellar.

6/10/2013 - SteveHoch wrote:

This was a fantastic bottle. Seamless . Intense dark fruit and spicebox on the nose. great mouthfeel beginning to end, smooth , silky , and big all at the same time. This showed better than the 95 Margaux side by side although after several hours, Margaux became very impressive.

6/10/2013 - SteveHoch wrote:

What an amazing treat!! Bottle fill was very low almost to shoulder. Immediate nose had somewhat of a petrol quality but then old dark fruit and some spice. The bottle gained in quality over the next hour and almost began to taste like an old lafite. It was truly incredible given the age of this wine and what was anticipated. Clearly a surprise and a treat for a 46 year old California Cab!!!

3/17/2013 - SteveHoch Does not like this wine:

unfortunate this very special bottle had significant Brett. It definitely was flawed. What a shame

2/24/2013 - SteveHoch wrote:

Beautiful and seamless from beginning to end. A very enjoyable bottle

1/27/2013 - SteveHoch Likes this wine:

Great Wine showing Beautifully. Nice Dark Fruit, Perfect Balance, Classic Private Reserve

1/13/2013 - SteveHoch Likes this wine:

very nice nose of dark cherry. deep and rich pinot with time to go.

1/13/2013 - SteveHoch Likes this wine:

Showing beautifully. Wonderful nose of spice, tobacco, licorace and earth. very nice dark fruit. Great balance with soft tannins. wonderful lingering finnish. A great wine

11/11/2012 - SteveHoch wrote:

Very nice and at it's peak. nicely intergrated fruit and tannin.

11/2/2012 - SteveHoch wrote:

My first Thomas, and it was a great bottle. Still very young but tremendous . A classic burgundian style nice dark cherry fruit, over the course of an hour and a half really began to show it's stuff. Can't wait to try this 2 years or more from now.

10/21/2012 - SteveHoch wrote:

Still doing quite nicely...pretty big surprise, while a litlle brick like in color along the edges, the wine still had nice dark fruit and structure.

10/21/2012 - SteveHoch wrote:

Beautiful pinot. after an hour, really opened , lovely nose of clove, bing cherry, vanilla, and all spice, great texture and structure, nuanced flavors and beautiful finnish

10/21/2012 - SteveHoch wrote:

completely corked bottle...an amazing disappointment given that it has been perfectly stored since release.

10/18/2012 - SteveHoch wrote:

Wow, this is a wonderful cab drinking great out of a mag.

1/5/2008 - SteveHoch wrote:

The bottle consumed was actually the Howell Mountain Merlot. I know it pretends to be a Cab! Seriously this is ready to drink up. Still excellent rounded full body that was nicely balanced. Just not as overpowering as you would expect.

7/7/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

what a treat. A beautiful wine. Great nose , deep dark fruit, deep purple in color. Excellent balance and nice spice note. Great mouthfeel and a good 45 second finnish. This wine is drinking at its peak now.

9/3/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

This is drinking beautifully . Dark ruby purplish color. Beautiful nose of dark berry fruit, cedar and great balance and mouth feel. this wine is still very alive and suprisingly youthful for it's age. It is a real pleasure.

8/20/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

This was a beautiful wine. It took about a half hour to open and the nose was wonderful with hint of leather , tar and lots of dark fruit. the mouthfeel was velvety on the front end and there were well balanced tanins. A very good long finnish and overall a real pleasure to drink.

11/26/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

This was a very nice cab. Dark, Dark, Dark fruit...blackberry, blueberry, ..with about 45 minutes this wine really started to show nicely.. good balance some nice mineral notes, firm structure and overall nice balance

11/12/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

Incredible pinot with very dark fruit. Rich and elegant. Great darrk cherry nose with nice minerality components.
great finnish and

11/12/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

As outstanding as last week!!!

3/6/2011 - SteveHoch wrote:

Great Chard drinkinking beautiful. nose of lemmon peel , grapefuit and a little vanilla. great wine

10/23/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

outstanding chard. beautiful nose. great acidity. great fruit . fantastic

8/20/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

An Outstanding bottle. I believe the best chard from California. great nose of melons, tremedously intergrated fuit wonderful balance great mouthfeel. Touche of Vanillan . Oak is definitely not overpowering . Just great.

8/30/2008 - SteveHoch wrote:

Still very tight and dark fruit. Tannins were still very pronounced and this wine has a lot of life in it. with an hour of breathing, the nose really came around and the wine came into beautiful balance.

5/7/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

very nice. lemon, citrus some grapefruit, crisp and fresh slight grassy nuance, big mouthfeel for a sauv. blanc. great effort

11/16/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

this 375 small puppy was in a word spectacular!!!

3/11/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

An outstanding bottle, dark fruit.. well integrated notes of chocolate great finnish.

12/29/2008 - SteveHoch wrote:

This was drinking beautifully. Dark purple color. Great nose with some cedar, spice, dark berry fruit. Full body with great structure. excellent balance. still youthful. finnish lasted more than 45 seconds. a real gem

3/5/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

drank at Williet House and it was holding up beautifully. Well balanced, Dark Fruit, Tannins had softened and the overall mouthfeel was great. Lot's of Casis, and Blackberry, and a little tar. Long finnish. A beauty.

1/27/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

oustanding. Tasted agaist the 92 Maya, 92 Dunn Howell Mountain and 92 Cogin. Most felt it was the pick of the lot. Clearly holding up great nice ddark fruit . Tannins had softened and the balance was great. Finnish lasted for over 45 seconds. The Maya was the suprising weak link in this flight.

3/12/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

Great bottle. Beautiful dark fruit in color. Hints of vanilla, spice and dark berries on nose. Beautiful intergrated balanced wine, great mouthfeel, weight and still plenty of fruit. This is drinking incredible right now.

11/23/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

beautiful bottle, great depth and balance. well integrated dark fruit and tannins. After two hours of decanting had a smooth velvetly mouthfeel. Lots of spice on the nose. Lots of jammy dark fruit on the palate..
This wine is drinking beautifully

4/18/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

very nice wine. dark purple in color. nice nose of blackberry casis, vanillan notes and spice. very smooth mouthfeel, nice balance and structure and long finnish 40+ seconds.

11/18/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

Drinking beautifully, great nose very dark berry fruit. great balance, vanillian notes very enjoyable

10/28/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

This was a beautiful bottle. The balance was outstanding . While the fruit was intense and flavorful with loads of cherry, and black currant the structure and integration of a wine of finesse was a great surprise. This was a much more supple velvety mouthfeel with good tannins and balance.
This wine is still very youthful. and can probably benefit with another 5 years of aging.
Shirazes from heathcote are indeed a treat.

3/6/2011 - SteveHoch wrote:

decanted for an hour and had a beautiful dark fruit, spicy nose . great mouthfeel well balanced, lots of blackberry, casis.. nice finnnish

8/29/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

This bottle required 2 hours of decanting to arrvie at the perfect point. Great nose of cherries, violet, and a little spcie. The wine was beautiful, well balance great fruit on the front end of mostly cherries. really well integrated and a nice finnish.

7/18/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

still very tasty. real nice fruit and good balance. Definitely a big Merlot

12/5/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

Beautiful wine, nice dark fruit, a little dusty, notes of tar, mocha, and dark berry fruit . beautiful intergration of tannins and fruit, velvetly mouthfeel this wine is drinking very well right now.

11/23/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

A great spottswoode. Lots of nuances, great fruit and balance . some floral charactreristics on the nose. A pleasure to drink.Long finnish about 45 seconds. Lots of elegance.

1/13/2008 - SteveHoch wrote:

very nice bottle with the classic spottswoode style. Beautiful color, depth, and balance. With great prounced fruit also has the subtle nuances that make it specia.

2/20/2011 - SteveHoch wrote:

signs of maturity past it's prime Nose was of Dark Fruit and Leather. Some spice and cedar. Fruit on the palate was muted and while the finnish improved, overall I have had much better experiences previously with this vintage.

8/8/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

A fantastic bottle. Beautiful fruit, great balance, well intergrated. Dark berry of currant, casis, a lingering finnish. just the way a great cab should show.

12/31/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

great bottle to send off the year. we drank it on the early side and it went very fast with lots of people. I actually had a few sips and it was beautiful .

6/18/2009 - SteveHoch wrote:

After this wine was in the glass for a half hour it really came around. A nice pinot, bigger than most, nice cherry fruit.some spice ...a nice bottle.

6/16/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

Classic Silver Oak Napa trademark, lots of oak, a little mint, nice fruit. Still took a while to open up (a good 45 minutes before the nose really started to come to life.Very nice mouthfeel and overall nicely balanced despite the heavy oak. While this is not yet tired, it is for sure ready to drink and will likely not improve.

4/16/2007 - SteveHoch wrote:

Excellent fruit and balance, well integrated however after 24 hours became exceedingly pruny.

8/3/2010 - SteveHoch wrote:

very lovely dark fruit and tight at first but opend up beautifully. This is always a underated wine that show real good with 10 + years of age. Blackberry, Casis, and licorice nose. long finnish

1/13/2008 - SteveHoch wrote:

Very tasty. real big juicy full bodied syrah. great balance and depth . outstanding nose.