11/28/2022 - Rbhan12 wrote:

Decanted and followed for an hour. Supposed to be a single vineyard wine from Gamble Ranch Vineyard next to none other than Screaming Eagle.

Initially this was very off-putting and bitter. Time in the decanter has helped that tremendously. Nose of dark berries, smoke, bitter herbs, cloves. Palate is medium full body with gentle acidity. There are stern red berries and charred baking spice. There is also a distinct herbal stemmy note that occasionally shows and doesn't fit. The finish shows tannins that are barely poking out initially but then leave a drying effect on the gums.

Purchased from LastBottle. Now I know why it ended up on the site. It has promising qualities but is overly smoky and charred. Dare I say smoke taint? If someone said ashtray, I wouldn't necessarily argue. 18 wasn't a smoke taint year, so maybe it was aggressively toasted barrels? Who knows. At $70 this is disastrous, at $50 (what I paid) it is terrible.

Wines like this only strengthens my bias against "value" entry level Napa Cabs. Yes, exceptions do exist (such as DI CO, Elyse NV CS, Venge Silenciux, etc.). That being said, I have never felt stronger about DeNegoce.

I don't want to drink this but unfortunately I have two more bottles. I suppose I will have to hold and forget about them for a very long time with the hope it improves. Won't hold my breath. 86

Day 2: dramatically improved. The “smoky” note I found prior is minimal if detectable. Still has a good amount of tannins. The fruit hasn’t necessarily fleshed out the way I would have liked. Maybe there is cellar potential here. Removing my 86 score.

10/14/2021 - Winowhyno Likes this wine:

nice grape for $30.00, but nothing special...headache

6/5/2017 - Winowhyno Likes this wine:

Fantastic....and a screaming bargain at $39.00

9/16/2017 - Winowhyno Likes this wine:

Wow.... dry, fruity longggggg finish...found a couple bottles on clearance sale for $36.00....fantastic deal....

4/30/2013 - Winoluver wrote:

AGM
I'd hoped that 2nd bottle would've been better than the one I drank last year. Wrong. If you like oak and acid...you'll love this. If you want some balance...throw it out. It's only $20! Where's the Howell MNT fruit?

2/24/2012 - noahbw wrote:

This wine has so much going for it; maybe too much. Inky dark fruit. Intense tannin and forward minerals. Needs a lot of air, and should be paired with challenging foods to equal this wine's challenging profile. Even days later it seemed to need days of air to open up or mellow out. Yet, all in all, I can't call it "bad." Its mysterious and aggressive nature make me want to open another bottle and find the right food pairing.