9/15/2017 - BWebb wrote:

This wine is drinking great with lots of life left - aging like a great bordeaux

6/7/2016 - BWebb wrote:

what a smooth wine - nice job with a merlot. Structure breaks down slightly upon swishing but fruit generally holds together and displays a fruity taste - feels like its barely holding on to the fruit almost like a berry that is on the border of being too ripe. Did you ever bite into a peach and have part of it be firm and part of it mushy? that is what this wine is like - its right on the border of a very very good merlot but completely consistent or complex it is not. I liked it for the money and would drink it again over many wines 4x its price - very impressed with this WA State wine.

5/20/2016 - BWebb wrote:

This wine was really nice and perfectly balanced after corking and held up really great for first 30 minutes - would have given it a 96 had it continued. Nice fruit on the nose, balanced tannins, nice body and full finish just delicious. It changed rapidly though and became a bit flabby after about 30 minutes - thus the 92 rating. But for first 30 minutes, one of the best aged napa wines I've ever had!

12/25/2015 - BWebb wrote:

We drank this bottle next to a 2003 Pichon and the Beringer Private reserve was far superior. The pichon did open up and calm down after about 6 hours of decanting but the Beringer was excellent from the moment the bottle was opened through the whole afternoon and evening. The tannin had settled in and was very tame - beautiful nose with some subtle red current, mocha and chocolate and a hint of vanilla on the finish. This had none of the barnyard beginning leather or tobacco of the Pichon. I believe the wine has the structure to retain its complexity for several more years and this is drinking fabulous right now - amazing.

11/30/2015 - BWebb wrote:

the wine is thin but does not win - completely agree with reviews stating such - tastes like a watered down wine

10/12/2015 - BWebb wrote:

I bought a case of this on WTO and over 1/2 were severely corked - the ones that were drinkable were very light with basically no structure whatsoever.

10/30/2014 - BWebb wrote:

Outstanding! This wide has structure, body, and finesse. From the pleasant nose right down through the finish this is a just a lucious delicate wine for a big shiraz. It is smooth like a beautiful Screaming Eagle or Harlan Estate with just a touch of berry jam on the finish!

12/4/2013 - BWebb wrote:

This is a very nice chianti and quite a surprise! It is nicely balanced and very approachable. It is drinking smooth now and has the flavor of a local wine that you discover in a small town poured just by the decanter. It's style is in the local style no aging, etc - dolcetto comes to mind since I doubt this wine has seen any new oak. Very pleasant - we will enjoy the other 11 over next 36 months!

2/12/2011 - BWebb wrote:

This wine is drinking splendid! It has settled down into an elegant drinking wine that accompanies many foods. We had it with asian food and it was delicious.

1/24/2009 - BWebb wrote:

Wine exceeded my expectations (given low RMP rankings of 87-88). From the moment of uncorking over the course of a two hour dinner this wine maintained consistency throughout. It is drinking well and I believe will drink at it's peak for 3 more years. The wine is balanced with subtle tannin and fruit yet a smooth finish that brings out leather and oak and leaves your tongue and mouth cleansed and yearning for more.

1/20/2009 - BWebb wrote:

very heavy sediment with this wine - suggest careful decanting and potential cheese cloth filtering. Tastes of burnt cherries and some plum - the fruit flavor doesn't end it is almost overwhelming and a bit tart. Kind of like a dart cherry pie - would pass on this one or would suggest that it doesn't age beyond here despite the ratings.

12/27/2008 - BWebb wrote:

This wine was perfect -

12/20/2008 - BWebb wrote:

very nice wine - drinking very smooth. very subtle blackcurrent flavor with floral bouquet, silky texture, almost 1/2 merlot blend

11/27/2008 - BWebb wrote:

smoky flavor that follows through to burnt cherry - very delicious

11/1/2008 - BWebb wrote:

94 pts - hint of earth and ash, blackberry jam, absolutely delicious. someting that you'd expect from a properly aged first growth of high rating. 4th bottle from a case and drinking better right now than any of the others tasted earlier - clearly coming into it's own but showing no signs of letting up.

10/20/2008 - BWebb wrote:

This bottle required about 30 minutes to open up and then came into balance. Very tight wine with medium tannin, nice acidity and a fruity finish.

3/30/2008 - BWebb wrote:

Balanced tannins, dried cherry, blackberry, red currant (fruit forward), with just a touch of licorice. This wine is as delicious a Napa Cab as I have ever tried.

12/5/2007 - BWebb wrote:

I thought this wine was very nice for a 97 vintage. We let it breath for about an hour. Wine has some pepper on the nose and a smoky spicy taste that make it just perfect with food. It's holding it's tannins so I would guess it still has several years vs. most '97s that are drink now.

11/23/2007 - BWebb wrote:

great value pinot

11/22/2007 - BWebb wrote:

big wine - very nice

11/21/2007 - BWebb wrote:

needs at least an hour decanting - the nose is smelly for about an hour and then it smooths out and is rather nice.

11/16/2007 - BWebb wrote:

This wine is at prime time and shouldn't go much longer - it's bouquet is melting. Violet essence with tannic edge smoothed considerably. Light Oak flavors - more like sweet woods and a dampered pimento spice. A nice wine but not sure that I would pay $50 per bottle.

11/11/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank at dinner with in-laws (Boa LA) - this wine is wonderful. I understand it's suppose to improve with age but that's hard to imagine. It is quintessential bordeaux with just the right blends to accent food: caesar salad, escargot, steak w Bernaise, just fabulous. Reminded me of the 1986 that I tasted some years ago. Smooth wine, flush with dried berry, tobacco, excellent texture. We compared it to 2003 Opus and it was a big winner. Parker rates this high and he's right again clearly going through the 95 rating.

11/11/2007 - BWebb wrote:

This is a very good wine. It's drinking well right now. nice structure, velvet nose, some berry, firm leather follow through. very interesting wine - reminds me of a Dunn at 1/4 the price. Note that web site has changed to www.ilonawine.com. This is a bargain.

8/16/2007 - BWebb wrote:

Soft wine, smooth nose and finish, hint of plum and black cherry - very nice; my bride says nice long finish.

8/3/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank with pete dameris with lamb and cous cous - very nice first bottle followed w '97 brunello

7/24/2007 - BWebb wrote:

loved this pinot, very smooth

7/21/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank at Capo for 10 year anniversary - nice

7/2/2007 - BWebb wrote:

great bottle

6/21/2007 - BWebb wrote:

excellent

6/9/2007 - BWebb wrote:

excellent value and a very strong cabernet drinking well right now. Good structure, black cherries, red currant, very smooth wine. Highly recomment.

4/29/2007 - BWebb wrote:

excellent wine - big Napa cab about right for the price $135 ish

4/21/2007 - BWebb wrote:

loved it, drink it up.

4/15/2007 - BWebb wrote:

Wine does open up after about 30 minutes - while smooth it lacks complexity and tastes a bit muted. Clearly not worth the price.

4/2/2007 - BWebb wrote:

This is an excellent wine - coffee, red currants, black cherry flavors with a beautiful color of deep red/purple color. I strongly recommend and had heard it was good but this was spectacular.

4/1/2007 - BWebb wrote:

I purchased this wine on winebid.com and tasted it last night. It's lost it's fruit and has essentially lost any complexity whatsoever. Very bland tasting very watered down. The risk of winebid.com.

3/23/2007 - BWebb wrote:

enjoyed this wine - more in the style of a Napa cab - very different than any Rhone I've had so a come back to it's Napa cab similarities. Excellent value

3/23/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank w spare ribs, brussel sprouts and marinated onions and radish salad - excellent. Big Napa cab holding it's own.

3/18/2007 - BWebb wrote:

excellent value

3/17/2007 - BWebb wrote:

excellent big cab, drinking right now.

3/17/2007 - BWebb wrote:

excellent Pinot - very balanced and consistent

3/2/2007 - BWebb wrote:

This wine is absolutely terrific. I bought several bottles on winebid and am down to 3. Drank tonight with asparagus soup, salmon, spinach and some light pasta. This wine has a terrific berry nose, consistent taste through finish and a consistent velvet swish. This and the Bergstrom are my favorite pinot's.

2/26/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank with friends at Stein Eriksen Lodge. All agreed that this bottle was flat, perhaps flawed. Recently purchased on winebid so no history of the storage history. The wine opened fine but lacked any flavor or finish whatsoever - kind of like unsweetened grape juice. Very dissapointing for a historical strong producer.

2/26/2007 - BWebb wrote:

Drank a bottle tonight with heirloom tomatoes, sauteed spinach and grilled salmon - spectacular! Very glad that wine spectator missed this wine with an 87 and a drink by of 2005 since I got it for a bargain on winebid.com. This wine was consistent from opening to finish - no decanting. Very smoot raspberry nose, sweet brushed cotton texture, floral flavors with supple tannins, hint of spice with a smooth acidic finish.

2/23/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank with friends at Jean Louie in Park City. Good wine.

2/19/2007 - BWebb wrote:

drank at Stein Eriksen with brother Scott. Terrific bottledrinking perfect. strong raspberry flavors with excellent finish.

2/14/2007 - BWebb wrote:

Drink immediately upon opening - decanting does nothing. Very smooth silky texture with nice finish. Mild berry fruit on nose, some leather on finish. We've had several of these '83s and this one was the best.

2/11/2007 - BWebb wrote:

Strong Napa Cab - tannins with raisin and coffee, some vanilla. Very smooth texture with a lovely fruit finish.

2/5/2007 - BWebb wrote:

just drank a David Bruce CA pinot and this Panther Creek kills it. Very complex/structured with aging potential I think this wine is much superior to the David Bruce and other CA pinots. Dryed cherries on the nose, herbal bouquet during the swish with distinct pinot flavor plus a 30 second finish that starts strong and finishes very smooth - leaving a slight cranberry taste on the tongue. I'd buy it as a value because I think Spectator was way off mark at 77 - causes one to question the objectibility of spectator - who did Panther Creek piss off. They should advertise more!

2/5/2007 - BWebb wrote:

beautiful red ruby color, some plum on the nose, candied fruit. starts good but the finish doesn't hold up. Finish is not as dusty as many CA pinots and I rate this as one of the better ones - it might be the single vineyard production that caused it to lack complexity. The wine is good but I've been spoiled recently by Cristom and Bergstrom. Can anyone name an excellent CA pinot?