4/10/2024 - garymouton Likes this wine:

Four hour double decant, but this wine was still very tight for me. I was struggling to get primary fruit here let alone some of the secondary characteristics some have described. It certainly has all the structure to be a great wine, but I am not touching another bottle until 2030 at the earliest. Did not have with food, which might have softened the tannins. Bought on release.

2/22/2024 - sastewart wrote:

From a half bottle. Crazy volatile acidity with plenty of off putting flavors and aromas. Undrinkable.

11/24/2023 - garymouton wrote:

At the beginning of a long 10-15 year drinking window for my tastes. No bricking, but beginning to develop the secondary characteristics of leather and tobacco with refined tannins. More elegant than some of the other 05s I have had. No reason to hold off, especially if you like your Bordeaux younger, but no rush either. Well balanced wine with a Mediterranean stew. Six hour slow ox prior to drinking (Thanks to Kevin/Derek for that tip!). Will easily be mid-90s for me in a few years. Bought on release.

3/12/2022 - Michigan Mostberg Likes this wine:

Dense crimson color from core to rim with no bricking at the edge. Nose is black cherry and anise with underlying green spice. Still packed with rich black fruit, acidity and grip to provide great balance. This bottle had 5 more peak years.

4/10/2022 - fruitvale3067 wrote:

Celebrated a special event last evening with friends and opened a 2015 Maybach Amoenus along with a 2013 Seavey Estate Cabernet. Opened and began decant at 11:00am. Began drinking at 5:00PM.

Nose at opening: The Maybach had a more pronounce nose then the Seavey. Floral and dark fruits as compared to the Seavey's more muted but rich nose.

Taste at Opening: Wow! Quite a difference here. Both are very good wines but very different animals. The Maybach hits you with this big taste of dark berries, and is soft and smooth from the get go, with very little tannins. Where as the Seavey comes out swinging. Rich, and powerful with plenty of round mouth-filling tannins.

Tasting 6 hours later: Not too much change in the Maybach. Lots of dark berry notes. Well make and can drink right now. While the Maybach did not change much over the 5 hour decant I can't say the same for the Seavey. This wine continue to get better as the evening progressed. We finished it off around 10PM and it was really coming into it's own. The tannins had softened and the fruit began to shine through. Just a more structured and better put together wine. Clearly the better of the two wines in my opinion.

The 2013 Seavey has a seriously long life ahead of it. If you open it now give it a long decant (5-8 hours). If you have some in the cellar no need to rush.

4/12/2022 - kevinpatrick Likes this wine:

Cali Cults in CLT thru the decades (MacDonald, Scarecrow, Bond, Schrader and more) (Charlotte, NC): Decanted 10 hours in advance with three hours of air before back in bottle and recork; Placed in the refrigerator until transported to dinner and a couple hours of air at dinner before serving. Aromatic but delicate notes of eucalyptus with red raspberry and cherries. On the palate this was smooth and tasty with a healthy balance between primary and secondary notes for such a young wine. This was a full-fruited wine with blackberry, bramble and currant flavors. Delicious and drinking great, this wine has decades of life in it.

3/28/2018 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine:

The name befits the wine...it's a powerful "fist" in a velvet glove, very full-bodied, concentrated, and rich, but has also become much smoother and round with age (like many of us!). Completely dark purple and opaque, it has characteristic big black fruit aromas, some earthiness and charred oak. A high alcohol wine, plenty of heat on the late palate, aftertaste, and all the way down the esophagus! A huge fruit bomb, but not everyone's style. It should easily last five or more years but is outstanding now. One of Sarah Marquis' best!
Ric

1/29/2020 - Gscwinecellar Likes this wine:

Love this wine. Rich velvety fruit with good acidity and balance. Wish I had bought another case.

3/26/2018 - Seabrooker Likes this wine:

Now drinking well - we had the first of this vintage about 2 years ago and it was way too young and tannic. Now it shows a lovely cherry nose a couple of hours after pulling the cork, and the fruit and tannins are well balanced. It will likely be better still in another 2-3 years.

12/26/2018 - RichEB1 Likes this wine:

Let me just start by saying, this stuff is absolutley insane!  My first older madeira experience and I can safely say I'm pretty blown away (which I assumed I would be).  This pours a thicker, darker, young molasses type color.  No way you could tell the age, or even what type of wine this is just by looking at it.  On the nose, this is explosive with figs, sweet raisins, and a hint of citrus oil.  Very much towards the darker, heavier fortified wine spectrum.  Blind, I'd be going aged port all the way.  On the palate, this is absolutley nothing like the nose, in that it's all high toned lemons, citrus, and walnuts.  Super light on its feet. The levels of acidity in this 110 year old wine are astounding.  I think it would have literally ripped your lips off if you tried to drink this before it was bottled in 2006.   I'm absolutley loving the dichotomy between the darker nose and the lighter palate, and have literally never tasted anything like it before.  Throw in a 90 second finish and this is one of the most interesting, and enjoyable wines I've ever had.  Pretty crazy that this was made during a time when the average life expectancy was 47 years old, the average wage was $0.22 per hour, the average worker made between $200 and $400 per year, Ford's Model T went on sale for $825 while there were only 144 Miles of paved roads in the US....and of course....it was the last time that the Cubs won the world Series prior to 2016.  Simply amazing that they were able to craft a wine of this caliber back then, and you can't help but to appreciate it even more given the challenges they must have faced during that time.  A real treat that I feel privileged to drink with friends and family here at the end of 2018.  Life is good!!

3/23/2018 - Musigny1955 Likes this wine:

{1st of 24 bottles, perfect fill, decanted and immediately tried}
Still medium to full red color, no brown on rim. Nose is very Medoc, black currenty nose and palate attack (initially)without red fruits; this bottle does not have the tobacco or sandalwood others describe, while it does have delicious depth. Still has tannins that coat the mouth just a bit, so you end up with nice tensions between the fruit, tannins, very balanced acidity. Good but not very good length. At an hour more of the red fruits are evident. The liqueur-like palate, richness etc. described by Tanzer's early reviews need more time to reappear but are detectable at an hour. This is a long-distance runner and (based on this bottle) has barely developed secondary elements. Another super Sociando-Mallet punching above its weight. With another 23 bottles I can open one every 4-6 months but for anyone with just a couple of bottles, would feel no pressure to open for at least another couple of years.

8/5/2016 - dcwino wrote:

French and Italian wine gathering (The Grill Room at Rosewood DC): According to Amy, decanted for a few hours. Incredibly fresh but slightly lean, a lot of Monfortino signature iron, sweet dry cherry, smoke, a hint of medicine and not showing much of balsamico. Very precise and lean palate, a lot of iron, good acidity, nicely integrated tannins and long finish. I would love to try this with minimum 24 hours of air. My guess is that it will show more balsamico hence add a bit more sweetness and weight. Nevertheless, another rare gem that is privilege and pleasure to drink.

7/27/2015 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine:

This wine has softened and become better integrated with age. It's still purple-garnet, totally opaque. Very pronounced shiraz aromas of blackberries, some cassis, smoke, and toasty oak. Still extremely concentrated and high alcohol, with tannin now in the background, but very well balanced between fruit and structure. No signs of going beyond its peak. Nice long mouth-coating aftertaste. These big Aussies really can age quite well. Obviously, drink this with heavy full-flavored dishes (kangaroo steak, crocodile filets, wild boar, or roasted Tasmanian devil!).
Ric

6/8/2014 - Chris Likes this wine:

This wine got better and better over the last four years. In hindsight I should have left these for a while and just started drinking them now. Alas, this was my last bottle. Deep aroma, gorgeous color, still heavy tannins, easily could have gone many more years.

10/29/2014 - swade wrote:

Paired with roasted red garlic marinara sauce and fresh three cheese tortolini. Fresh bread and cheese. 3.5 hour decant. Pristine cork. Tawny rim to leather center color. Faint smell of potpourri. More body than most Nebbiolo I've tried, but still thinnish. Acidic entry. What little fruit there was to start quickly vanishes to leave a nearly flavorless filmy, acidic residue with a faint resemblance to acetone. Short finish just drops off a cliff. Yet I'm convinced this isn't flawed. The longer I worked this over and the more I focused on it after dinner, the more convinced I became that this just isn't very good. 79

3/20/2014 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine:

At home. Still garnet-purple, but with the slightest browning at the edges. Completely opaque. Deep rich blackberry and anise nose, pronounced. Big, coarse, rustic texture of black fruits, licorice, and oak, a slight "bite" on the back of the tongue, then a long, alcoholic lingering aftertaste. Minimal proneness present. Excellent now, should hold a couple more years, but I'd drink it soon.
Ric