7/14/2020 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

i’m basing my score on the last half glass drunk warm from a hotel crapper tumbler the next day. with a hangover not just from alcohol.

after a swig of the 1989 Petrus, “stored” similarly, which was eye-bulgingly delicious, i felt smo ready to be disappointed by the 96KCM revenant.

NOT AT ALL. These wines defy logic and simply do not oxidize by any traditional understanding of the word, nor according to any normal schedule.

delicious. still a tiny bead too— apples and flint and honey and warm almond croissant batter and i forget..

9/15/2012 - Alex H wrote:

Ethereally amazing nose. Flowers , spice and everything Nice. Weak vintage that shows the strength of the domaine. Knockout nose as good as any le musigy or close de beze. Ribena currants, light strawberries and delicate tannins. Smooth silky mouthfeel. A pretty and delicious wine with all that embodies the best of it's village. Could well have been an 02 with it's still vibrant fruits. A good bottle no less. Pristine and clear in it's presentation. Commendable and probably the best 84 burgundy or 84 vintage(my wife's birth year) wine I have ever encountered. Need to get more if ever possible!

12/5/2007 - goofy Yno wrote:

earth, mushrooms, still with some good fruit , plumb, coffee.

11/27/2018 - G_H wrote:

Haut Brion/Mission Dinner: Slightly less stellar bottle than the first one I had, still a stunning wine. Chocolate, dried fruits, candied sugar (but less than the first bottle) candied orange peel, saffron, incredibly long.

The crazy thing is: We had it next to the „Seehof Provokation 2008“ (which I seem to be the only one to review here on Cellartracker) but - while you really shouldn’t compare wines that are so different - was the clearly preferred wine by the whole group!

2/2/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote:

It is harder and harder to get to taste these mature older Northern Rhone wines. Each time I do, I am always thrilled and seldom disappointed and this bottle was no exception. Full-bodied, with a generous blast of cinnamon, 5 spice, smoke, kirsch, thyme, red fruit and black pepper, the wine is juicy, fresh, earthy and frankly, it reminds me of taking ripe, red fruits and squeezing them over rocks.

8/12/2020 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

The weight of this wine is considerable, and it will crush any flavors but the strongest cheese or spiciest barbecue. That said.
Is a spiny round Mace being swung by an angry and drunk black-armored knight “well-rounded?” Well: there’s a steel ball in there somewhere, but you won’t see it until it shimmers with your blood.
THIS WINE WILL MAKE A GREAT SANGRIA —and a lot of it - cut 2/3 with raspberry orangeade..

Very Strong stuff.
crazy eights.

5/26/2020 - cheZ joZef wrote:

Fine bottle but should still improve and evolve over next 10 years.

4/4/2020 - short and confused wrote:

Tastes like a well made wine but still tight as a drum. Will not score for now. Will hold off in the next ones for a few more years. Had 2011 Pavelot Guettes a few nights ago that was drinking beaitifully.

7/25/2020 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Out of Wood
Holograms Intact

Rose Gold

[The truth is that I cannot myself improve on the excellent note by Issac below EXCEPT to mention that the chick I’m with calls the color ROSE GOLD, and on the palate it’s SALTED watermelon rind, dammit.] [Sez Me.]

A very tasty rosé, in any case, and who knew that Rose Gold is indeed copper-colored?
Upside here below 56F.

Hold
94+

7/11/2020 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

My feeling was this wine needs more cellaring—A little headstrong, not ponderous exactly but maybe brooding in her pile of ripe currants and pencils and duck fat and blackberry-cedar sap...

Kera the front desk night girl disagreed strongly and before I could finish the sentence grabbed the cork out of my hand and took the last glass home.

It WAS better the next day! she cried happily, the day after that, and asked if I had any more. I asked her when she was going home to Florida to lose some LA loneliness.

She’s gone now.
And I DO have some more...

94
Hold

7/11/2020 - jdtonic wrote:

From Wood.
Huge. Enormous.
Saturated Ruby Purple.

I will withhold formal notation, but testify thusly:

On the second day after sitting overnight (again) at 43F, her persistent KNOCKOUT NOSE of candied lavender, boysenberry (fruit-on-the-bottom), sandalwood, honeysuckle and little purple flowers gave me goosebumps— which return perforce onto my forearms as i tap this little note to you:
FIND THIS WINE. STEAL IF NECESSARY.

My god —I still have a glass.

Suicide prevention is, of course, mothers and cats and music and not wanting to be shot in the face, BUT ALSO: having a case of 2005 Rousseau BÊZE.

Gigantic.
Sell Your Blood.
98+

2/4/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote:

More firm than previous bottles, here you also find a unique set of aromatics focusing on mint, wet earth, oceanic scents and earthy, truffle coated plums. Medium-full bodied, with ample left, but it is a bit hard on the palate. You know the old saying, after 15 years, there are no great wines, just great bottles.

6/2/2020 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Purple-Garnet w/
Faint Bricking in a Perfect Bottle

As someone who has had this wine half a dozen times from 2005--2020, and this evening in concert with the 2001, let me assure you that while she will probably taste well right through her twilight into the wet leaves on the dirty ground, the lovely 97I is approaching the end of her high plateau, and tasted best tonight between 30-60 minutes after opening.
[She will begin her descent at 7:45pm on October 5th of this calendar year.] Decant unnecessary.

(Boulevard, for their part, never fumbled my wine again, and book Table #30 is my counsel there.)

Tertiary notes include stewed cherries, fig newtons, a whiff of marzipan and eucalypt.

Drinking alone on the roof in Los Angeles watching The Fall of New Rome. Drink up---and let's all hang BLM banners on our homes to appease the mob!

8/30/2019 - Renevin Likes this wine:

Ouf! Un grand vin. Nez très expressif, fruits noirs confiturés, épices,élégants. En bouche, tout est en rondeur, bien fondu avec encore beaucoup de fruits. Il est ample et se termine sur une longue finale.

5/31/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

One of really only two wines to cut thru a pretty standard-plus tourist/Bataan march of easily forty 60-160 buck Napa cabs, in eight houses. The other was a Kelly Fleming 14.

Sometimes I go along. Rarely quietly. Did ok yesterday tho. (Some folks were tasting the whites too! I was concerned that I might never enjoy wine again, and nursed watered-down cape codders at dinner —with effort.)

Could definitely use another year or two underground, but this 2014 Oracle has good flavors, texture, mouthfeel and balance here right out of the gate. EAT WITH FOOD!
A standout beverage, among those sourced and sold in this valley at this price.

Deep opaque ruby purple. Intense cassis, granite, red plum, and —- let’s say “clean wool/wet soil/olive tapenade/aggregate stew.” Palate tired.
But The intensity — wow—and the sharpness of the black currant fruit liquor and her minerals elements here recalls immediately like either a pubescent Latour-a-pomerol or juvenile Graves of good quality and provenance. Great balance, ((tho I’ve had toobmuch wine to measure finish tbh. And I will have to re-taste to confirm the notes—))
But a persistent and tasty, and well-structured wine.

Easily the Best drink tasted here since.. ok.. hmmm... why try this?? Dunno the othersuro good one ::: This is One of only two times I found a bottles for sale here to lay down. Another time I got one to I see upside, personally, but I’m wrong a third of the time — ok I will report back if suits me/ wine survives. ((Hoping for 150-200 buck Napanook Dunn return flavored on this 70 buck Oracle blend play)) ((Dunn. Graves. Pomerol.)) hybrid

Ok— it is coming back vis: my previous Miner overachiever: I had, I believe, something like a ‘97 or 2001 Flagship miner in late 2006 on a tip from a local female punchdowner— And all of these — (equally, I mean: the wine tip, the lady-factotum, [then working at Green and Red] who provided the tip, and the 1997 Miner Cabernet ) - I found to be Very enjoyable bargains. THOSE three bottles of whatever it was by MINER- did indeed improve steadily —and punch (up) above weight class until gone. (And the friendship with that human chick failed. Of course.) That’s my memory.

Anyhoo—- so I check in at Miner every 3-4 years, and never any regret there, purchases made or nay. Miner is old school and if you’re industry or just a pushy snob willing to pay to taste what indeed you hope to buy, is... always.. and forever..

. ..A friendly house, improved now, elevator option to a nice porch facing West across the Silverado (and off the beaten-) Trail toward the sinking sun and the Great Calm Sea. The Miner vibe is more relaxed than most, and so, particularly if a good wine is found, can be very RELAXING. Sunsets here are recommended.

No doubt miner has sourced great berries, though the Franc still bosses her Merlot. Wait another year. Or decant 2-3 hours. Hope this “Oracle” is a “Harbinger” as well.
Thanks Miners.

93-94pts

1/25/2015 - RockinCabs wrote:

Nose: Ripe Blackberry, Cherry and Graphite. As it opens, Coffee, Roses, Cherries and Blueberry Jam. Palate: Dense dark berry fruits and blueberries. Suave mouthfeel with beautiful spices, floral notes and warm gravel. Finish: Slightly drying tannin and dusty berry and oak notes and cassis/licorice.

Fantastic bottle, just short of 95+ today, but could get there in a few years. Classier than the 2005 in mouthfeel, but does not quite deliver the same complexity. I see this developing those additional layers by maturity.

5/29/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

I drank one glass on the property. Stunning! Just Stunningly good. I swear to god, I think Ms. Fleming must somehow engineer these (based on my first ever bottle): LUDICROUSLY LOW scores/empty reviews.

Q:: BUT WHY???

I had really wanted to ambush the maker before reporting this, with suitable cash and fair wine trades in hand, but it’s an injustice to THE TRUTH itself to not leave anyone looking here with a taste of reality. (Pardon)

We drank the other glasses over dinner at SOLAGE, where my not easily impressed vampire companion made big goggle-y bug eyes at sip #1.

Likewise the sommelier. Fleming is His workplaces’ neighbor. He asked for the bottle and tapped into his phone a changing priority...
And one sip to the not expressly vinous waiter got the same wide-eyed amazement. I had to chew (ample) sediment (in both the bottle and then in my pie-hole to find a taste anywhere NEAR 92 pts.

MAYBE ITS A SLEEPER.
WIDE AWAKE NOW, Bud.
Fabulous purity. Superb flavor. Beyond notes
Not a millimeter into stew, heat, flab or twilight.

97-98 points.

A::: MORE FOR THE CASA!
(Duh)

Am very truly and dead seriously contemplating this instant a run up to Calistoga with treats from my cellar to get more TODAY.

I’m going up.
Life is short.
Napa close.

6/14/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

I suspected that I’d regret getting only a half case of this wonderful vint, and here we are. All gone, so time to fess up and score it where it deserves.

The 2005 Dominus is like the Insignia taken as a brand. It is a benchmark bottling. Why are the French here in force: This is why. The easy richness, power and poise of this wine is the sort of bottling folks on 2nd or 3rd growth land in France spend a lifetime attempting to create.

Clear opaque purple. Not a hint of brick.
Sweet cassis, leather, clean brown soil and black cherries on the nose.

The delineation of the wine is such, that, if one were so trained, the relative quality of each variety in bottle can be ascertained. Gorgeous cherry, glove leather, herbs de pro, red currants, and salted chocolate nuances in the palate. Superb.

Perhaps the best steak wine in the entire world, but both paradoxically reserved and giving enough that could be paired -enjoyably- with Dover Sole.
Difficult to imagine any vinous individual not adoring (blind, gagged, neither both) this drink.

Still tannic and youthful.
Will try to find another tranche.

Obtain-Drink-Repeat
—next 15 years.
96-97pts

6/24/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Still have NO IDEA where folks are getting vintages for this or Laurent brute Rosé! Far as I know, it’s made up by republicans or some other sort of skinny head.

In any case the more pink, more berried and finer beaded nv Billecart Rosé is the superior drink to the Laurent Perrier Rosé, as expected. Perhaps this is why Laurent brings the metal box into play. Both are off dry, so to speak.

Likely the Laurent is a shrewder gift, more French sounding, a shiny box, AND ALSO MAY BE CONFUSED WITH PERRIER JOUËT, which, I submit, is likely a well-known/loved phenomenon over at Laurent Perrier.

More precise, balanced and longer, if a touch sweeter than L-P, better logo, girls seem to prefer it as well. (Could be a in part a salmon crossover.)
91-92

In summary:

P-JOUËT vint Rosé a notch over nv B-Salmon, which a notch over nv L-Perrier, which a notch over
vn Veuve-Cliquot, which is now just over the line of what I avoid due to quality concern.

I advise drinking Salmon Rosé exclusively in order to fund real champagne nights/flights of Salon and Krug- To whom now I retreat hastily back into company with. Ciao. JD

3/28/2015 - ricknat1 wrote:

Still quite closed, a small burnt taste underneath. Others liked it more than me.

9/15/2008 - Barbara B wrote:

Espressione sensoriale del Pinot Nero (Hotel Cavalieri Hilton, Rome): Bright purply-ruby, transparent. Nothing at all at first pour – totally closed. Opened slowly for nose and palate with earth and minerals, modest fruit (strawberry), and some oak. High/sharp acidity, some tannic astringency. Simple and unbalanced. Disappointing.

6/21/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

That pronounced ‘saline bitterness on the mid-palate’ which I saw mentioned in these pages detracts from this not-yet-ready-for-prime-time player. Great yeasty sourdough though. And yellow apples are peeking up like Garcia Lorca from behind unripe watermelons. Interesting...

I think it (that bit of December Gulf Stream) resolves into the ‘titanium peach pith’ of its older brother, but maybe not/ not until NYE 21-22. I don’t think the very picky/wealthy will waste too much time here with the 1996 still readily available, which means, by all means, buy her now if you BELIEVE.

(But I do wonder, was “saline bitterness” mentioned in early tastings by zither/ür/ersatz Illuminati in Krug juveniles from stellar vints like the 1996? Hmmm...)

Delicious with nothing at all while Mr. Chow shouts, sighs, and dies behind me on 57th. Gives battle-fatigued resto staff a noticeable lift for a while, anyway.

94-95 pts
Hold

6/18/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

My third bottle.

I dropped one outside flatiron wines SF one day, and a hobo commented on the GORGEOUS bouquet when I got back in the car a half hour later, due to her

Fine Blue/Black Fruit & Good spice as mentioned. I do really enjoy this wine, and, at the risk of seeming more daft than usual: it always feels and pours and tastes and seems very PURPLE to me. So herein: Blue and blackberries really are just trying to get to dark grapes in a sense. Sorry. I resist saying more for mysterious personal reasons. Ok: THIS WINE CONFUSES ME. I have only had one DRC Riche, the 05, and it was bigger. With the Méo 13, I suppose, there’s a “dry extract” issue. I wanted more, And, so,
As tasty as this wine very much presents,

I feel obliged to mention that I paid too much for this vint. For good or ill, as trading out at par or better—as with the 2009 Crow— has proved challenging, I will suffer through the six packs... Ha.

(I believe many men have overpaid for bottles with RICHEBOURG written on them. Yes: It helps.)

They run, thus far:
93-96 pts,
based largely on variable perceived extraction.

[ok-Will make a point of a little meo camuzet tasting with other wine studs for our mut Ben later.]

4/13/2019 - MTC2 Likes this wine:

The most “Burgundian” Pinot Noir outside od Cote de Beune. What I wouldn’t give to have another 3 bottles to open over the next three years.

Deep, dark cherry and forest floor on the nose. Sage, rosemary and thyme. Cherry and strawberry explode on the tongue. Perfectly balanced tanin and acid. So many nuances as yuo sip again and again. This is Pinot Noir aspires to be.

6/16/2019 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Yeah, I expected more, too, but given only my recollection of the wine itself. The problem, I suppose, is that I was just a twig-bundling peasant slogging thru the rafts of 40-80 buck chuck so very recently, indeed.

Dirty ruby— like Grenache with some Syrah and Mourvèdre thrown innit.

Raspberry schnapps, garrigue, heat and marzipan on the pointer.

I just reördered the same butternut agnolotti here at Balthazar to give her some time to lose her sharp astringency- On verra- and to stuff my pie hole FURTHUR.

9/17/2018 - jdtonic wrote:

Cassis, pen ink and ripe red currants says my wounded snout. Took time to distinguish muddled flavors— I think previous reviews lack of specificity is telling— On her nose.

Good Ruby Purple, low viscosity.

On the palate: flavors are harder to distinguish, though I hold the hues fall more red than blue, and what black may Be in her is a note of singed cedar, or a bit of 1988 Kingsford.

This is not a big wine, though of course size is a relative descriptor—even when concerning physical dimensions.. Though neither is it small. It has been overrated, though, based on my bottle 1, by some wine professionals.

It’s like you got lucky picking among dusty four or five year old St. Emilions for 50 franks (series 1992) in a Parisian alimentation because thank Christ there’s good fruit, fine strength (for 12 clams), and none of that iodine/band-aid must from the stems (and the sweaty �� paws of the berry pickers) you suppose.

It is light, tight and old world and would kill with a steak frites. (Stick with the “Big Wine” from this haus— it’s printed right on the label.)
92-93

5/1/2019 - Milliontown wrote:

Transparent ruby-red. Smells very polished and expensive. High new oak influence apparent straight away. A little distracting VA. Aromas of macerated cherries, mulberries, cassis, plum jam, with distinct savoury undertones, sort of a herbaceous character underneath. Intensely focused palate, super juicy and extracted yet sort of oddly compressed. Feels weirdly artificial in a way, in that the length and aftertaste retains its core of chocolatey fruit sweetness for an almost too-long amount of time. Odd. Has an uncanny valley effect on me. Maybe better with food, not sure. Might need to age but overall not my style.

5/6/2018 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Early. From 750.
Electric like the 2000- though fruitier. Waves of berries, cigar tobacco, plums and abundant French Roast espresso.

Too much going on, in and out of this bottle, for detailed notes from this layman, but believe the hype..

9/26/2017 - m.lupus wrote:

Disclaimer: I had never tasted the 1990 vintage before; perhaps the particular bottle we enjoyed had aged particular well.

I have tasted (even) more expensive wines, such as Pingus, but never a better one. This is a truly majestic wine, awesome and stunning! How such a wine has a rating below 93 whereas a boring fruit bomb like Caymus Special Selection (aka "Liquid Marmelade") typically rates above 94 is an utter mystery to me.

Then again, to paraphrase Mark Twain, let us be thankful for the fools who prefer fruit bombs. But for them, the rest of us could afford Vega Sicilia, and similar wines, even less.

10/3/2018 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Deep Purple.

The ultimate bbq vint.

The smoky boysenberry is about right. Whatever

9/21/2018 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Dark, Smoky Ruby-Colored Wine.
Perfect Bottle into neck.

Reticent Nose of Violin Rosin, ground pencils and black currant liquer. (Sharper than cassis)
Fantastic and unique aromas of pine, bitter chocolate, liquid minerals, cedar, wood polish and plums of various ripeness emerge over first hour in the glassware...
Very young, sharp and EXTREMELY interesting.

Palate like sipping onyx- and silk-infused smoked plum liquer from one of the Stradivari fiddles... Never had a red line more classy tasting. This bottle gives a pointedlesson in that one ☝️ thing which (as yet in my mouth) our California Cabernet simply can not duplicate...

Finish is delicious. A WoW wine. A smarter man would squelch the review. But I’m going to buy some in the next 500 seconds. (And the 2k) JD

7/14/2013 - The Gilded Sage wrote:

My dear friend, the Vicomte André de Toulouse, likes to celebrate Bastille day each year with the sort of feast that would surely have landed all participants in the guillotine.

This particular vintage of Yquem (which I have tasted on only one other occasion, after far too much Champagne to have formed a coherent note) was served at the end of this year's meal with a pan-seared foie gras of most singular provenance. The name and location of the farm from which it had been procured were kept steadfastly secret by my host and his butler. I was told only that it was not AOC classified, owing to the fact that its fowl had been raised exclusively on a diet of black truffles. One can imagine, but can scarcely describe, the richness and complexity such feed imparts. "Qu'ils mangent du foie gras!" bellowed the incorrigible Vicomte, and silver plates of this magnificent preparation were brought round with glasses of the amber Sauternes.

The wine: Well, it too was magnificent, caressing the palate as fine silk sheets do the body—deliciously, richly, and yet rather coolly. While mature, it remains taut—even severe. I was reminded of a stern, aging matron of French who used to come to the manor for my weekly lesson; age had softened her, but not very much; she wore scarves and smoked long and thin cigarettes; unused to nonsense she employed a firm touch. Well, you can imagine...

A final note: for all the whimsy of this particular feast, there was also admirable care taken in its preparation and design. The final dish, described here, brought full circle a progression of almost architectural intricacy, and echoed earlier courses of duck a l'orange (served with a '45 La Romanée) and a consommé of juvenile truffle hog.

I am most grateful to my host for arranging this event. He really is a most remarkable sybarite. What a happy miracle that his noble line should have escaped the proletariat's blade!

6/10/2017 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine:

Orange County Napa Cab Taste Off (Lang's House): I've had Tusk a number of times, and this is the first time I've ever had it when it wasn't the best wine at the table. I think that is more a reflection of the other wines than a knock against it, because it was exceptional and one person even had it #1. Overall, it was a consensus 4 of 5.

Amazing Pritchard Hill nose of blackberries, liqueur, forest floor and licorice. The mouthfeel on this wine is amazing, just smooth as silk. Stacked and concentrated with great complexity and a very long finish. Where it lost a couple points is at times it felt a bit flabby compared to the other wines. That said, it was also continuing to get better and better over the 12 hours it was open.

A tremendous wine, but QPR wise struggled against less expensive competition. I'd like to open a 2013 among the same group, because it is noticeably better than the 2012.

9/14/2018 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Sour cherries. Some coffee, some —- no notes. There was some white pepper, yeah.
Was in the mood for berries.

Added a bit of honey.

—A bit better, but the sourness suggested to my nostrils a 3 hour stint in the back of a locked Volvo Wagon, a 1977 diesel, green in the summer, in northern Michigan—

Then gave it away. Twice.

7/18/2018 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Stranded at JFK—was the best wine they had at the (fake) caviar bar.

Frothy bead and peach �� notes on this bottle. TBH, I found the sweetness cloying. There’s a reason that you find these “cheap” and that it’s generally the preferred vint of Non Wine Drinkers.. just the same. Not shitty.

Btw: I find the yellow plastic wrapper cheesy like bad hip-hop..

7/9/2018 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

From .375

On the PNP tip: A waft of the BDX profile about as intense as it comes, with rose petals.

Blueberries on the nose. Roses. Some cassis.

Blueberry crumble on the palate. Served on a stone table with cream and honeyed Earl Grey tea. Definitely a bit of char where the crumble touched the side of the oven, and a few red raspberries fell into the filling. Oh, and the bike guy in leather at the next (cedar) table is drinking hot coffee...

Wonderful wine. To tasty to last/was still opening at the 2 hour mark.

12/25/2016 - psiweaver Likes this wine:

Very tasty. Lots of cherry and cranberry. Fantastic bottle that should easily go much longer.

12/25/2017 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Ruby Purple. Medium Full body.
A bit hot out of the gate— blowing off some...

Vanilla extract, hot black cherries, alcohol, Frosted nuts, and some more subtle toasted oak on a sweet and clean finish. Shows some ganache with air. Tasty.

“Deliciously uncomplicated.” The ‘14 was better wine. Both gifts from non-winos. Congrats Camus on staying in the game.

Will update if warranted.
(Some distinct Notes of twizzlerz licorice/marzipan at the two hours mark.)

Happy Holies.

11/4/2017 - Bordeaux_Jon Does not like this wine:

From a half bottle, first Coravin pour:
Dear lord! This wine is so bloody oaky. It started to blow off after 2 hours. Not sure what others did in terms of decanting, but my experience from this bottle is "hell yes!". I had a full bottle about 4 years ago and it was not as oaky but decanting would of helped there as well.

There is some darker red fruit and cigar on the nose. The palate was initially harsh with too much oaky intensity but it got smoother and fruitier with time. The 2003 is just so much huger than the 2000 and 2005 I've had recently. The 2005 had a ton of structure, sure, but felt more elegant and fruit driven. The 2000 was softer and bretty.

The more I drink Cabernet, the more I want fruit over oak, though ideally I want some of both. I'm going to score this low for now, but will update if future Coravin pours convince me otherwise.

12/17/2009 - WetRock wrote:

Still very rich in a redwoody older Cab sort of sense but not close to being over the hill. Not a lot of complexity with the entry and finish still strong but a bit week in the middle. A surprise for how alive and strong this still was though. I liked it for its older styled Cab qualities.
Word is the 'zell' in Hanzell is from this label's name sake.

8/23/2015 - WineCellarTV Likes this wine:

1989 is driven by rich and ripe fruit of apricot, honey, orange zest and herbal spiciness (ginger!) all in a juicy package of great joy.
Harmonious, concentrated and medium-complex.

5/12/2014 - 55degrees Does not like this wine:

thin in color with good legs. reddish brown. nose of some fruit but mainly cigar box with a vegetable character.
Very one dimensional with no real fruit to speak of maybe just a trace but overwhelmed by alcohol.
not necessarily past its prime (didnt have it younger) this is just showing poorly from a poor vintage IMHO.

7/31/2006 - jdtonic wrote:

Not ready yet. tight. Not as tasty as the dominus/dunns of this vintage. very heavy, dense. closed red/blk fruit, blk licorice? some herbaceous (pine, eucalyptus) notes but, this bottle, my first Monty, was far less interesting and less tasty than the fairly simple but luscious 97 insignia, to let alone dominus.

4/16/2015 - jlgnml Likes this wine:

Drank with Pablo at Tenzing spirits. Pablo's first vintage after Tenzing the historic winery.

4/20/2017 - jdtonic Likes this wine:

Know someone who doubts that the esters in wine mimic other flavors in the world?
Pour a glass of the Archery Summit 2007 red hills and dare them not to taste blueberry.
Is it compote, pie, liquor or pail full?
Yes, it is!
Something like 20% Gamay. Helps.

7/8/2016 - k H i L o Likes this wine:

Il a la force du soleil qui se reflète dans le cristal et la classe qu'on envie aux acteurs des années 70. A la fois suave et fruité, dans une expression indescriptible... Un gentleman en costume dans une étable corse!

11/28/2016 - dharrison93 Likes this wine:

Joyous perfection. Drank with friends at a local restaurant after a splash decant. Mature and in a sweet spot. Dazzling ebullient nose of dark berries, mocha and plum. Seamless, palate coating taste and full 20 second finish.
If a date, this was a 30 year old psychology PhD grad who fascinates you all evening over dinner before taking you back to her place and fascinating you in ways other than verbally.
Easily can age another 1-2 decades but is currently in a sweet spot so why wait?

10/28/2016 - wineforth Likes this wine:

Nose a little muted (caramel? And raspberries ), much better balanced than last time, lots of soft fruits and tannins. Long finish of dark fruits. Fully mature now. Was better a couple of years ago when the blackcurrant nose was still there, so drink up unless old wines are your thing.

11/29/2015 - Eckie wrote:

WWW, Rotterdam. Just a sensational bottle. Given the other ratings, this must have been one of those bottles. Extremely focussed and powerful, yet restrained and precise. Small sips were enough for an explosion on the palate, so the bottle lasted twice as long.