8/15/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

yummy! Great wine. Reminded me of smoked salmon, foie gras and strawberries. Slightly nutty. Was a great pre-dinner wine.

12/2/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

tasted like apple juice concentrate.. Thick and Syrupy... not pleasing... I have no clue why I bought this. Not very good.

8/2/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Opened at 7:15pm on 8/2/2008

First Taste: 9:00pm, 8/2/2008
Color: Golden Yellow
Nose: Candle wax, burnt wood, honey, petrol, bruised green apples
Palate: Fresh honey, sweet white flowers, ripe green apple, beeswax and white flower finish that lasted over 1min. Slight R.S.

Second Taste: 1:00pm, 8/3/2008
Nose: Raw Honey, petrol, wax.
Palate: Fresh and lively acidity. Very viscous. Sweet ripe melon consumes the palate first and transitions to Honey, green apple, dried apricots and dried flower. Long 2 minute plus finish.

Final Taste: 9:20pm, 8/3/2008
Nose: Green apple peel, dried herbs and honey. Has a bit of a cooling effect in the nasal passage.
Palate: WOW! Organic chunky applesauce with the skins. Honey, browned apples. Very mouth-filling (high viscosity). Very long finish.

Incredible wine... Would love to try again in several more years. Incredible value at $23 a bottle.

8/2/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Opened 8/2/2008 at 7:15pm

First Taste - 9:00pm, 8/2/2008
Color: Golden Yellow
Nose: Honey, Creamy lemon yogurt, beeswax, light cheese, Vanilla soft-serve ice cream with carmel and sea salt.
Palate: Creamy mouth-feel. Honey, honeydew melon. Very full and round. Long 40+ second finish. Acid is medium+ on finish. Slight tingle on tip of tongue. Medium heat.

Second Taste - 1:00pm, 8/3/2008

Nose: Honey and cream. Some beeswax.
Palate: Full mouth, Less heat than the night before. Acid is sharp and more apparent. Flavors very similar to night prior.

Final Taste - 9:20pm, 8/3/2008

Nose: Heat is now apparent on the nose. Honey and hints of warm cheese, wax and golden pear.
Palate: Golden delicious apple, poached pear, apple tartlet/cobber. Golden raisins. Acid is strong and the wine is extremely hot on the finish.

7/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Lacks acid... Really nice flavors and aromas but a little to fat in the mouth.. The acid boost would totally make this a much better wine.

7/11/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

I was really looking forward to this as I don't taste/drink nearly enough merlot. I was excited because this was Howell Mountain merlot as well and I love howell mountain. It was very unfortunate that there was a slight hint of TCA in the wine. It didnt make it undrinkable, but certainly not as pleasurable as it probably would have been. The TCA didnt mask the fruit but led to an off nose and slightly drying metallic finish. Will have to try this again some day..

7/13/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Went into this knowing it was going to be a BIG napa cab and it was. Dark extracted fruit. Overripe. This wine had some serious VA going on though. Made it smell at first like a big chalky milk chocolae milkshake. Dave yelled out that it smelled like Kahlua, so we opened a bottle of Kahlua and smelled them side by side... Sure enough it was a dead ringer for kahlua! Still a very nice wine even though it had some crazy VA.

7/11/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

This is the 2008 Bottling of the LH Zin (contains 02 vintage - 07 Vintage)
Nose:Raisin, strawberry syrup, toffee and warm vanilla ice cream.
Palate: Very fat and lush. Smooth all the way down. Even though it packs a whopping 18.5% alcohol you don't feel the heat. Very nice wine. Lots of raisins and jam, as well as vanilla on the finish. Very limited production wine.

7/11/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Nose: Dark bittersweet chocolate. Strawberry compote.
Palate: Velvety smooth all the way through. Dark chocolate truffles. Raspberry and blackberries. Great with a meal.

7/11/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Nose: Coffee, Black Cherry, Cedar, Dried strawberrys, plum, tobacco and toffee. Hints of leather as well.
Palate: Spicy entry. Cherry, Black pepper and cola. The oak on this is very seductive. Well integrated. Smooth tannins and nice acidity. Very elegant wine in the mouth. Classy stuff!

7/11/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Nose: Gummy Peach Candy, Lemon oil, nice minerality. Hints of tropical fruits. As the wine warmed there was some guava and banana. Slight heat on the nose as well.
Palate: Crisp acid on front. Lemon and pineapple. Creme brulee finish that was quite long. Wine coats entire palate and throat.

All I can say is YUMMY!!!

6/29/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

1 of 12 Magnums produced. Probably the first one consumed. Dark brooding black fruit, somewhat brambly. Hints of tar and rubber. Long sour black cherry and strawberry finish. Nice Tannin Structure. Decanted and consumed over 6 hour period. Wine got even better with more time. Very smooth later on in the evening.

6/12/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Can we say "American Oak Monster"... Loads of Vanilla and I think a hint of syrah... seriously not much of the varietal characteristics shine through at all.. American Oak overpowers this wine

5/19/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Light Garnet

Nose: bitter unripe black cherry, candied fake fruit, forest floor
Palate: Bitter, high astringency. Bitter unripe cherries on front. Very thin. Short finish.

Not overly enjoyable on its own but may be better with food.

5/19/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Deep garnet/purple.
Nose: Rich perfectly ripened black cherries, graphite and the first rain on a forest floor.
Palate: Very structured tannins. Firm yet silky. Big black cherries, plums, graphite, pencil shavings and pine needles. Extremely long finish, close to a minute and a half. Very full on the mid palate and so smooth on the finish. Good astringency as well.

Nothing like having a $12 burger and this $100+ bottle of wine. What a perfect combination!! So delicious!

5/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

SierraDoc's Birthday Bash (Copperopolis, CA): Color: Deep gold

Nose: Honey, bruised apples and wax. Slight amounts of white flowers and mineral.

Palate: Coats mouth. Tons of waxy flavors(candle wax or paraffin) as well as burnt popcorn, nuttiness, and green apples(unripe). Acid was weird and unbalanced. Not a lot of botrytis characteristics. Very much like '99 D'yqyem which I had a few weeks ago. Somewhat dissapointing... Very disjointed and awkward. Maybe it was too young to consume.

Had with vanilla bean ice cream, which made it better, but the waxy notes were very overpowering.

5/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

SierraDoc's Birthday Bash (Copperopolis, CA): Nose: Brett, high VA, tea, dirt, cherry, and rubber (4EP, 4EG)....

Palate: NIce mouthfeel, tart unripe cherries, rubber tires, strawberry, dried fruit and dusty tannins.

Medium length finish.

Had this over multiple hours and did not get better at all... Brett and VA seemed to just get worse.

5/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

SierraDoc's Birthday Bash (Copperopolis, CA): This was the Mystery wine for the night. Had been opened and decanted 5 hrs before we tasted.
Color: Deep Garnet
First impression-
Nose: Very brambly. Candied blackberry, fake fruit.
Palate: I didn't even want to taste the wine at this point.

Revisited 1hr later. (wine open 6 hours now)
Nose: This wine smells as if it has been aged in a fair amount of New American Oak barrels. Lots of sweet vanilla, spice and cedar were present. Also loads of blackberry, strawberry jam and black pepper. The alcohol actually burns the nose when you try to smell this wine.

Palate: Lots of heat on the front palate. Black pepper and strawberry as well. Mid-palate was consumed by massive amounts of vanilla and ceder. The fruit was very fake. there was some blackberry cobbler and marshmallow fluff on the mid-palate as well. The finish however was very short. Acid seemed off. Low astringency but heavy tannin, but not fruit tannins rather they were oak tannins.

Alcohol did not blow off even when tasting this after being open for 9hrs. Very disjointed and unpleasing wine.

At this point we still didn't know what the wine was but my prediction was a very young Zinfandel with alcohol around 15.5% that had spent a lot of time in New American oak, or had been influenced heavily by use of new American oak staves.

5/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

SierraDoc's Birthday Bash (Copperopolis, CA): Color: Dark garnet with slight bricking around edges of rim.

Nose: Very dirty. A bit of veggie characteristics, almost like steamed broccoli. Dry black cherries as well.

Palate: Nice tannin structure and beautiful acidity. Mouth was consumed by big black cherries, white and black pepper and lots of floral notes.
Long finish 40-50 Seconds.

After revisiting an hour later. The nose showed lots of green olive and green bell peppers, tea, sour unripe cherries and dirty.
The tannins where very round and chewy. Very smooth wine.

Very beautiful wine and excellent with food and on its own.

5/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

SierraDoc's Birthday Bash (Copperopolis, CA): This wine was consumed over a several hour period. It evolved quite a bit from when it was first opened.

Color: Deep Red - Nice rim variation. Went from clear to red to dark red in the center. No bricking at all which is surprising for a 13 year old wine. It was however slightly hazy.

First impression-
Nose: Bright sour cherry, dirt, tobacco, green olive and ice tea.
Palate:Firm tannins which overpowered the fruit. Acid seemed pretty high at first as well. There were notes of sour cherry on the finish but not much else going on.

About 1.5 hours after opening we revisited the wine.
Nose: What a change! Vibrant blackberry and strawberry jam. This wine smelled very young.

Palate:While the tannins were still present they faded into the background. The fruit was shining through. Big vibrant black fruit, strawberry jam and black pepper on the mid-palate. Nice astringency.

Finish lasted about 25 -30 seconds.

This wine ended up being the wine of the night for me!

5/16/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

SierraDoc's Birthday Bash (Copperopolis, CA): Color: Medium Straw Gold, slightly hazy. Appears to be unfined and unfiltered.
Nose: Right after popping this open, there was a strong matchstick nose, but the presence of this dissipated quite a bit about an hour into it. Lots of Sour Peach gummy candy, toasted pine nuts, honeycomb, shale, apricot, buttered toast and almonds were also present on the nose.

Palate: Very creamy. Light amounts of honeycomb on the front of the palate. Lots of lemon zest. Had incredible minerality and even petrol notes in the finish. Finish was quite long. Medium to medium plus acid. Very full bodied white wine.

5/15/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Nose of Matchstick, bright melon, and flowers. Nice body. Very full and rich, but still had nice acidity. Perfect for those 100 degree Napa nights.

5/4/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Beautiful garnet color. Was throwing a slight amount of sediment.
Nose suggested unripe cherries, tobacco, blueberries and mushrooms. There was also some wet forest floor notes to it.
On the palate it was lush and young and vibrant. Had nice acid backbone and very long finish. Lots of earthiness with just a touch of black fruit. Had nice minerality as well. Would love to try another one of these!

4/29/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Golden Yellow
Nose: Beeswax, perfumey white flowers (orange blossoms)... A little honey and spice.
Palate: Sort of blah. Not as rich and viscous as other vintages. Flavors of orange juice concentrate with a touch of honey.

Not the most impressive vintage I have had. Don't know if time would help this or not.

4/29/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Deep Golden Yellow
Nose: Bruised Apples, Orange Marmalade, Marzipan, Apricots and Nectarine
Palate: Thick and Mouth Coating. Lots of Apricot and a hint of smokiness. Slight honey.

4/29/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Light Garnet Color. Slight Rim Variation.
Nose: Very Floral upfront. Smoked meat, unripe Bing Cherries, black pepper, pine needles and dry leaves.
Palate: Lots and Lots of spice, toasted Asian Tea, potpourri, black pepper, blackberry. Coats the entire mouth. Very Silky. Nice acidity.

This is the 2nd time I have had this wine. Still quite young.

4/29/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Light Straw
Nose: light toasty oak. Salty and Chalky minerality. Hints of burnt matchstick, citrus and charred bacon fat. Also notes of caramel.
Palate: Slight Oak, Nut, Fresh Sea Salt, Lemon Pip. Very smooth wine. Nice acid backbone and long finish.

Would love to see this with a bit more time on it. Very nice wine

4/18/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

This bottle was way to cold when we first opened it.. Had a nose of ripe white flowers, and Sunmaid Golden Raisins. At 14.5% alcohol, this wine had nice balance and richness. Notes of Honey and wet stone as well as a bit of oak. Very fat and rich in the palate, but still had nice acidity on the finish.

Left for dinner and came back 3 hours later. Wine had a chance to warm up on the counter. The raisin aspects seemed to dissipate and the wine showed better integration. The oak and honey and white flowers seemed to meld better and the mouthfeel was even smoother. The creaminess was there but it still had the minerality which was nice. Very clean and rich yet very refreshing. I would have this wine either with or without food. Love it!

4/13/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Have tasted from hundreds of bottles of this wine, as I work with the facility where there this is produced. Fermented in Stainless steel, aged sur-lie in neutral oak for about 6 months. No ML... Clean crisp Chardonnay. Unlike its sister wine "Blondie Gone Wild" which is fermented in 65% New French Oak using Wild yeast and it also goes through full ML and ages in barrel for 1 year.

Nice acidity. Lots of mineral aspects. Lemon pip, pineapple, wet stone, limestone. There is a sweet white flower aspect on the nose. Love this wine on a hot day, poolside! 2007 vintage is very very different. This one is light and crisp and 07 is very heavy and rich and full of banana esters. Snatch this one up while its still available!

4/12/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Very much a Kiwi style S.B. Not the typical CA style. Very green. Nice lime peel and lemon grass aromas, with hints of grass and grapefruit. Nice Acidity and mouthfeel. There was also nice minerality. Somewhat creamy but not overly rich. Enjoyed with grilled chicken, roasted artichokes, and fire roasted yams. On a hot day this wine is fantastic when served very chilled! Quite refreshing!

3/13/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

This wine looked like motor oil and had the same consistency too. Had close to 1cm of sediment in the bottom of the bottle as well.

It had a nose of sweet cheese, honey and it was slightly Madeira-like... It was extremely viscous and coated the entire mouth. There was flavors of marzipan, honey and buttered toast. It had a long lingering finish that seemed to go on for over 2 minutes...

This was by far one of the best experiences of my life and it was great sharing it with friends. I was very thankful to be there at the right time to enjoy this wine. Looking forward to enjoying the '82 sometime soon!

4/11/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Visual - Day Bright, Golden Yellow, Clear and no CO2. Medium Viscosity
Nose - Brown Butter, Toasty Oak, Popcorn and Creme Brulee
Taste - Oak Oak Oak, Diacetyl(Butter), Toast with Honey.
Mouthfeel - Heavy, creamy, fat
Nice balance, medium acid, long finish.

This was a very heavy wine. Quite nice though. Had at room temperature, which is how I commonly drink/enjoy my whites. Would have loved to have had this with food.

4/9/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Color: Hazy red, with hints of brick on edges.
Was not throwing much sediment at all for a 20 year old bottle.
Nose: This wine screamed bell peppers (both red and green), hints of band-aids, green olives, tea and dried tobacco.
Palate: Smooth and seductive. Tobacco, dried cherries, mushrooms, forest floor.
Nice structure. Still quite young. Could probably age for quite some time. This one seemed to be a baby compared to the '69 I had this past summer, which was drinking great!

If I had a bottle in my cellar I would sit on it for quite some time before I consumed, or open now and decant and enjoy over 6-8 hour period.

4/4/2008 - NapaJustin wrote:

Having had this wine every few months while in barrel and then tasting since bottling it has been nice to see this wine progress. Deep purple/garnet color. Nose of jammy blackberry, vanilla and coconut spice. Imagine eating a spoonful of Marshmallow Fluff. That is how this feels in the mouth. Very soft and fluffy and lush. So smooth! Round Chewy, elegant tannins and rich long finish. This wine is very hedonistic. Meant to be consumed young while fruit is still big and fresh. This wine is up there on my List of Top 10 wines.