April 1, 2022 - Opaque red. Lovely nose of cherries and chocolate. Plush and sophisticated on the palate. Bright cherry and cranberry fruit, sweet tobacco. Chocolate on the midpalate. Beautifully resolved tannins, brilliant acidity, great balance. Finishes long and subtle and dark fruited. Absolutely wonderful. At peak and should stay there for another 4 to 5 years. Classic old school Napa Cab. Time has served this wine well.
March 26, 2021 - This wine is singing.
Deep nose of violet, black cherry, tobacco and leather
Palate is strongly brambly blackberry, olive compote. Some blackberry on the back end.
Finish is long, at least 45 sec. Soft round tannin.
Can easily go another 7-10 years.
January 28, 2021 - This is in a great drinking window. The wine combines some of the dark red fruits of its youth with some secondary aged and raisoned flavors. Interestingly, the eucalyptus aroma normal present in wines from this side of Napa are no longer punching very hard.
If the corks keep up, this vintage has legs.
September 1, 2020 - Decant this wine for at least 3 hours. I tried it as a PNP with just a little time to air in the glass. Then I went back to it 24 hours later. Huge difference. Dark red in color, hardly any fading at the edges. intense dark cherry aromas turned to lush cherry notes the next day, On the palate there are black cherries, plumbs, licorice, tobacco. The fruit became plusher with extra time and air. On first tasting the tannins seemed a bit hard. These also softened, but remained well defined with air. Nice acidity and great balance after it had a chance to breathe. Finishes long with dark fruits and a hint of anise. This could go another 3 to 5 years, but definitely decant it.
July 28, 2020 - Leaning more old school with plums, cassis, tobacco, soft tannins. Don’t see this getting any better so drink up
November 11, 2019 - Time has been good to this wine. Reminds me of what I miss when they closed. Wines that over perform for the price. Took about 30 minutes to start to open. Blackberry, Red fruits, spice, currant, anise and vanilla aromas. Lots of fruit flavor with blackberry, red fruit, spice, anise, soem earthiness. Medium body. The tannins have really softened in the last year. Still has a long smooth finish.
June 1, 2019 - Spectacular as always. Aged nicely and drinking very well now.
January 18, 2019 - I had one more bottle of these than I thought - a lucky find. This is maturing slowly, and it will hold for several years yet. As before, currants and dark berry fruit with moderate tannins and good acidity.
November 21, 2018 - Still on the primary side. Needs a few more years to really shine. Red fruits, spice, some blackberry and currant. Very earthy notes as well. Similar flavors. Took at least 30 minutes to start to show well. Long finish with grippy tannins. Will leave my other bottles alone for another 3-5 years. Its good now, but has a huge upside in a few more years.
September 3, 2018 - This wine has aged beautifully and still has a ways to go. The bottle we drank this night was paired with filet mignon with Bordelaise sauce and they were perfect together. It's very ready now and still has the fruit to stick around a few more years.