January 1, 2024 - Color is opaque black without of any sign of old wine fading.
Initally smell was shy and wine needed to be decanted 2 hours to open up buquet.
After 2 hs buquet became intense, sweet, fresh and was like smelling of fresh smashed blackberries, currants, cherries on palm completed with cigar tobacco, you immediately want to try the first sip.
There is sweet core of balck and red fruits which is unique seal/stamp for highest quality wines from Napa region. This sweet core is wrapped by a lot of silk like tannins. Amazing balance of sweet black/red friuts, silk tannins, accidity and structure. Simply WOW!
In aftertaste still there is "lion's claw" whis suggests that wine still remains in excellent condition a few more years.
Wine is concentrated, smooth like texture with silk like tannins, intense with long afterstate ( almost a minute). Elegant style as many top quality wines form legendary Napa period 1990-1997, not as heavy or clumsy or alcoholic as so many Napa caberntes form 2012 till present years.
This is true testament of greatness of Helen Turley winemaking from her prime career and legendary Napa period of 1990-1997.
One of the best wines of my life and probably the best wine of 2024 which has just started .
July 6, 2023 - From magnum. Wine shows no age in color. Still broodingly dark. The nose is intense, dominated by deep black fruits, but lacked the complexity I expected after keeping it 27 years in the cellar. In the mouth, the wine is full bodied, with tannins almost completely resolved, with a thick fruit core. The finish was slightly hot. It is a bit dissapointing that the wine shows so little evolution after such a long cellar storage. Except for the mellowing of the tannins, this tasted like a 5 year old bottle of Howell Mountain wine. I don't see this wine improving. Drink up.
April 28, 2023 - WB DC Offline - Mostly Napa (Bistrot Lepic): Deep ruby. Tobacco cedar and leather on the nose. On the palate very tight, black fruit and tobacco box but drops off fast, short finish. Not sure what to make of this, could be over the hill, could be bottle variation, could be in a weird phase.
November 29, 2022 - Very slightly corked
November 9, 2022 - Hundred Acre wine tasting: Blind. Vibrant with lots of fruit. Young fruit too, with most tasters calling 2001. Beautiful focus of the fruit. "Aristocratic", as one of us remarked. Round and smooth. Much more Californian than the Togni. And there is definitely still potential, I'm very curious how this will be in 5 years.
November 19, 2021 - Tasted as part of a vertical spanning 1993-2002 vintages. It was the consensus winner. Tannins are integrated, wine is balanced. Wine is still vibrant with lots of fruit.
The wine looks purple colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. The body is full. The wine has smooth texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity.
March 13, 2021 - 1996 Tasting (Andre and Sabine's House, Mountain View, CA): Nose: 89 Palate: 93
My #9, Group's #9 (99 pts). Tasted blind.
October 10, 2020 - Similar to last note. This showed really well with just a little time in the decanter.
January 23, 2020 - If you're a Calif Cab that bridges the gap between classic and modern, this is the ticket. The color, still dark, tells you the wine is youthful, fresh and concentrated. Herbs, smoke, cherries, tobacco, cassis and spice pop in the nose. Full-bodied, soft and round, layers of ripe, sweet, lush dark red berries taste and feel great. Popped and poured, every sniff and sip was fabulous.
December 17, 2019 - Decanted about 30 minutes and enjoyed over three evenings. Beautiful perfumed nose of red and black fruits, lavender and dried herbs. Smooth tannins. Best on days one and two, but no slouch on day three - still going strong.