January 24, 2021 - Enjoyed this wine from a magnum. Decanted for an hour and drank over a few more hours. Nicely aged Napa Cab with some earthy and barnyard notes. Soft tannins and silky mouthfeel. Very enjoyable!
July 22, 2018 - Good aged Cali Cab, still has complex dark fruit flavors with tobacco, grilled herbs and savory notes. Mature tannins.
July 13, 2018 - Fully mature and at peak. Might have liked it a tad better 5 years ago with a bit more fruit, but still exceptional. All dark raspberry, leather, earth & tobacco central. No tannins. Great staying power. So savory.
January 6, 2017 - From Magnum. A toast to the memory of Debbie Lewis. Very nice blend of mature black fruit and earth. Vitamin/grassy with sweet honey. Aromatic Cab-iness, AKA nice minerality. Minerality, not a term that I usually associate with Lewis. Still shows very substantial acid to the palate. Still a solid bottle of wine. Dark garnet core, the rim is getting a little bloody in color.
October 17, 2015 - Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind (Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL): Double blind tasting, brief note. Good fruit, slightly sweet. nicely supported with spice. Moderate nuance and texture, this is good now and unlikely to get more interesting.
April 5, 2014 - Held a casual wine night with friends w/ the following quick notes on the wines:
2010 Failla Chardonnay - 88, yellowing in color and with fruit a bit faded but enjoyable.
1999 Nickel & Nickel Sullenger - spoiled
1995 Lewis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - 90, Very enjoyable w/ cigar box notes at the forefront.
1997 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon - 90, mature with much oak and earth.
1999 Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon - 89, smooth and very integrated. I'd say past prime but still enjoyable.
2002 Whitehall Lane Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - 90, surprisingly youthful fruit w/ nicely integrated tanins. Easy drinking.
1996 Beringer Vineyards Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - 91, probably the biggest surprise of the night. Retains some nice tart berry notes along with a complex nose, fully integrated tannins, and a nice long finish. Fully mature but probably will hold for several more years.
2011 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon - 92, Youthful and juicy and at the same time has great balance. Yum!
March 2, 2014 - Corked.
October 14, 2012 - Popped this expecting a dead wine. The bottle was in mint condition. Double decant and --whoa!-- we thought we were in Bordeaux (on the nose, though on the palate it was lush and modern in style). Poured it blind and everyone believed it was either BDX or Tuscany. Complex, earthy, fruity, with a classic bouquet of red berries, mocha, and tobacco. Very sorry this was the only bottle. The expert on California among us mentioned that this was made by Helen Turley. It certainly was not the Lewis wines of today.
January 24, 2011 - Delicious mocha, dark berry, tobacco flavors, well balanced. drinking nicely now.
October 16, 2009 - Incredible perfume nose of lavendar, sage, cola, vanilla and berries, wine showed great promise also got kamata olives, dustiness, lead pencils.. The longer the wine was open the tannins seemed to strengthen, very strange... wondering if this wine will soften with some more bottle age ..