April 5, 2024 - Very "Bordeaux-like". Not a typical California fruit-forward Cab but more balanced with plenty of freshness and acidity. Very fine grained tannins give it a beautiful structure. Brambly blackberries and earth and leather. Medium-light body. Elegant.
January 25, 2024 - Semi-guys night (My house): ROCKNROLLERs bottle. it is a bit dark and brooding. Scorched earth, saddle leather, a bit of funk. It was quite smoky.
January 25, 2024 - Guy's Night: Aged Bordeaux/Bordeaux Blends (Joe & Khem's Place, Mpls): Very dark red color, 4mm transition. Splash double decanted; drank a glass plus over 3 hours. This was firing on all cylinders for me tonight. It drinks youthfully in comparison to its 40 year age in fact. But this is in a sweet spot for my taste. Really perfumed on the nose, with leather and menthol in the forefront, mint, deep dark fruit of cassis and black cherry. There's still a juiciness to the palate's red and black fruits, very earthy, velveteen texture, dried wood, menthol, leather, lovely tannins, and very good length. One of my all time favorite Dominus vintages. This checks all the boxes for me, and in a flight of really outstanding, and comparable wines qualitatively, it was probably my favorite tonight.
January 25, 2024 - 5 Guys and a Gal! (Casa Joe & Khem): See Rocknroller's notes for bottle treatment.
Let me start by saying this is the best bottle of this vintage Dominus I have tasted (and I have had this wine at least 3 times). This wine is (not surprisingly) dominated by tertiary flavors. However, there was a streak of red and black fruit (cherry and cassis) that even my palate could detect (which was a huge plus!)
Nose and show some cherry and lots of earthy notes, leather and tobacco. Palate follows suit with the addition of some cassis, tar and a streak of menthol. This was a very nice wine that I enjoyed (but I think others enjoyed even more than I?
94 points for me! Loved this bottle....a testament to the adage there are only good bottles of older wines, and this was a good one!
October 1, 2023 - From original purchase. Mature brick red colour. Nose is dominated by furniture wood, with just a touch of mint. No fruit left. Still a lot of tannic/extraction structure and wood left in the palate which is basically all your get on the lengthy finish, like sucking on a wine dipped wood chip. No discernible fruit left on the palate. Was a great year but I think these are on their way to a slow decline. Drink up or sell given the auction value.
May 31, 2022 - This was slightly flawed. The cork was completely saturated, and though it passed muster on initial taste, the final glass showed some wet cardboard on the nose. The wine was all earth and mushroom at first, but then was flat through the mid-palate and finish. The flatness increased as the bottle was drunk. Darn - c'est la vie
September 30, 2021 - This bottle keeps going. Have a few left, anniversary year. Beautiful bouquet after a 90 minute decant. Definitely has Bordeaux roots, earthy smooth long finish still.
August 24, 2021 - TS’ Birthday Gathering (CdC/DP/old Dominus/Latour): Tasted double blind. This showed beautifully mature and well structured, full of tension but without the complexity of the best Dominus vintages. Everybody in the group guessed this to be a Bordeaux from the 80s, my guess was a structured 86 from Pauillac. It is drinking very well today and can develop for a few more years.
TN: Medium expressive, cool and fresh on the nose and palate with crushed rocks, herbs, leather and hints of barnyard all circling around a slightly timid but pure dark fruit core. Structured with noticeable tannins, a high but well integrated acidity, lots of tension, a classic, fresh and slightly creamy texture and feel and with medium length.
Decanting: Not decanted but this bottle could have needed a bit of air.
January 1, 2021 - From a nice looking bottle with a fill into the neck, this wine had a very deep red center with some orange at the rims. The medium+ intensity nose generated black cherry, menthol, plum, and soil notes. You could smell the impact of the merlot in the blend.
In the mouth, this was rich and ripe with substantial tannin, crisp acidity, and a touch of heat. The finish was reasonably complex and quite long. After 2 hours of air, I was concerned that this wine might not turn the corner to come into balance.
An, in fact, that is what happened. This structure of this bottle was outsized given the amount of fruit and never fully resolved. Reasonably nice but disappointing.
December 22, 2020 - Wedding year bottle purchased at K&L a few years back. Cork was tight and a bit moldy on top but came out in one piece with a careful pulling. Quick decant. Mature Cab color and aromas. Opened up quickly and showed some sweet mature fruit before becoming disjointed. But drank well with a ribeye steak early on. I don't see this getting any better.