November 17, 2023 - Third time tasted since early 2021. Still dark garnet and opaque. Pronounced, excellent cassis aromas. Good concentrated fruit, also mainly cassis. Not overly complex or outstanding. Some tannin on the late palate and aftertaste, which detracts slightly. Overall an excellent though not outstanding wine. Fully mature but should last 3-5 years.
Ric
August 27, 2023 - Silky smooth currants, berries and cherries. Finishes with a bit of tar and earth. Drinking well but no rush to drink.
December 4, 2022 - Accidentally decanted for five hours (intended less), but this didn't suffer from the over-exposure like the '14 Stonessence seemed to. Complex and savory with that interesting Rocks funk overlay on the earthy blackberry fruit.
November 23, 2022 - We liked it much better than last tasting almost two years ago. Still dark garnet and opaque. Pronounced, excellent cassis aromas. Good concentrated fruit, also mainly cassis, though slightly austere, which we have found typical of many Walla cabs. Some tannin on the late palate and aftertaste, which detracts slightly. Overall an excellent though not outstanding wine. Fully mature but should last 3-5 years.
Ric
October 1, 2022 - Over the hill :).
July 12, 2022 - Tremendous evolution since my prior bottle almost 7 years ago. The Rocks signature notes have receded but are still evident, giving way to a CS that is elegant and shows nice finesse. Consumed over two nights, it didn't move a lot overnight, but didn't lose anything, either. Plenty of life ahead.
June 8, 2022 - This wine is coming into its own now. Concentrated dark berry fruit with tobacco, spice, espresso and a hint of Rocks funk. PnP's very well but there's plenty of runway left. Drink or hold.
November 3, 2021 - Decanted two hours. Dark blue-black fruits, black coffee, licorice, and a bit of herbs. Was initially put in the shade by the more flamboyant Fidelitas opened alongside it but the more it opened up the more hearts it won with it's sophistication. Only two more bottles of the ten I initially purchased, will be sorry to see them go.
November 2, 2021 - Reticent at first, took two hours to open up and even then it had more work to do. Elegantly dry, shows dark flavors of blackberry and black cherry with espresso notes. Very little secondary development. Interestingly, the Rocks funk that had been apparent in earlier bottles was nonexistent here. With the tannins and fruit still evident the immediate future, 3-5 years say, looks good and 2032 isn't unthinkable.
June 10, 2021 - It's definitely improved!