April 21, 2024 - With the delicious steak and rosemary potatoes that Amy made in Connecticut on a nice Sunday night
January 12, 2024 - 6th, and probably best, bottle from 2 purchases, consumed over the past 5 or 6 years. Structure is still very much intact, giving this strong backbone and lift, with medium notes of mixed and red black fruit. Came to its best point with a couple of hours of air and held well on the second night before some fall off on the third, so while I think that there’s some time left in its ideal drinking window, if I had more, I’d drink it in the next few years or so (I’m extending my window by a couple of years), with the acidity and tannins likely to outlast the fruit. Good on its own, probably better with food. I got a good deal on these; at the $60s-70s in the secondary market, they’re a solid buy, at the winery’s $155, a hard pass. 92-93 if scoring
October 24, 2023 - Great Cab as long as age and decant. Perfect drinking window now at 10 years. Definitely decant with a filter as has a lot of Sediment. Nice aroma. Good fruit and tannins have mellowed very enjoyable
October 13, 2023 - Admitting that after a few mediocre experiences with Californian Cabernets (Chappellet, Opus One, Silver Oak) and being a Bordeaux-Fan I was positively surprised by this 2013 Grgich. Primary fruity notes, with very silky (too silky?) tannins and medium acidity was a pleasure for a sundowner.
PnP clearly indicated that 1h decant would have been a better choice. Imho this vintage is in the middle of its drinking window and I definitely looking forward to learning more about this winery and tasting some other vintages. Finally, another solid American Cab besides Dominus and Spottswood which in my view shows the potential.
Absolutely eye-opening and made me curious - the price/performance is great!
July 8, 2022 - Fifth of 6, and generally similar to my 3/20 TN, except that this bottle was fully mature, very drinkable on the pour, with incremental improvement with 30-60 minutes of air. Medium- to medium fruit, mostly cassis and black cherry, acidity and tannins, nicely balanced and mostly integrated. Skewing far more Bordeaux than modern Napa, this drinks a bit better with food than without (particularly the leftover lamb chops, which the more delicious CdP failed to complement) but is still solid in the latter case. Although I suspect that this will hold at this level for 3-5 years, I don’t see further upside, a bit disappointing in light of my prior note, and will drink my last bottle in the next year or so. I have poignant feelings about this winery and bottling, as it was a relatively high end treat when I first started going to Napa 30+ years ago, and I remember a young Mike Grgich behind the bar pouring. As my tastes have (hopefully) grown more refined, my spend increased, and, I believe, the quality of Napa wines, cabs in particular, improved in the interim, I still enjoy this, the chard and occasionally the zin, but they’re now more than weekday wines, and while a screamer at what I paid, a bit less inspiring at full retail. Still, I think the CT score low by a couple of points. 91-92 if scoring.
July 5, 2022 - Awfully good. Could have aged another three years and been smoother
October 21, 2021 - Just ok.
April 19, 2021 - Ok but there are better vintages.
October 3, 2020 - Similar to sfwinelover note in that after an hour decant I was sort of unimpressed and set it aside....after another 2 hours though it was a different wine altogether.... fruit emerged and wine really came together..will do a more in-depth review on night 2....
August 26, 2020 - Not the best year but enjoyable