February 21, 2023 - Initially consumed without food.
Reasonably dark purple, but not opaque. Nice nose with dark fruits, some spices, not terribly "hot" alcoholic. Good acidity (still) and some minerality. Stewed plums or even prunes? Very fine, but mature tannin persists.
I believe this has another decade - while the fruit may fade, the earth and complexity seems set to increase and there is sufficient tannin and acid to give it a shot.
Based on what you like drink now (2023) through 2030, based, of course, on the quality of your cellar.
Adder: after being open (but refrigerated) for another 36 hours, this wine continued to improve, and absolutely outclassed another,slightly cheaper, well known cab (which will remain anonymous for now)
November 27, 2018 - 2/3 of the reviews on this wine are by the same taster. That makes the average score quite questionable. What makes someone review the same wine 8 times, with basically the same notes and exactly the same 90 pt score each time? Does this have ant benefit? I certainly don't see any.
May 5, 2018 - Shared with pat at selkirk manor. No formal notes. Very enjoyable. No signs of deterioration but probably fully mature. Fruit forward. Silky mouth feel.
February 3, 2018 - Didn’t take detailed notes, but found this to be a really nice cab at a good price point. Medium weight on the palate with generally good balance between dark cherry flavor, acidity, and tannins (we found the wine to be a bit too fruit-forward to garner more than 90 points). You’d be hard-pressed to find a better Napa cab for $22. We were going to buy half a case, but Gary’s was sold out!
May 19, 2017 - This wine has a bit of graphite, black currants, and black cherry on the nose. The palate has a small amount of dry, dusty, graphite like tannins with a blend of black currant, black cherry and a touch of oak. This wine is drinking very well now after breathing for a very short period of time and will definitely be better in a 1-3 years. Great bottle for the price and it should be really good without waiting 10+ years like many other great wines.
October 16, 2016 - This is the second of two bottles that were opened but not served at Giuliana's baptism celebration. Re-corked. Shared with pat at selkirk manor. was worried that air in the bottle might cause it to spoil. Initially showed some oxidation which blew off after a few minutes. This bottle showed a little more body than those tasted previously. The wine is made in an approachable style. Fruit forward. Subdued acid and tannin. Enjoyable now. Don't think this will improve with additional bottle age.
October 15, 2016 - This bottle was opened but not served at Giuliana's baptism celebration. Re-corked. Shared with pat to celebrate the end of the work week. Initially showed some oxidation which blew off after a few minutes. The wine is made in an approachable style. Fruit forward. Subdued acid and tannin. Enjoyable now. Don't think this will improve with additional bottle age.
October 8, 2016 - The sixth of six bottles served at Giuliana's baptism celebration. This vintage is made in a lighter, and more fruit forward style than the 2012 and 2013 vintages. The in store sample was a bit harsh, so i gave this two hours of air in bottle before serving. Very smooth and approachable. Enjoyed by all.
October 8, 2016 - The fifth of six bottles served at Giuliana's baptism celebration. This vintage is made in a lighter, and more fruit forward style than the 2012 and 2013 vintages. The in store sample was a bit harsh, so i gave this two hours of air in bottle before serving. Very smooth and approachable. Enjoyed by all.
October 8, 2016 - The fourth of six bottles served at Giuliana's baptism celebration. This vintage is made in a lighter, and more fruit forward style than the 2012 and 2013 vintages. The in store sample was a bit harsh, so i gave this two hours of air in bottle before serving. Very smooth and approachable. Enjoyed by all.