April 26, 2022 - As I’ve stated with previous bottles, the attraction that l have to this label is the profile: big and extracted yet balanced with nice structure and this vintage has varied. Nice nose with an appealing deep purple color. On the palate, dark berry fruits (black and blueberries, currants, tobacco notes dominate this wine. The wine is tannic at this point and has transitioned to being tight and very restrictive. It didn’t open up until about the third day. A dark, full bodied Cabernet that is very dry and restrained right now. With more remaining, i’d score of this 91+92 and having regressed. I think there’s hop though, this one is built for the long haul and will probably ebb and flow in its lifeline. Despite the regression, the color that appears bright and energetic, the wine is in no way at or the end of it’s end of it’s progression.
Update, day 3 shows notable improvement as it seems to have taken forever to open, but it did nicely. I think cellaring this wine is helpful, but if you want drink it anytime soon. give it plenty of air. A solid 93/ 93+ point Cab.
December 31, 2021 - Nicely done. Round, full and robust. Dark fruit flavors. Great acidity and solid tannins. Long and memorable.
July 4, 2021 - Opened the day before and left inside the cellar. Then double decanted for one hour and consumed during a 3 hours span.
The wine was tannic and close at the beginning, it improve towards the end. Uni-dimensional and just fair finish at this point in time.
May 9, 2020 - The thing that attracted me to Altvs/ Merus is the profile, big, extracted yet balanced with nice structure, that profile remains in effect with the 2014. Nice floral bouquet on the nose. On the palate, dark berry fruit black and blueberries, cassis, tobacco notes dominate this wine. The wine is tannic but not overly so. I enjoy a wine with the dark fruit, full bodied profile along with good extraction. However this vintage still starts out a bit tight/ closed and should benefit from extended cellaring. There is no doubt, a nice Rib eye or New York strip would be the perfect complement to this wine, it’s very good. 93+/ 94 Points
March 29, 2020 - Delicious! Lots of tobacco and dark fruit!!!
April 19, 2019 - Aromas of fresh dewy grass (think first tee time early morning August with dew on the grass) and hints of violets. Flavors of dark blackberry. Medium tannins with some grit, but fine. Medium plus finish.
November 18, 2018 - Inky dark purple color glistening in the glass with a pleasingly fragrant nose. On the palate dark purple berry fruit black and blueberries, cassis, full bodied with nice tannins. I expected to be wowed by this wine in that by appearance it looked to be a behemoth, but was actually more on the subtle side. Pretty nice, but a slightly underwhelming experience (day 1). Better on day 2, today this cab is showing more on the hefty side as I expected at first, nicely balanced with a core of dark, extracted dark berry fruit . All in all, this is a pretty good wine. 93.5 points for now and I will hold on to my remaining bottles to revisit a few months down the road. This wine show a lot better with decanting.
September 10, 2017 - Napa September 2017; 9/9/2017-9/11/2017 (Napa, CA): Tasting against the 2013 which has more structure, the 2014 was a bit closed and softer - I expect it to be more approachable sooner. A very good wine.
June 2, 2017 - First time trying this wine, and one of the bigger bottles we tasted during the evening. Nice dark fruit, round in the mouth, velvety texture with medium to long finish. Looking forward to trying this wine in the future and seeing how it develops!