April 20, 2024 - PNP through an aerator. Huge, big and bold. One of the most intense cabs we have had in a while. Spouse loved it, seemed a bit too much for me. Still lots of fruit, corners are rounding off. Will try again in a few years.
December 8, 2023 - Been about 18 months since my last bottle of this '14. Notes pretty much as before with hours 2-3 being the best window for it right now. Might just be a point less overall fruit wise than when last having it 18 months ago. Still, not bad for the '14 which is often looked at in Napa as the red headed stepchild vintage, when compared against those more popular vintages of '12, '13, '15 and '16 during the five consecutive drought years.
October 20, 2023 - Pretty typical 2014. Huge fruit bomb, acid is decent but not enough to balance the fruit. Medium body. Tannins are pretty integrated. Not very nuanced outside the fruit. As the previous commenter noticed, the high alcohol on the nose is off putting. Decanted for 90 minutes. Probably would have been better to PnP at cellar temperature.
June 19, 2023 - My last bottle, wish I had bought more of this near perfect wine. See my previous note below. This wine was smooth and absolutely delicious. Decanted for one hour and consumed over the following two... Drink now or cellar for another 10-15.
June 10, 2022 - Tasted alongside 2012 Cask 23 and 2014 Caldwell Tannat. This has the most ripe fruit and a bit too much VA for my taste. Well balanced on the palate, you can see MR’s blending expertise shining here. Nice finish maybe 20-25 seconds. Overall a solid wine but hot on the nose for a wine of this caliber.
April 9, 2022 - Wow. Drinking beautifully but still seems so new many years left here if you choose.
April 8, 2022 - Not rating this bottle tonight, as I just reviewed this wine a month ago.....but suffice it to say, this bottle performed exactly the same over time and would have been scored exactly the same at 96-97. This bottle was obtained from a different vendor via auction just a few weeks ago, after the success of the last bottle of '14. So good to see this kind of consistency across multiple purchases....especially via the secondary (auction) marketplace and different vendors.
March 7, 2022 - this was wonderful... huge nose with notes of menthol, eucalyptus... dark chocolate, dark/black fruits, deeply colored with a bright ruby rim, a silky mouthfeel... just absolutely fabulous. Decanted about an hour before consuming. Wish I had more
March 6, 2022 - Another in a long list of '14s that is drinking very well right now.....imo.
Pnp'd an hour before dinner and it's pretty good from the get-go. Maybe a 92 with a little grit to the fruit and tannins. One hour in, garnet in the glass with the most beautiful red ruby rim. Any grit from the opening is long gone. The nose is classic Napa cab, so much so that for a moment I think I can smell the yellow paint on the sweet cedarwood No. 2 pencil......the fruit is decidedly red and blue, a beautiful 50-50 mix. At this point the wine is impeccably balanced and drinking at a 94-95+....but dinner isn't ready, lol. I guess I'll just have to sit here and read, listening to Zucchero and keep sampling, til it is? Rough life, I know.....
2 hours in and I'm informed dinner is still about an hour away....Carol and I are through 3/4ths of the bottle already so opening a '15 of this one, to have with dinner. This '14 is easily in the 96+ range now. Purity of fruit, balanced and very clean. The taste profile would be very hard to improve upon. Will this blow your socks off if you are a big Cali fruit ho? No. It's too good for you! It's better than that! It has finesse and precision and balance AND fruit.
3+ hours in and this one remains just a beautiful wine in all respects. It made it til the start of dinner and the poorly overcooked ribeyes, courtesy of yours truly, and I saved a small glass to play with after dinner. This is proving to be one of my fav '14 cabs from Napa, no doubt. It is smooth and integrated yet still so full of great fruit and so well balanced. Tremendous density of cassis is unfurling in the glass now. It fully deserves the score I'm giving it tonight. Takes a lot of effort for me, NOT to give it a 97. I guess the wine 'experts' over at WA really did know what they were talking about........
January 1, 2022 - Very good, open for about an hour and loved !