February 6, 2024 - PNP. High end Napa for sure. Well outshown a 2016 Lewis Cellars that was in very large format and needed to open up more. No alcohol / heat that needs to blow off, but I'm sure it would be better with more decanting and/or more cellar time. Can't wait to try it later.
December 31, 2023 - Haven't popped one of these in about 18 months and the last bottle was so good......
Pnp'd into a decanter for this evening's steak dinner. Dark, opaque garnet/purple in the glass. Sample is juicy, jammy big berries, quite over the top! Slight tightness on the back end. 92?
5-6 hours later, viola! The nose is one of graphite, violets and rich black currant/cassis. The palate is much the same. This is very rich and layered with a soft round mouthfeel, well integrating tannins and still a great bead of acidity throughout. Many, years yet ahead, maybe decades ahead for this one. However it's still not where it needs to be for tonight's dinner. It pairs well with the steak but I can't wait to see what it does in the hours after dinner.......94-95?
8-9 hours of air and now, it's turning that beautiful corner I've come to expect from it. Everything, every element comes into balance and plays well together. The over-the-top fruit and extra fine acidity both back off a tad. The fruit deepens and develops more class. The blackberry/cassis and acidity balance each other perfectly.....the finish is strong and long with great fruit all the way to the end. 96-97 easy!
Approaching hour 10 of air and the fruit turns just the slightest bit tart on the ending and with a smidgen of grittiness to the tannins as well, maybe a 94 at the end? A beautiful way to spend 8-10 hours of the day.......
October 15, 2023 - It was fun to follow this wine over two days. IAMANDYC brought this to our impromptu mid week dinner with CYCLIST at a French BYOB, and, I was generously allowed to bring the last half of the bottle home with me.
This is a very dark opaque purple wine of great density and intensity. This is largely cabernet sauvignon, with smaller dollops of the usual blenders, cab franc, merlot and malbec. cassis, dark cherries and blueberries on the nose and palate mixed with notes of pine, mint, forest floor and bay and blackcurrant leaf. well balanced, but the fruit is still a bit reserved at this young age (not surprising for howell mountain). I suspect its best days lay ahead. Reminds me of an Outpost Cab
April 6, 2023 - It took a two hour decant and should have been three or four hours. Wine settled down in the glass and exhibited violets, blueberry, and vanilla with sweet fruit from the beginning to the end. Unfortunately, there was practically no nose and the finish was short which dropped the score. I found a coolness in its structure. The texture was smooth. Clearly a wine from a cooler climate than one from the valley floor. This is wine from Howell Mountain.
September 4, 2022 - Winapalooza VI; 9/2/2022-9/4/2022 (Atlanta): Mark had introduced me to the NVD but had never tried the estate so he brought an amazing vintage for my first.
This lived up to all expectations even with all the competition. Open for 6 hours before we drank it. Violets, blueberries, raspberries, cassis, so smooth and balanced with a long finish. This will only get better and the score is for now with my burnt out palate!!!
August 24, 2022 - Two and a half hour decant. Deep dark, modestly electric magenta color. Black cherry compote, blackberry, bay leaf, bitter chocolate, crushed pecan, coffee cake crumble topping, and subtle grilled lemon rind. Smooth, dry palate, with fine, tongue coating acidity. Firm, full, medium intensity tannins on the long finish.
Very elegant red. It was a nice celebration bottle for a big professional award my wife won. Mark1NPT’s saucy reviews suggested this would do the trick (and it did). ;)
July 18, 2022 - This wine is a masterpiece. Its everything you want in a napa cab. big ripe fruit, but with beautiful acidity, balance, and that mountain fruit.
June 14, 2022 - Cary's Cabs around the world (Cary's Castle): Jammy nose, dark fruited with a touch of oak and minerals. Big fruits are displayed on the palate, with some cinnamon carrying through on the finish. Finished tied for 1 of 6, was my 2 of 6.
May 13, 2022 - Another bottle brought from home on the 'trip'. Glad I did. Tremendous bang for the buck here, as always, with this one. Popped open after breakfast around 9am (maybe first taste a 92-93?) and let it sit open on the dresser, no decanter, til about 4pm and Holy Batman!........it's so rich and powerful and.....good. At least a 94-95 at that point. Flash forward another 90 min open in the glass and it's really opening and coming together. The fruit backs off, changes color and softens, but only a tad. The alc is in line and balanced extremely well with the acidity. It doesn't stand out a bit as it did when first opened. Tannins are sweet, soft and round, no hard edges anywhere. Seems to me to have all the fruits, blue, red and black, and with beautiful Chinese 5 spice coming out on the back palate, now. Nice 30+ second spicy finish at this point. Was heavily black when first opened early in the morning. An easy 96+ at this point.
Enjoying this after a nice cool shower, some Bossa Nova jazz and looking out over some more beautiful scenery, trying not to let all this 'stuff' jade my score....waiting for tonight's sunset to commence. It's been another 2+ hours of air in the bottle and the glass. The nose at this point is the best it's ever been....rich, fragrant red rose petals.....a hint of camphor, graphite and you are gonna think I'm crazy......but there is a whiff of honeydew melon in there! The body/mouth feel of the wine has really settled in, there's a little bit of chalky minerality there now, it's smooth like that graphite dust you put into a lock to lubricate it when it's proving troublesome. This is by far, THE best bottle of this I've ever had, to this point. I really have no problem giving this a 97-98 at the moment. The spicy ending is integrating a little more, the acidic backbone is still quite prevalent. How many years will this last? I know I have multiple bottles left, but they'll never make it to this wine's end point. I won't be able to resist drinking them all. Can it go any higher than a 97? I don't really know. I was perfectly happy with all my previous bottles in the 94-95 range, but wow.....total slow ox time, cork out of bottle sitting at room temp on the dresser, 10 hours. Gotta think a full decant would have sped that up? But, perhaps at the same time, not allowed the wine to develop at the right pace to get where it is here, tonight? This begs a whole new question and maybe a whole new problem for us here on CT....maybe wines can't be forced through decanting or vibrating as much as I was led to believe previously? Yes, they are more 'drinkable' that way, but....maybe we really NEED to give them smaller amounts of air and more time to fully reach their best potential? Oy vey.........
Out front to watch the sunset now and enjoy the last few sips.......1st World problem, I know.
March 19, 2022 - Two hour decant. Deep dark electric magenta color. Ripe blackberry, toffee, violet, dark raspberry jam, sweet mascarpone, and subtle orange rind on the deep, elegant nose. Dry, satiny palate, with nice, lingering, tongue coating acidity. Firm, but fine tannins on the long finish.
This is not as sweet as it sounds. It’s rich and refined at the same time. Very nice drinker.