Community Tasting Notes 24

• csimm1161 wrote:

  June 6, 2023 - TOP SHELF WINE WEEKEND: A biiiiiiig daddy, the M7 is the most powerful and bicep-driven of all the 40+ wines served up over the course of three days. Having come off a tasting where the 2016 M7 was the belle of the ball in a blind tasting with eight other top flight napa Cabs, I was hit with this 2019 like a Fast and Furious XIX (not sure what number the franchise is on at this point). This M7 is in serious workout form right now. While the 2016 is perhaps an ice-skating Olympiad, the 2019 is in shiko foot stomp sumo mode. Huge blackberry and booze flavors are washed around with black rock, hunks of chocolate, and scorched earth. It’s just a big wine right now. Give it 3-5 years to chill out. All of the elements are there for greatness. It’ll always be a powerhouse, but heightened finesse and focus will surely come with time. I’m a fan, just make sure to don your bib and face shield for the blackberry spatter comin’ your way.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 96 points

  May 28, 2023 - I saw this early in the tasting but held off until the later end, and didn’t revisit, because Ilsa had generously poured this for me (but told me she wasn’t supposed to and to please not write it up with my other VV notes, but as she’s moved on, I feel free to mention) when I tasted with her at Wheeler Farms 3/31/22. It was by a decent bit my favorite of the tasting (2x the price of the others? Markets work, as my econ prof sis is fond of saying); on a day when she did a splendid job of aerating the wines so that they were tasting at their best, at least for early drinking, this shone. Well, whether it was her prep over that from the day of this tasting or just that was surrounded by giants today (not that the rest of VV’s lineup that day was less than excellent, but it wasn’t this level, IMO, although I did taste Alex’s ‘19 with him, which most certainly was, and I wish I could have side by side with the Colgins, Abreu and Harlan today), it didn’t fare quite as well. Like Scarecrow, the deliciousness factor is through the roof on this one, and for me, this was more complex, persistent and intense than that wine, with the wonderful dark fruit, probably mainly cassis, being joined by favorite secondary notes of chocolate, tobacco, dark florals and spice in a rich, creamy texture. But I did find today, which I didn’t from that prior tasting, the oak was sticking and it was ever so slightly boozy in a way none of the other wines were for me (noted that WBW felt that about the ‘05 Colgin but seemingly not this). I don’t know what the aeration was here, and this is obviously a super young bottle, stuffed with potential, and if it didn’t taste to me like one of the better balanced wines today, it might well in 5 or 10 years. Also, at this point, this feels like more of a cocktail wine than something I’d want to accompany a rib eye, as this felt just too big at this point. Like many VV wines, this feels ever so slightly disappointing to me, excellent but not extraordinary, the Platt eclipsed by the Auberts, this by the Colgins and Abreu (it feels unfair to put Harlan in this group), and while this could turn out to be the better wine, by a whisker at this point by Scarecrow. Still, I’d be thrilled to have this in my collection, even though I’d be looking to wait before opening it. 95-96+

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• bsumoba Likes this wine: 98 points

  May 28, 2023 - Memorial Madness at Case de Chris y Melissa - Day 2 of 2: I seem to be running into this wine very often, partly thanks to WineBurrowingWombat who has been gracious enough to have pulled a couple of his in the last 9 months. Don’t worry, he may be pulling the M7’s early, but I got him on the backend when hopefully this wine picks up some more weight and complexity than it already has and starts blowing us away. Just an incredible wine and candidate for WOTD. It might be weird to say this, but I feel like this wine benefits from all the best parts of each of the SVDs that go into this wine. Have I said that before? Probably…but I’ll say it again. Just a magnificent (no pun intended) wine. 98++

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• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 97 points

  May 28, 2023 - This wine is one of those expensive wines that is actually worth it! The Mag 7 offers tons of fruit in a seamless cocoon of plush, velvety pleasure. I wish this wine was more reasonably priced and more readily available so I could load up on it! The wine shows layers of black and blue fruit coupled with violets, some baking spice, and some bramble, all wrapped in tobacco and sweet toasted oak. This is not a wine for necrophiliacs! If you like wines dead as a doornail, go else where! While this embraces the "Go big or go home" philosophy, it has such an elegance that I cannot see anyone not loving this wine! Even in its infancy, it manages to show a maturity and pureness that captures. your heart and your palate! A magnificent wine now that will approach 3 digits with time, IMO. 96+ to 97 now and will definitely go up from there!

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 98 points

  May 28, 2023 - Memorial Day Weekend, Day 2: The Great Gatsby: Nose of rich, dark earth with brooding fruits and shiny specks of crushed minerals.
  
  On the palate was tons of ripe and dark fruits. There is a deep earthiness and a giving minerality. The fruit here is so well polished that it seems to give an impression that the fruit actually glows.
  
  This is like having that feeling and sense of comfort when seeing a good friend of yours that you don't get to see more often but know that every time you do, it's going to be an amazing time. Corny, I know.

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Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2019
• Type Red
• Producer Vice Versa
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation The Magnificent Seven
• Vineyard n/a
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Napa Valley
• Appellation Napa Valley

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 25 (5%)
• In Cellars 440 (90%)
• Consumed 24 (5%)

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