August 27, 2020 - - Garnet color - Still a solid wine. Fruit has faded, past its prime but still very nice after decanting. And yes, the cork is a bit challenging to get out intact at this point.
July 15, 2020 - Cork was in great shape compared to previous bottle. Medium garnet color. Nose showed a mix of earthy, slightly herbal notes, a bit of sweet pipe tobacco, dried cherry, a little plum. Very nice. Similar flavors on the palate with lovely mature aged cabernet flavors of tobacco and spice and aged cedar cigar box, but still some nice dried fruit underneath. Medium acid. Tannins fully resolved and not present. I think this is probably slightly at or past peak based on structure but a very nice mature cab right now.
January 30, 2016 - Great value! Opened up very nice after about 30 min.
January 9, 2016 - Cork crumbled on way out. Decanted for sediment. Medium to dark garnet color with some fine sediment. Nose of black cherry, black currant, wet leaf, tobacco and a hint of pyrazine and oak. Similar flavors on the palate with more earth than fruit but still showing well. Medium+ acid, fully integrated tannins. Moderate finish. I think this wine is likely on the decline in the near future so I will be drinking my remaining bottle within the next year or so.
December 23, 2015 - Very smooth at this stage. Earthiness, leather and tobacco, in front. Soft red fruit comes in on the back end. Finish drops off quicker. Drink now or over the next few years.
December 12, 2015 - Really good, aged cab. Drink now, let breathe about an hour
March 15, 2015 - A textbook example of why Cabernet Sauvignon is a strong candidate for the grape that makes the greatest wines, high altitude vineyards in California are rightly famous for their Cabs, and the best skill a wine taster needs is to be able to predict how great a young wine will become. 1998 was a cooler, trying vintage in California, but Schweiger was a contrarian who made great wine. To this day the 1998 remains black almost right to the edge. The young wine was massively tannic. But tannins are like a photographic filter – tannins screen out fruit, so whatever fruit you taste through those tannins has to be multiplied by how much tannins there are in order estimate how much fruit is in the wine. At 17 years old, the color remains black, the tannins have softened and integrated, delicious blackberry and black currant fruits fill the mouth and ride out all the way with the tannins and acids through the long, dry, and yet caressing finish. Patience rewarded with near perfection.
November 8, 2014 - Blue fruit, pepper, tobacco, smokey oak. A-
December 31, 2012 - pretty nice for a 14 yr old .like a nice boudeaux that has aged.
February 28, 2010 - Just doesn't have the fruit to compete with the tannins.
Definitely drinkable, but no excitement here.