June 24, 2020 - May be past it’s prime. Fruit flavor has moved to the background. Very earthy, dusty flavor. Tannins have mellowed substantially, lots of sediment in the bottle.
November 6, 2015 - Great structure. Slightly dusty fruit. Strawberries and raspberries. Soft tannins at 10 years old. Our last bottle; great vintage.
January 23, 2015 - Fantastic. After buying it blindly at the tasting room in 2007, due to the Howell Mt. designation, wow, what a fantastic treat 8 years later! Great structure, strawberry/raspberry characteristics on the tip of the tongue. Still a 45 second finish. Wish I had the foresight to buy more...
July 27, 2012 - Strong tannins with some fruit. Strong flavors persisted even hours after opening. Good bottle, recommended.
March 18, 2012 - Somewhat restrained, this took a while to open up and was still a bit tight even after over two hours in the decanter. Nevertheless this is a pleasant and quite smooth CS, showing a lot of primary blue fruit flavors, mocha too.
November 5, 2011 - Consistent with previous TN but this has definitely improved further over the last six months. Nice blue and red fuits with good texture. Notes of chocolate and cedar. Moderate tannins on the finish. Probably should have keep this for a few years as i originally intended. Very good but still not a good QPR wine. Should improve further over the next few years. (89+pts).
September 11, 2011 - Do not drink yet! Enjoying bottle at STK LA and it is far too young right now. let this one sit for three or more years.
April 24, 2011 - Had this after an 04 Regusci Angelo's. This not as big a wine, but Beautiful fruit well balanced, and fairly long finish. One of more enjoyable 05's I have tasted to date.
April 16, 2011 - Left to breathe in the bottle for 3 hours. Not as backward as a couple of years ago. Blueberry and cassis on the nose and palate. Some notes of dark chocolate and graphite. Medium plus body with a nice initial attack but there is a definite fall off on the mid palate. Moderate finish with integrated tannins. Nice but has not really developed as i had hoped. Not in the same league as the CLV Stags Leap from the same vintage. I have another bottle which i will keep for a few years. This is a good, albeit slightly disappointing wine. Much better options at this price point.
September 16, 2010 - Very good. Nice fruit, good complexity, dusty tannins. Has that big, bold, yet refined Howell Mountain profile.