May 18, 2023 - Fun to try. This bottle is maybe slightly past peak with a bit of prune. Good complexity. Decent color but a bit of browning.
January 21, 2023 - Decanted 1.5 hr; Ruby red; Soft, smooth tannins; cherry/berry oriented; finish was clearly more fruity/simplistic, but also more youthful/ refreshing than a 2000 Bdx served along side, finish began to dry after 3+ hrs.
Lovely but would not look for further development
January 8, 2023 - Wow, what a treat this old girl provided! Decanted an hour ahead, slight browning and tons of sediment, but solid nose. Continued to open up, reached 94 with the food and finally faded a tick or two as dinner ended. A big, strong old Napa Cab that was a delight.
March 12, 2022 - It's the '95 Leoville Barton, no, wait, it's just Cali Cab without the glycerine saturated richness and picked at a reasonable ripeness. Tobacco, currant, capsicum, mint. Lots of interest here.
February 28, 2022 - Memorable - classic notes of dark cassis and earth, a bit of green pepper. Long finish
January 5, 2022 - This still looks darkly opaque with barely any bricking. Classic dusty Napa Cab nose. Some pipe tobacco and cedar complicate. Still fleshy up front showing classic secondary Cab characteristics. More tobacco and old tree trunk. Fine grip. Plenty of acidity though the overall robustness fades faster than you'd really want. It leaves the wine on the tart side. This is still damn good with aging potential to spare up front. It just might get shorter in the mean time. Very classic.
March 21, 2020 - Forman hit it out of the park with his 1993. This bottle is in its prime right now. Featuring bay leaf, tobacco, and red and black fruits. Tart finish. This was still old-school Napa, but much better than the 1985 I had a couple weeks before.
July 27, 2019 - Gosh, Forman crushed it in 1993. When does he not crush it? Really lovely tar and tobacco perfume. Moderately rich and maturing plum fruit that is laced with classic cab notes of tobacco, cedar and bell pepper. Still fresh and rich with good balancing structure. Perfectly mature and in what should be a long plateau of drinking.
July 3, 2019 - Deep ruby with slight bricking, as would be expected. Intensely aromatic, initially with lots of of green notes: mint, pyrazines, and forest floor. After couple hours in decanter, cayenne pepper, tobacco, and cassis notes appeared.
The palate was initially tight but filled with bright red fruit, savory, and citrus notes: orange, asparagus, cranberry, and crunchy red currants. After couple hours, the palate rounded out nicely to bring forward more red currants and red cherry notes, never getting over-ripe or sweet. Drinking great now with a short (1 hour) decant and although this still felt youthful, I'm not sure if it will improve much as the fruit concentration has started to decline a bit.
An excellent, classically-styled California cab but, as others have noted, this was also truly a wonderful Bordeaux-like experience as well.
May 10, 2019 - Gorgeous aromatics of dusty currant, earth and graphite - fruit starting to fade a bit but an elegant Napa cabernet.