February 3, 2024 - This is smoking good California wine that defies my usual statement that California wines dont age well. When I find wines like this that open so beautiful and gain muscle and become even stronger over a long drinking afternoon, I revert back to the old saying that "even a broken clock is right twice a day". Its ambitious to attempt and duplicate Bordeaux from California, and while this one is still fruit laden and wears a Smoky the Bear hat, it has lots of Bordeaux trapped inside the bottle. The deep vibrant fruit is laced with scents of barnyard, tobacco, and bits of graphite. Nothing meaty, murky, or tired like the 05' Les Pavots I had a few nights ago, this is just a lustrous beautiful wine with Latour like power, Montrose like character, and Haut Brion like fruit. I think you get the point...If blind, 1990 Bordeaux. This is ready! Drink!!!!
April 22, 2023 - Red and dark fruit, unsmoked cigar wrappers, graphite and old shoe leather come together to create a classic Napa Valley blend. At age 21, it is singing beautifully. This wine has evolved nicely. Great juice.
May 3, 2021 - Popped, breathed in bottle 1 hour, consumed over next two. Tannin is nicely resolved, a tiny bit of the fruit has receded and tobacco notes have moved forward the same tiny bit. Really nice Napa Cab made in an older, more classic style.
July 31, 2020 - Initial nose is absolutely gorgeous; quintessential Napa but clearly reminiscent of old-world purity (perhaps Pessac Leognan, Bordeaux) & considerable new world exuberance. Alluring, very well balanced (Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot) and tightly structured with abundant red fruit flavors. Not a huge wine style but rather deep and brooding; it’s very similar to 20-year-old La Mission Haut-Brion. This is the “perfect wine” to pair with a porterhouse steak with gorgonzola, onions, and peppers. Yum!
July 1, 2019 - Absolutely stunning, no sign of age, the cab franc is in control, ++++ on all levels.
Drink now thru 2022.
May 12, 2018 - Last bottle of the '02 and it was lovely. Brought to Char for Mothers Day dinner. This wine was a great accompanyment to a Char steak and drank very well. The Cab Sauv fruit is up front, but the Cab Franc provides some nice herbal highlights, and the wine has good acidity to keep it feeling fresh and not flabby. Really delightful.
January 18, 2018 - PnP was very nice, plenty of life left, but a bit bitter finish; gave it 5 mins in iFavine, then 1 hour decant and it was just wonderful
October 1, 2017 - Consumed 4 of 6 bottles in 2017 after storing since release. Gorgeous, complex wine that is drinking perfectly now.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle.
September 28, 2017 - Drinking beautifully. Deep red with minimal bricking. Strong nose of red and black fruits. Full palate, integrated tannins and long finish. Drink or hold but not too long.
April 10, 2017 - Brought to Edibles for dinner with speaker. At first, this was a tiny bit jammy with a slight vanilla oak note as well. As it opened up, this became a bit leaner and more structures and the cab franc notes came to the fore. Some nice herbal and earthy notes to go with lots of dark fruit. Very nice, and for me slightly preferred over the '03 Andrew Will Champoux