December 2, 2023 - WOTN! Fantastic bottle! Well done again by Blankiet!
March 29, 2023 - Similar to previous tasting. Black cherries, mint and vanilla with a hint of earthiness in the nose. Black cherries and blackberries in the flavor. Elegant wine with nice complexity, medium to full bodied and a very smooth medium to long finish.
August 23, 2022 - Either the bottle was defective or I waited too long as it definitely tasted like vinegar. Very Disappointing.
August 20, 2022 - Way better than the last bottle I had. Maybe the last bottle was bad. This was good but certainly not worth the price.
December 7, 2021 - This is the lowest rating I have ever given a wine on here. I wanted to like it, but this was awful. I opened it and tasted. Not corked but no positive elements. Tasted again several times to see if it just needed air and time. It remained terrible. Maybe it is just my palate, but I have Napa Cabs from many of the great producers. I hate pouring out basically a full bottle of wine but it was just not enjoyable. I still have a 2002 left. I'll give it a try soon. Fingers crossed
April 3, 2021 - Decanted 20 minutes before dinner, finished hours later. Claret styled nose that leads with aged notes of pencil and caramel along with cassis, based on a smooth palate of earthy black cherry and currant fruit. Medium to long finish that extends the lovely interplay of primary/secondary/tertiary. Gained a little weight and sweetness with time in the decanter. Not the most complex, not truly sublime, but worthy of the dry aged prime ribeye. This bottle would have lasted several more years but I think I caught it where I wanted it.
August 20, 2019 - I poured a glass for the boss tonight, it was pitch black. She thought it was excellent, ill drink some tomorrow. Very good.
November 22, 2018 - Buying at auction is no easy task to get value for quality. Normally Blankiet is not that, but tonight, for Thanksgiving I have found an exception. At $80 for the bottle I can see why there is so much split opinion here as this exceptional quality is not typical of Napa cab, but fantastically enjoyable all the more.
This bottle, I had been meaning to open since September with my love, but the opportunity never realized. So, here for T-day, I removed the capsule to see that the cork was red and soaked wet: A foible of auction luck! I had never laid it on its side, but kept it standing since I picked up the bottle in August. But alas, to my surprise the past seepage didn't seem to taint the wine! But because I haven't had this vintage prior, I have no point of reference. Point de repere est important.
Opened with Durand (What an investment!) the cork would not have otherwise survived, I decanted into the finest of German, hand-blown crystal, smelled and tasted over the next 5 hours.
Upon opening, it had no nose. Imagine how, after 17 years it was closed like this. Palate showed oak spine and was flat. It's color was orange black-red like that of coagulated blood.
30 minutes in, it had a sweet pungent odor of crushed flowers, dust, quality oak tannins like that of Tarensaud, though I know not of actual cooperage. Palate showed fresh oak, dark tones, tar, spice, tobacco with very slight mint.
2 hours: Claude and Katherine are orchestral masters, bringing in Helen Turley to produce this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and what a treat to pair for Thanksgiving of roasted duck with apple and stuffed criminy.
Nose of musky, dark plum, trail, saddle saturated with more plum held a palate of rich, unctuous tar, covered with more tar over plummy asphalt. It seemed like a roofing ingredient, black, smokey, tar over dusty tar. Dank kept coming to mind.
As the fabulous meal continued, a little chocolate peeked out with a dash of vanilla like a brownie cookie.
It kept getting brighter with cherry, but held down by tar laidened jerkey.
4 hours in it started to exhibit orange notes, again dark dusty tar, smoke, roasted beef, carmalized beef dripping from the roast pan.
At this point, blind, I never would have guessed Cab but Nebbiolo from Barolo: Roses, herbs and tar; shades of marjoram, cinnamon and cloves popped up. The color, of course told that it was not Barolo, so I might have changed my guess due to plums to a right bank, possibly Pomerol.
This wine was organically farmed, not fined or filtered.
Despite the persistent oak presence it was a joy to drink where I absolutely loved the tar with bright floral complexity: A real auction bargain.
Based on how it evolved, if I had to commit to a drink by date I would say by 2030.
DKN
P.S.
23 hours later it was past prime. It tasted oxidized, but was still very enjoyable after vigorous swirls. Fantastic silky texture, flowers, more herbal with fainter tar, but firm mature oak presence.
April 21, 2018 - Corked, sadly. But, I followed it up with a 2008 Blankiet Rive Droite that was exceptional.
December 1, 2017 - Similar to prior notes
After the initial taste, this wine seem to deteriorate, not bad but never fully opened up & tasted different than other bottles from memory; off bottle? (dropped score)