January 29, 2020 - Outstanding. Nice tannins balancing light red fruit. Perfect at this moment.
January 27, 2019 - Enjoyed this bottle last night with a dry aged Prime ribeye. Popped and poured. Still very fresh, plenty of dark Stagecoach fruit still with a bit of cedar. Very enjoyable and brought back lots of memories of discovering Miner a dozen years ago. This bottle showed very well and is in a great spot.
October 20, 2016 - Deep garnet red with medium intensity. Nose has layers of soft baking spices and red fruits. A little dustiness and slight savory finish. Nice furriness on the palate with moderate tannins (5/10). Medium plus bodied and well integrated. Smooth with layers of cherries, berries, and forest floor. Great acidity and structure. Surprised how well it's still showing. Drink till 2017.
October 20, 2016 - This is a lot softer and integrated to what I remember 6 months ago.
Some grainy tannins on the initial attack and the finish is moderately long.
Significant fruit on the mid palate.
I may be being a little too positive on the rating. Lovely wine but seems to have become simple.
Tannins 6.5/10
September 24, 2016 - Good purple fruit. Nicely integrated tannins. No loss of fruit or sense of raisin.
January 5, 2015 - Really opened up after about 90 minutes of bottle time. Still drinking well, nice balance. From other notes wish I had tried a few years ago as I really liked even at this point.
December 31, 2012 - We bought this from the winery last summer as part of a 8 bottle vertical: '01 - '08. While we thought the '01, which we had 11 days ago, was 2 -3 years past it's prime, this bottle was about 1 year past prime. Needed about 1 hour decant time to open up. Had nice layers of flavor although minimal tannic structure and not completely balanced. Not worth the winery library price we paid for it. Based on the '01 & '02, and not accounting for vintage variations, we think the '03 and '04 should be in their prime drinking window now.
June 19, 2011 - I was worried about the crumbled cork but the wine was fantastic. Super smooth with a long finish. Drink now.
July 31, 2010 - This was my WOTN. Everything in perfect balance and hedonistically typical of '02, with additional pleasure and integrity bolstered by its Meritage nature - I believe in this year, a blend of Cab, Cab Franc & Petite Verdot. Just simply enjoyable!
July 19, 2010 - Didn't tickle my fancy as much as the last time I had this wine.
Medium red berries with a good dose of spice. Palate shows lots of fruit with a slightly out of balanced finish. Higher alcohol, moderate tannins and acidity. Don't LOVE the nose or flavor profile. Juicy and a bit jammy in fact.
For about $55 this is a pass in my book. You can find this for half the price. Quite a bottle variation. Have my standareds changed that much in the last three years?