March 4, 2024 - 3 hour decant and enjoyed over 4 more hours in the glass.
Medium garnet in the glass. A sweet nose with spicy vanillin. Palate of primarily plummy fruit. Balanced, smooth, modern yet at the same time kind of old world, too. Worsened after 8+ hours of air. Tight and tart at that point in time. To me the sweetspot with this vintage was with 2-4 hours of air, fwiw.
November 21, 2023 - Alluring grape jam nose, but a bit lacking in depth and richness noted previously.
September 7, 2023 - Put in a blind tasting of 08 Bordeaux as a ringer - it stood out as a bit more fruity than the Bordeaux - out of 9 wines it came in as #2 and most of us picked it as the California (there were 6 tasters).
October 16, 2022 - WOTN, for me personally. Decanted for 90 min and enjoyed over another 5 hours before and after dinner. What a great blend....Bdx-ish from the first sip, a beautiful blend of 68% Cab, 22% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. Improves further with more air.....classic Bdx nose and palate, soft integrated fruit, perfectly balanced and ready to enjoy. Red fruit is dark, pomegranate/blackberry, with perfectly balanced acidity. This is ready to drink NOW and doing very well. The most complexity of tonight's wines and the best aging to show its stuff. This is a beauty......
February 10, 2022 - The 2008 Estate Cuvée opens up with aromas of melted fudge, cassis, violets and smoke. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate, with licorice, bittersweet chocolate, plum and vanilla pod all in evidence. The ripe fruit (moderate on the Napa scale) is nicely balanced by solid acidity. An enjoyable Napa Cab that can be drunk now, but might improve with some additional bottle age. 14.5% ABV on label. 92.
December 25, 2021 - Bought this just to see what the estate was like with age and this may be inconclusive. I think this wine is using young vines as phylloxera killed off most of the State Lane vineyard in 2000.
This is 14.3% and perhaps suffered after taking a Italian blend. Came across a little stewed but after some palate calibration showed up a little more giving. Dark fruits and a good finish in a deep enough package.
I think later vintages are actually just better.
November 1, 2021 - Beautifully integrated dark berries with a slight, pleasing spice. Light tannins, smooth finish, drinking perfectly at this point. This is my favorite vintage of State Lane and the first case I was “sold” by Lou. Fitting to drink in honor of an amazing man.
March 31, 2021 - Blackberry and black raspberry predominate, with subtle hints of green herbs, spice and dark chocolate. Medium to full-bodied, still with considerable tannins, giving it a drying, clipped finish to set off against the fruit. Somewhat linear, almost crisp. A bit of an oddity: more old world in feel and structure, but with that bright (albeit not rich) California fruit. Very good, but lacking the depth and length to make to truly excellent.
Decanted 90 minutes before the first glass and then drank over two more hours, but it never really altered.
February 21, 2021 - Dark fruit / long finish / amazing wine!
October 23, 2020 - En underbar, balanserad napa i sin 'prime'. Tyvärr matchas den blint mot en Ch Ducru Beaucaillou av samma årgång. Kämpar väl men får ge sig....