Decanted two hours. Delicious showing for this and no rough edges but for whatever reason didn't bowl me over the way the previous bottle did. Silky cassis and supple tannins as you would expect in a Napa cab 12 years old.
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This is still on the upswing. Decanted for 30 minutes, but could have used 1-2 hours. Continued to develop in the glass over 3 hours. A beautiful wine, with depth, complexity, length and breadth. Silky mouthfeel, long finish. We all loved this wine.
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Nose dominated by crushed dark blue fruit and chocolate, with hints of roasted cacao, floral bouquet, anise, and a menagerie of minerals. Body is supple and sappy, with an inviting and exotic lift, rich dark fruit and elegant structure. Finish has the length and pedigree to support the nose and the palate.
Outstanding and the way California Cab should be.
I think this is drinking at peak but there is definitely no rush at all; may soften a little with time and some may say to do so but the edge and verve today, balanced tannins and acidity make it actually more exciting today than if it gets too curvy.
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Guess I should have been patient and held off drinking all the '99 and '05 that I had? This is the first '09 that I pulled from the cellar, and it was absolutely delightful!
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Best Bottle Monday with Friends (Carlton, Zurich): This Napa icon had quite a hard time that night against many other great wines. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly drinkable and it’s delicious but I don’t believe it showed all it got that night. There seems much more in store for this wine with some more years of bottle age and/or a longer decant. At first the nose was not that expressive but clean and flawless. Became a bit more intense with 60-90 minutes in the glass with wild forest berries setting the tone. Same on the palate. At first not that expressive, later tons of cherries took the reign but not overly complex, not much depth. Only after 90+ minutes the forest berries, cassis, along with cherries, some chocolate, a tad minerality and only hints of herbal aromas showed up and made the palate more multi-dimensional. Still not overly expressive but becoming more intense by the minute. The structure is impeccable. The tannin are smooth and jucy. The acidic backbone is there to keep it elegant (the first glass even suffered a bit from excess acidity, but that quickly went away). Overall very well balanced and really good, round and on the elegant side of what Napa can deliver.
In my opinion, the wine needs a solid 3 hours decant at the moment. It seemed quite closed at the beginning (PnP). I guess it can reach even higher highs (and higher scores) than I experienced that night, if you give it an even longer decant (6-8h).
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Monday Bouteille (Carlton Restaurant, Zurich): Nicely balanced from the start with a typical cassis punch (but also cranberry) and surprisingly popcorn-like scents (have only encountered this in white wines so far). Fresh, fruity and well integrated on the palate with tannins, alcohol, acidity and the fruit keeping each other in check. Very long finish.
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Decanted over cocktails and served with steaks. Pure focused fruit, nice acid. With some air developed s stunning layer of baker's chocolate that lasted long into the finish. Maybe the best Napa 2009 I've had and much more enjoyable than some older vintages of this I've tried. In a great place.
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Poured from a 375ml bottle. Needed time to open up. I thought it was very good, but a little disappointing considering the ~$175 price tag for a half bottle. I wanted it to blow me away more than it did. I actually think it will be better in a few years.
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This is really a cut above. It delivers on all fronts. This is the second time I have had a bottle in a couple days and its really all that. This is outstanding.
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Wow this was good right out of the gate. Big, rich, full bodied. Its lighter in color so you dont expect the fuller mouth feel. Outstanding fruit. Focused, layered, and a 45+ second finish. This is worth every penny. A top notch wine.
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This is certainly good. Outstanding even. Drank from a $175 1/2 bottle and having trouble reconciling the price. Dont get me wrong - this is good juice and I am on the list. Have been since 07. But it just seems to me that some of these California "cult" wines have run away on pricing and unless you are delivering me a truly special and unique bottle its hard to justify $170 for a 375ml and $300 for a 750. As good as this is its hard to justify.
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Consumed 3 bottles at a dinner in Washington DC. This is a big, young and delicious wine that has years of maturation in front of it. The tannins are integrated with earth, black fruit and hints of tobacco. A great mouthfeel. The finish is long and lingring leaving you ready for more. If I had bottles in my cellar I would be holding for at least another 2-3 years.
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Drank this at a Araujo Estate dinner party with Bart, Daphne, and Jamie Araujo and 5 other people. Great wine, but I preferred the 07 actually. Classic complex Bordeaux blend . Smooth flavors, a bit of pepper raspberry blackberry hints of minerals, a bit of cinnamon spices. Great long finish. Great layers on this wine.
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Great menthol note shines though on the nose. Very distinct minerality coming through on both the nose and palate. Dark and brooding but very open and radient.
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Oak, earth, tobacco, truffle, licorice and coffee scents create the perfume. On the palate, the wine is polished, soft and round, ending in a sweet cassis and black cherry finish.
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clear, dark red with purple hues in the color. wet soil, dark fruit, mineral, oak on the nose. blueberry, cocoa, mineral, sweet, oak on the palate. high acid, big tannins on a silky smooth finish.
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Deep in color, with a smoky, licorice, cocoa, black and blue fruit personality. Soft, polished and on the elegant side of ripe Napa wines, everything is in balance and harmony.
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Smoke, licorice, coffee, spice box, black cherry liqueur and dark plum aromas capture your attention. Lush, plush, silky and sophisticated, this refined style of California Cabernet Sauvignon offers a delicious, ripe, dark berry, cocoa and supple textured finish. I really like this style of wine.
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Had a bottle of this at PRIME in LV with steak - this wine is stunning and silky smooth - subtle (and not overpowering) tastes of chocolate and vanilla mixed in with fruit. Amazing and signing up on their waitlist!
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Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Petit Verdot Eisele Vineyard Block 10D) -- fascinating, Araujo uses a teeny bit of this in the blend, from cooler located spots in Eisele. Inky inky dark, darkest on the table. Fascinating wine and more differentiated than the individual cabs and cab franc for sure. Silky, dark and satiny, densely packed crushed asphalt, black olive, dark chocolate.
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Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Cabernet Franc Eisele Vineyard Block 10C) -- fascinating, Araujo uses a teeny bit of this in the blend, from cooler located spots in Eisele. Surprisingly un- cab franc like, with oodles of the chocolatey goodness in the straight cabs. More a chalky note tho, maybe more tannins? Also more exotic notes like crushed clove, soy, coffee grounds. Overall a more subdued red than the straight cabs, but lovely.
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Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 5D, Spottswoode clone) -- Spottswoode clone seemed more subdued than the Eisele clone blocks, with tighter -- but still nice -- palate. Francoise gets Christmas baking spices, plum, etc. I agree. The chocolatey goodness is there but more restrained. Nice.
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Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 5A, Eisele clone) -- Francoise's favorite, a real beauty loaded with goodness. Inky dark, gorgeous nose of espresso meets mocha meets red rose. Almost Barolo-like heady nose. On the palate, chocolate covered cherries, nougat, chocolate marshmallow. Dessert in a glass, yet totally dry and refreshing.
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Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 4, Eisele clone) -- A tad leaner than the Block 2A, but still loaded with lovely milk chocolatey licoricey goodness! A tad more of a clean cherry mineral element. Nice.
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Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 2A, Eisele clone) -- Gorgeous soaring nose of crushed asphalt, rich heady chocolate, black olive and dust. Huge milk chocolate marshmallow palate, yet refreshing and balanced. Oak there but not out of balance, and fruit/chocolate leads. A teeny bit of a sweet note on the palate, but coulda been purely the unctuousness.
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2/5/2024 - datorr wrote: 95 Points
💪🏼
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10/13/2023 - gipper wrote:
AJ’s 9th anniversary
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3/24/2022 - jay_hawk@yahoo.com Likes this wine:
Wotn against 2009 Bordeaux lineup. Smooth tannins and ready to drink with many years ahead of it
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10/9/2021 - PDavisMarble wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful. Perhaps another 10-15 years to go on this one, but drinking beautifully now.
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9/3/2021 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted two hours. Delicious showing for this and no rough edges but for whatever reason didn't bowl me over the way the previous bottle did. Silky cassis and supple tannins as you would expect in a Napa cab 12 years old.
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5/2/2021 - PDavisMarble wrote: 97 Points
This is still on the upswing. Decanted for 30 minutes, but could have used 1-2 hours. Continued to develop in the glass over 3 hours. A beautiful wine, with depth, complexity, length and breadth. Silky mouthfeel, long finish. We all loved this wine.
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8/22/2020 - mchern02 wrote: 95 Points
3 hour decant
Drinking exquisitely right now.
Nose dominated by crushed dark blue fruit and chocolate, with hints of roasted cacao, floral bouquet, anise, and a menagerie of minerals. Body is supple and sappy, with an inviting and exotic lift, rich dark fruit and elegant structure. Finish has the length and pedigree to support the nose and the palate.
Outstanding and the way California Cab should be.
I think this is drinking at peak but there is definitely no rush at all; may soften a little with time and some may say to do so but the edge and verve today, balanced tannins and acidity make it actually more exciting today than if it gets too curvy.
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11/9/2019 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Better than I remember it from 2 years ago. Big fruit but not too ripe, good structure.
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7/23/2019 - ghanbai Likes this wine: 96 Points
Guess I should have been patient and held off drinking all the '99 and '05 that I had? This is the first '09 that I pulled from the cellar, and it was absolutely delightful!
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8/7/2018 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
Best Bottle Monday with Friends (Carlton, Zurich): This Napa icon had quite a hard time that night against many other great wines. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly drinkable and it’s delicious but I don’t believe it showed all it got that night. There seems much more in store for this wine with some more years of bottle age and/or a longer decant. At first the nose was not that expressive but clean and flawless. Became a bit more intense with 60-90 minutes in the glass with wild forest berries setting the tone. Same on the palate. At first not that expressive, later tons of cherries took the reign but not overly complex, not much depth. Only after 90+ minutes the forest berries, cassis, along with cherries, some chocolate, a tad minerality and only hints of herbal aromas showed up and made the palate more multi-dimensional. Still not overly expressive but becoming more intense by the minute. The structure is impeccable. The tannin are smooth and jucy. The acidic backbone is there to keep it elegant (the first glass even suffered a bit from excess acidity, but that quickly went away). Overall very well balanced and really good, round and on the elegant side of what Napa can deliver.
In my opinion, the wine needs a solid 3 hours decant at the moment. It seemed quite closed at the beginning (PnP). I guess it can reach even higher highs (and higher scores) than I experienced that night, if you give it an even longer decant (6-8h).
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8/6/2018 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Monday Bouteille (Carlton Restaurant, Zurich): Nicely balanced from the start with a typical cassis punch (but also cranberry) and surprisingly popcorn-like scents (have only encountered this in white wines so far). Fresh, fruity and well integrated on the palate with tannins, alcohol, acidity and the fruit keeping each other in check. Very long finish.
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7/11/2018 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 97 Points
Decanted over cocktails and served with steaks. Pure focused fruit, nice acid. With some air developed s stunning layer of baker's chocolate that lasted long into the finish. Maybe the best Napa 2009 I've had and much more enjoyable than some older vintages of this I've tried. In a great place.
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4/3/2017 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Poured from a 375ml bottle. Needed time to open up. I thought it was very good, but a little disappointing considering the ~$175 price tag for a half bottle. I wanted it to blow me away more than it did. I actually think it will be better in a few years.
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1/14/2017 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 96 Points
This is really a cut above. It delivers on all fronts. This is the second time I have had a bottle in a couple days and its really all that. This is outstanding.
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1/13/2017 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wow this was good right out of the gate. Big, rich, full bodied. Its lighter in color so you dont expect the fuller mouth feel. Outstanding fruit. Focused, layered, and a 45+ second finish. This is worth every penny. A top notch wine.
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8/19/2015 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 94 Points
This is certainly good. Outstanding even. Drank from a $175 1/2 bottle and having trouble reconciling the price. Dont get me wrong - this is good juice and I am on the list. Have been since 07. But it just seems to me that some of these California "cult" wines have run away on pricing and unless you are delivering me a truly special and unique bottle its hard to justify $170 for a 375ml and $300 for a 750. As good as this is its hard to justify.
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4/2/2015 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 94 Points
Consistent notes with previous bottle - this is fantastic wine. 94+
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3/5/2015 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 94 Points
Sensational. Deep and rich. No decant. Loved it
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8/29/2013 - tgkswine wrote: 93 Points
Consumed 3 bottles at a dinner in Washington DC. This is a big, young and delicious wine that has years of maturation in front of it.
The tannins are integrated with earth, black fruit and hints of tobacco. A great mouthfeel. The finish is long and lingring leaving you ready for more. If I had bottles in my cellar I would be holding for at least another 2-3 years.
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4/17/2013 - RickyT12 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank this at a Araujo Estate dinner party with Bart, Daphne, and Jamie Araujo and 5 other people. Great wine, but I preferred the 07 actually. Classic complex Bordeaux blend . Smooth flavors, a bit of pepper raspberry blackberry hints of minerals, a bit of cinnamon spices. Great long finish. Great layers on this wine.
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4/17/2013 - SonnyChiba wrote: 96 Points
Outstanding wine...big fruit, black licorice, currant, a bit dusty and tannic finish, about as perfect of napa cab as it gets.
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2/1/2013 - fdub wrote: 96 Points
Great menthol note shines though on the nose. Very distinct minerality coming through on both the nose and palate. Dark and brooding but very open and radient.
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12/25/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Oak, earth, tobacco, truffle, licorice and coffee scents create the perfume. On the palate, the wine is polished, soft and round, ending in a sweet cassis and black cherry finish.
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12/1/2012 - affordableCollector Likes this wine: 89 Points
clear, dark red with purple hues in the color. wet soil, dark fruit, mineral, oak on the nose. blueberry, cocoa, mineral, sweet, oak on the palate. high acid, big tannins on a silky smooth finish.
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10/24/2012 - mnh wrote: 98 Points
At Wine experience. Elegant and forward.
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10/24/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Deep in color, with a smoky, licorice, cocoa, black and blue fruit personality. Soft, polished and on the elegant side of ripe Napa wines, everything is in balance and harmony.
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3/2/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Smoke, licorice, coffee, spice box, black cherry liqueur and dark plum aromas capture your attention. Lush, plush, silky and sophisticated, this refined style of California Cabernet Sauvignon offers a delicious, ripe, dark berry, cocoa and supple textured finish. I really like this style of wine.
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1/7/2012 - iceman10 wrote: 95 Points
Had a bottle of this at PRIME in LV with steak - this wine is stunning and silky smooth - subtle (and not overpowering) tastes of chocolate and vanilla mixed in with fruit. Amazing and signing up on their waitlist!
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4/8/2011 - danstrings wrote: 92 Points
Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Petit Verdot Eisele Vineyard Block 10D) -- fascinating, Araujo uses a teeny bit of this in the blend, from cooler located spots in Eisele. Inky inky dark, darkest on the table. Fascinating wine and more differentiated than the individual cabs and cab franc for sure. Silky, dark and satiny, densely packed crushed asphalt, black olive, dark chocolate.
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4/8/2011 - danstrings wrote: 90 Points
Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Cabernet Franc Eisele Vineyard Block 10C) -- fascinating, Araujo uses a teeny bit of this in the blend, from cooler located spots in Eisele. Surprisingly un- cab franc like, with oodles of the chocolatey goodness in the straight cabs. More a chalky note tho, maybe more tannins? Also more exotic notes like crushed clove, soy, coffee grounds. Overall a more subdued red than the straight cabs, but lovely.
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4/8/2011 - danstrings wrote: 90 Points
Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 5D, Spottswoode clone) -- Spottswoode clone seemed more subdued than the Eisele clone blocks, with tighter -- but still nice -- palate. Francoise gets Christmas baking spices, plum, etc. I agree. The chocolatey goodness is there but more restrained. Nice.
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4/8/2011 - danstrings wrote: 95 Points
Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 5A, Eisele clone) -- Francoise's favorite, a real beauty loaded with goodness. Inky dark, gorgeous nose of espresso meets mocha meets red rose. Almost Barolo-like heady nose. On the palate, chocolate covered cherries, nougat, chocolate marshmallow. Dessert in a glass, yet totally dry and refreshing.
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4/8/2011 - danstrings wrote: 91 Points
Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 4, Eisele clone) -- A tad leaner than the Block 2A, but still loaded with lovely milk chocolatey licoricey goodness! A tad more of a clean cherry mineral element. Nice.
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4/8/2011 - danstrings wrote: 93 Points
Araujo 2009 barrel sampling visit with Iron Chevsky (Callistoga, CA): Barrel sample (Eisele Vineyard Block 2A, Eisele clone) -- Gorgeous soaring nose of crushed asphalt, rich heady chocolate, black olive and dust. Huge milk chocolate marshmallow palate, yet refreshing and balanced. Oak there but not out of balance, and fruit/chocolate leads. A teeny bit of a sweet note on the palate, but coulda been purely the unctuousness.
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