Almost 2 years to the day since I last had the pleasure of tasting this, the '74 Sterling Reserve shows similarly. Potent, serious, dusty black cherry, a little bit of bay leaf, mint, sage, black earth, coffee, cocoa powder. Serious, brooding, deep. Still whoppingly tannic!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Exceptional bottle, and a click-or-two better than the regular 74 Sterling Cab tasted a few days prior, though with a clear Ric Forman signature of tobacco leaf laced throughout the mature, yet fresh Cab fruit. Cruising along in a delicious late peak.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Incredible youth from this 1974 Sterling. Plum, cassis, rose petal, vanilla and currant. The fruit is vibrant and plush and the texture is beautifully silky. This is cruising towards 50 with so much to give.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is shockingly young - followed for a few hours it’s not clear that this is actually fully mature. Blackberry, black trumpet, iodine profile, beef bouillon, oak. Really muscular - a big punch. As bizarre as it seems to say it about a 74… hold it longer.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Unfortunately seemed sherries or saw some heat at some point. Mid neck fill so was totally taking a flyer anyway. Seemed like it still had terrific fruit underneath.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Incredibly, it still has some fruit. If you own this, you should drink it now, no question. It won’t get any better. But it is not quite over the hill and still just terrific and fun to drink.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Clear garnet with brown edges. Eucalyptus, green pepper mint and an herbaceous character highlight a dark red fruit and cigar box nose. Fresh and clean with savory dark red fruits tobacco and dried plum carried by fine soft tannins and bright cleansing acidity. Fabulous.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
These old Ric Forman Sterlings are really magic. Has held up well, nice balance of acid and just a wisp of tannin. Lots of dried fruits, herbs a bit of smoke and earth. I love the gentle thrust on the finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
These Ric Forman Sterlings are magical. So youthful and complex with a distinct / intense tar and cigar note that I always get in Ric's wines. Fruit is round and rich with fine tannin and still fresh acids. Whoa. Rocking at age 45.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Excellent condition, despite 3cm. ullage; decanted when the cork fell in. Leather and cedar on the nose, deep colour, little fading. Morello cherries, blueberries in the mouth, very long.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
1974 California Tasting (Cafe Boulud): Clearly a step up from the regular Napa bottling. Awesome acidity and freshness left despite its 43 years of age (and despite being the 22nd wine in the line-up tonight!). This showed very nicely! 1974 Cali Cab tasting
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The last of this stash of four, and probably the best of the lot, even if not nearly as good as a fresher bottle from a different source I had. The black fruit has gotten a little BBQ sauceish, but this is full of cedar and smokey gravel, it could probably pass for a Graves. Not drying out at all.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Nose: The nose is perfumed and balanced with red and black currants, cedar tones, dark red cherries, some soy, and leather. There is a refined sense to the nose with excellent depth, even though the tones are fading just a bit.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium acidity and medium tannins. The structure is completely resolved with the feel showing off a lot of class with red and black currants, cedar, dark red cherries, and some leather tones.
Overall: While this is slightly drying out, it is still absolutely gorgeous. This is an impressive statement for old school California Cabernet as it's sailing well at 40+ years old. Yes, it's certainly time to drink these up, but, it doesn't feel like it's about to fall off a cliff right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Like the other bottles from this stash, not perfectly pristine or fresh. But still very good, in a mature tertiary way. Not a whole lot of fruit left but not dried out either, instead it is very cedary and savory, full of beefy umami character and which makes it a great pairing with a steak. Just as good if not better on day 2, which I find is rarely the case with old wines.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
tasted 12/25/2015 for Christmas dinner. cork and fill excellent. great nose, soft tannins, still full in the mouth. classic taste. blown away by this 41 year old wine. and I still have 2 more bottles!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A HDH purchase - this was in impeccable condition with the fill at the base of the neck. The fruit is remarkably vibrant and bright here - a core of fresh berries and currant fruit framed by cedar, tobacco, and more savoury developed earthy notes. This seems to be at peak - the tannin's fully resolved, but there's still plenty of bright acidity beneath giving it lift, and this keeps getting more complex and fragrant with air. Fantastic wine. Does anyone still make Cabernet like this in California?
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Opened up a lot with two hours of air. Berries, cedar, tobacco, dill. On the palate, tart red berries (cassis), earth. Very nice texture; fairly light, with light tannin and medium acid. Tart fruit and cedar into the medium finish. No improvement from here, but this bottle is holding very well. I imagine that this was absolutely stunning ten years ago, but still beautiful now.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Much better than a bottle opened a few nights ago, but still not nearly as good as the one I had in March. Needed about an hour of air to fully wake up. Still plenty of cassis/blackberry fruit, a dose of mint and cedar, some tobacco and earth. Not overly tart, but this lacks the freshness and lush character of that previous bottle and there's not quite enough fruit concentration left to buffer the tannins, which are earthy and drying. Still good wine, and would have been better with hearty food. No reason to sit on bottles of this, they are only going to go downhill from here.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Old Sterling Reserve Vertical (Hill Country): Pure cassis fruit, fresh florals, cedary development, earth -- everything you could want in a mature Napa cab. Masses of earthy fruit on the palate, elegant and long, with the tannic structure just slightly outweighing the concentration on its own, so it's better with food, with smooths out the tannin. A lovely bottle, just edged for me by the bigger 1977.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Burgundy red with only the faintest bricking. Initially pretty closed upon opening with faint aromas of cedar and cigar leaf. This took about an hour to open up and really show its best (this was not decanted), but at its peak it was just a gorgeous cabernet.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Crazy good wine for it's original price and current age (or current price for that matter: $55/btl!). Ordered this as my birth year wine to drink on my 40th next year. Got it the week of my 39th this year and couldn't hold off trying one of the three I bought. I was worried a bit about bottle shock from shipping, but my worries were misplaced. This wine was incredible. On the downward slope? Perhaps, but the nose is still explosive and while the fruit is a bit muted, having been replaced with classic secondary flavors, the wine is absolutely delicious. Gently decanted off the sediment, the wine is cloudy from lack of filtering and the aging process. The color is gorgeous. Went incredibly well with a flank steak. Can't wait to open the other two bottles next year!
12% ABV. Very impressive indeed. Opened, but not decanted, about an hour in advance. No detailed notes but I recall a great color and fabulous nose, albeit one which took a while to settle down after opening, being a little muted to begin, followed by a short pungent stage before it calmed a bit. Thought this would be too fragile to decant but probably made a mistake there as the wine was still improving by the last glass. Outshone a Latour half its age (and about 6 times its price) by virtue of a very deep and satisfying palate and a long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Back, Back in the USofA (StrEat Restaurant, Austin, Texas): Stemmy at first, but opened up nicely. Bracing acidity, tart red fruit with grippy tannins and a soft, slightly floral finish. Aromas of tobacco leaf, dried fruits, pepper and “old service station” . Salon scorecard: Top wine of the flight in one group, second in another.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Very good again. Not the most complex '74, but very fine. This really builds over several hours. We had this on the same night as the 1996 Shafer Hillside Select and it was amazing how much better the Sterling was. California wine making seems to have been at its best in the 60s and 70s.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The SO off for the weekend and what to open? Hmm, Sterling 74 Cab. That’s the ticket.
$25 on Winebid for a 375. Cork breaks in half and it’s a little loose, bottom half a little tighter. Stain ¾ of the way up the short little cork.
I pour and it’s brown on the edges and my hopes sink. I stick my nose into the glass and get an outrageous sweet caramel. I take a sip. Boy this wine is still alive. No tannin. More coffee and caramel. Medium bodied, a bit dry on the finish. The nose, more toffee, remarkable sweetness. 30 second finish of burnt sugar, crème brule, chocolate, maybe a little cloves. Color is still very dark even with the brown edges. Gotta stop drinking this so fast. This is not a soy sauce wine.
Nuts on the finish now, cashews and walnuts. Smells like a port but lists 12% on the label. A little vanilla now. No sediment – who says filtering wines kills them?
A little dirt and earthiness along with the sweet. Hell this wine looks like burnt sugar too. 30 minutes in and it keeps changing but there is not sign of dying. Stop drinking so fast!
Getting meatier but a touch of soy now. After an hour this is starting to die but still delicious. And this is from a half bottle!
I’m watching the replay of Tom Watson’s amazing 70 and thinking these old folk can still do it! I throw together some shitakes and butter with leftover t-bone for the last glass and after 1 ½ hours this delivers. The weekend starts well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dark red. I thought this was Bordeaux. Still a fair bit of fruit, the most elegant wine of the evening. I kept coming back to it over about 3 hours and it kept getting better in the glass. My second favorite after the Mayacamas.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Wow! I never expected too much out of this bottle when I bought it since it was 30 years old, but it was an incredible surprise. I bought it from the public TV auction, and whoever the owner was must have stored it very well. The cork had zero corrosion and no signs of leakage. The wine permeated the cork to about half the length, and there was minimal crystallization on the bottom of the cork. The flowery bouquet from the bottle was very apparent and powerful within seconds of opening. The color of the wine was a little bit past a deep, deep shade of burgundy, so I was afraid it had started to turn. After the first sip though, I was blown away. The fruit was very much in tact and the tannins were still more than noticeable. It may have been possible to store this wine for several more years, although I doubt that would have made an improvement. After some time sitting open, the tannins really softened up and became almost negligible, and it was very easy to detect numerous layers of dark red fruits and subtle spices. This easily was one of the top two or three wines I've tasted to date. I would definetely buy more of this, if proper storage could be confirmed.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
With MPL and BLR at the Carnelian Room at dinner (swordfish). Tremendous deep dark color. Looks extremely rich and powerful. Brilliant ruby. Nose is absolutely gorgeous, even breathtaking. Fabulous. Not quite as good on the palate. Very deep currants flavors with nicely oaked components. Quite good but somewhat unfocused. Tannic; needs time even now. 5-14-17-8: 94/100.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
5/1/2024 - acyso wrote: flawed
To Tony (La Grange Park, IL): Corked.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
Almost 2 years to the day since I last had the pleasure of tasting this, the '74 Sterling Reserve shows similarly. Potent, serious, dusty black cherry, a little bit of bay leaf, mint, sage, black earth, coffee, cocoa powder. Serious, brooding, deep. Still whoppingly tannic!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/23/2024 - HeavyPourWine wrote: flawed
Dinner at Ember with Brian and Rosemany Talley and friends (Arroyo Grande, CA): Bought three different '74 Napa cabs for my birthday celebration. This bottle was way past peak and undrinkable. Poured all of it out.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/9/2023 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
Exceptional bottle, and a click-or-two better than the regular 74 Sterling Cab tasted a few days prior, though with a clear Ric Forman signature of tobacco leaf laced throughout the mature, yet fresh Cab fruit. Cruising along in a delicious late peak.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/3/2022 - RockinCabs wrote: 95 Points
Incredible youth from this 1974 Sterling. Plum, cassis, rose petal, vanilla and currant. The fruit is vibrant and plush and the texture is beautifully silky. This is cruising towards 50 with so much to give.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/2/2022 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
This is shockingly young - followed for a few hours it’s not clear that this is actually fully mature. Blackberry, black trumpet, iodine profile, beef bouillon, oak. Really muscular - a big punch. As bizarre as it seems to say it about a 74… hold it longer.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/18/2021 - Nutty08 wrote: flawed
Unfortunately seemed sherries or saw some heat at some point. Mid neck fill so was totally taking a flyer anyway. Seemed like it still had terrific fruit underneath.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/5/2021 - Nanda wrote: flawed
corked
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/17/2021 - emiliosandoz Likes this wine: 92 Points
Incredibly, it still has some fruit. If you own this, you should drink it now, no question. It won’t get any better. But it is not quite over the hill and still just terrific and fun to drink.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/3/2021 - Tudz Drkl Likes this wine:
Clear garnet with brown edges. Eucalyptus, green pepper mint and an herbaceous character highlight a dark red fruit and cigar box nose. Fresh and clean with savory dark red fruits tobacco and dried plum carried by fine soft tannins and bright cleansing acidity. Fabulous.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/23/2019 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 94 Points
These old Ric Forman Sterlings are really magic. Has held up well, nice balance of acid and just a wisp of tannin. Lots of dried fruits, herbs a bit of smoke and earth. I love the gentle thrust on the finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/17/2019 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
These Ric Forman Sterlings are magical. So youthful and complex with a distinct / intense tar and cigar note that I always get in Ric's wines. Fruit is round and rich with fine tannin and still fresh acids. Whoa. Rocking at age 45.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/23/2018 - oz11779 wrote: 92 Points
Excellent condition, despite 3cm. ullage; decanted when the cork fell in. Leather and cedar on the nose, deep colour, little fading. Morello cherries, blueberries in the mouth, very long.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/13/2017 - nywine68 Likes this wine: 94 Points
1974 California Tasting (Cafe Boulud): Clearly a step up from the regular Napa bottling. Awesome acidity and freshness left despite its 43 years of age (and despite being the 22nd wine in the line-up tonight!). This showed very nicely! 1974 Cali Cab tasting
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/16/2017 - coremill wrote: 90 Points
The last of this stash of four, and probably the best of the lot, even if not nearly as good as a fresher bottle from a different source I had. The black fruit has gotten a little BBQ sauceish, but this is full of cedar and smokey gravel, it could probably pass for a Graves. Not drying out at all.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/17/2016 - KeithAkers wrote: 91 Points
Nose: The nose is perfumed and balanced with red and black currants, cedar tones, dark red cherries, some soy, and leather. There is a refined sense to the nose with excellent depth, even though the tones are fading just a bit.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium acidity and medium tannins. The structure is completely resolved with the feel showing off a lot of class with red and black currants, cedar, dark red cherries, and some leather tones.
Overall: While this is slightly drying out, it is still absolutely gorgeous. This is an impressive statement for old school California Cabernet as it's sailing well at 40+ years old. Yes, it's certainly time to drink these up, but, it doesn't feel like it's about to fall off a cliff right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/13/2016 - coremill wrote: 89 Points
Like the other bottles from this stash, not perfectly pristine or fresh. But still very good, in a mature tertiary way. Not a whole lot of fruit left but not dried out either, instead it is very cedary and savory, full of beefy umami character and which makes it a great pairing with a steak. Just as good if not better on day 2, which I find is rarely the case with old wines.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/25/2015 - dlb291@pacbell.net wrote: 95 Points
tasted 12/25/2015 for Christmas dinner. cork and fill excellent. great nose, soft tannins, still full in the mouth. classic taste. blown away by this 41 year old wine. and I still have 2 more bottles!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/17/2015 - salil wrote: 94 Points
A HDH purchase - this was in impeccable condition with the fill at the base of the neck. The fruit is remarkably vibrant and bright here - a core of fresh berries and currant fruit framed by cedar, tobacco, and more savoury developed earthy notes. This seems to be at peak - the tannin's fully resolved, but there's still plenty of bright acidity beneath giving it lift, and this keeps getting more complex and fragrant with air. Fantastic wine. Does anyone still make Cabernet like this in California?
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/17/2015 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 93 Points
Opened up a lot with two hours of air. Berries, cedar, tobacco, dill. On the palate, tart red berries (cassis), earth. Very nice texture; fairly light, with light tannin and medium acid. Tart fruit and cedar into the medium finish. No improvement from here, but this bottle is holding very well. I imagine that this was absolutely stunning ten years ago, but still beautiful now.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
7/7/2015 - coremill wrote: 88 Points
Much better than a bottle opened a few nights ago, but still not nearly as good as the one I had in March. Needed about an hour of air to fully wake up. Still plenty of cassis/blackberry fruit, a dose of mint and cedar, some tobacco and earth. Not overly tart, but this lacks the freshness and lush character of that previous bottle and there's not quite enough fruit concentration left to buffer the tannins, which are earthy and drying. Still good wine, and would have been better with hearty food. No reason to sit on bottles of this, they are only going to go downhill from here.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/4/2015 - coremill wrote:
Very savory and cedary, not much fruit, starting to dry out. Not up to the level of a previous bottle a few months ago.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/11/2015 - coremill wrote: 92 Points
Old Sterling Reserve Vertical (Hill Country): Pure cassis fruit, fresh florals, cedary development, earth -- everything you could want in a mature Napa cab. Masses of earthy fruit on the palate, elegant and long, with the tannic structure just slightly outweighing the concentration on its own, so it's better with food, with smooths out the tannin. A lovely bottle, just edged for me by the bigger 1977.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/10/2014 - tastark Likes this wine:
Very glad I bought three bottles of this. Each bottle was a delight to drink.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/20/2014 - tastark Likes this wine: 94 Points
Consistent with prior notes. A great wine to have with bison ribeyes on my 40th birthday! What a steal this was.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1)
8/20/2014 - GrapeScott wrote: 92 Points
Burgundy red with only the faintest bricking. Initially pretty closed upon opening with faint aromas of cedar and cigar leaf. This took about an hour to open up and really show its best (this was not decanted), but at its peak it was just a gorgeous cabernet.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/16/2014 - rnellans wrote: 91 Points
Red fruits, tobacco…'old' california cab nose. Starting to lose it's fruit, therefore a bit out of balance. A real treat and a Favre birth year wine !
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/7/2013 - tastark Likes this wine: 94 Points
Crazy good wine for it's original price and current age (or current price for that matter: $55/btl!). Ordered this as my birth year wine to drink on my 40th next year. Got it the week of my 39th this year and couldn't hold off trying one of the three I bought. I was worried a bit about bottle shock from shipping, but my worries were misplaced. This wine was incredible. On the downward slope? Perhaps, but the nose is still explosive and while the fruit is a bit muted, having been replaced with classic secondary flavors, the wine is absolutely delicious. Gently decanted off the sediment, the wine is cloudy from lack of filtering and the aging process. The color is gorgeous. Went incredibly well with a flank steak. Can't wait to open the other two bottles next year!
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
12/27/2012 - NewFrenchClaret Likes this wine: 92 Points
12% ABV. Very impressive indeed. Opened, but not decanted, about an hour in advance. No detailed notes but I recall a great color and fabulous nose, albeit one which took a while to settle down after opening, being a little muted to begin, followed by a short pungent stage before it calmed a bit.
Thought this would be too fragile to decant but probably made a mistake there as the wine was still improving by the last glass. Outshone a Latour half its age (and about 6 times its price) by virtue of a very deep and satisfying palate and a long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/11/2011 - austinwinesalon wrote:
Back, Back in the USofA (StrEat Restaurant, Austin, Texas): Stemmy at first, but opened up nicely. Bracing acidity, tart red fruit with grippy tannins and a soft, slightly floral finish. Aromas of tobacco leaf, dried fruits, pepper and “old service station” . Salon scorecard: Top wine of the flight in one group, second in another.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/16/2011 - psmith wrote:
Resolved, with red fruit traces, tobacco, and a more Bordeaux-like quality. Fine tannins; sweet. Fading, and deteriorates quickly, but enjoyable.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/9/2011 - wishiwereking wrote: 95 Points
Absolutely fantastic! Still a great wine that has much life left.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/15/2010 - vindictive wrote:
Very good again. Not the most complex '74, but very fine. This really builds over several hours. We had this on the same night as the 1996 Shafer Hillside Select and it was amazing how much better the Sterling was. California wine making seems to have been at its best in the 60s and 70s.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/15/2009 - vindictive wrote:
vigorous wine, very California in style, not the most complex, but very good
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/17/2009 - ChrisBeacham wrote: 94 Points
The SO off for the weekend and what to open? Hmm, Sterling 74 Cab. That’s the ticket.
$25 on Winebid for a 375. Cork breaks in half and it’s a little loose, bottom half a little tighter. Stain ¾ of the way up the short little cork.
I pour and it’s brown on the edges and my hopes sink. I stick my nose into the glass and get an outrageous sweet caramel. I take a sip. Boy this wine is still alive. No tannin. More coffee and caramel. Medium bodied, a bit dry on the finish. The nose, more toffee, remarkable sweetness. 30 second finish of burnt sugar, crème brule, chocolate, maybe a little cloves. Color is still very dark even with the brown edges. Gotta stop drinking this so fast. This is not a soy sauce wine.
Nuts on the finish now, cashews and walnuts. Smells like a port but lists 12% on the label. A little vanilla now. No sediment – who says filtering wines kills them?
A little dirt and earthiness along with the sweet. Hell this wine looks like burnt sugar too. 30 minutes in and it keeps changing but there is not sign of dying. Stop drinking so fast!
Getting meatier but a touch of soy now. After an hour this is starting to die but still delicious. And this is from a half bottle!
I’m watching the replay of Tom Watson’s amazing 70 and thinking these old folk can still do it! I throw together some shitakes and butter with leftover t-bone for the last glass and after 1 ½ hours this delivers. The weekend starts well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/25/2008 - David J Cooper wrote:
Dark red. I thought this was Bordeaux. Still a fair bit of fruit, the most elegant wine of the evening. I kept coming back to it over about 3 hours and it kept getting better in the glass. My second favorite after the Mayacamas.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/5/2005 - jpaul wrote:
Wow! I never expected too much out of this bottle when I bought it since it was 30 years old, but it was an incredible surprise. I bought it from the public TV auction, and whoever the owner was must have stored it very well. The cork had zero corrosion and no signs of leakage. The wine permeated the cork to about half the length, and there was minimal crystallization on the bottom of the cork. The flowery bouquet from the bottle was very apparent and powerful within seconds of opening. The color of the wine was a little bit past a deep, deep shade of burgundy, so I was afraid it had started to turn. After the first sip though, I was blown away. The fruit was very much in tact and the tannins were still more than noticeable. It may have been possible to store this wine for several more years, although I doubt that would have made an improvement. After some time sitting open, the tannins really softened up and became almost negligible, and it was very easy to detect numerous layers of dark red fruits and subtle spices. This easily was one of the top two or three wines I've tasted to date. I would definetely buy more of this, if proper storage could be confirmed.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/25/1993 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 94 Points
Sterling Winery (Hi-Time Wine Cellars, Costa Mesa, Ca.): Very lovely, rich cabernet nose, same in the mouth, lovely, vibrant, ripe black berry fruit.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/22/1988 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 94 Points
With MPL and BLR at the Carnelian Room at dinner (swordfish). Tremendous deep dark color. Looks extremely rich and powerful. Brilliant ruby. Nose is absolutely gorgeous, even breathtaking. Fabulous. Not quite as good on the palate. Very deep currants flavors with nicely oaked components. Quite good but somewhat unfocused. Tannic; needs time even now. 5-14-17-8: 94/100.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment