14.5%. From a magnum. Clear medium dark red, no fading. Bright red berry fruit with a hint of blueberry. Oak has dissipated to a more subtle flavor enhancing level. Pleasantly surprised that this has held up so well, and this bottle would have had a quite few more years of good drinking left in it. Tartness more noticeable than the subdued tannins, not enough to make this unbalanced but enough to make this more food friendly than I expected given the high listed abv; however, an atypical Napa vintage, so perhaps I wouldn’t like the 2004 or 2002 of this wine as much as I liked this.
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On the nose, opens with an unusual but distinct note of orange peel on the nose. That fades a bit with time in the glass, with some secondary notes making an appearance. On the palate, a bit rough. Good flavors, but acidity and tannins make it a bit harsh. Not the lush mouthfeel I would look for. I'm not sure the fruit is big enough to absorb the acidity. Said differently, I think this wine might be a bit out of balance, tipping toward acidic. That's just my guess though. No more bottles left.
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Really wanted to love this wine, but it just didn't do it for me. Not bad at all, actually pretty decent; just not great. A bit too astringent, but I'm not convinced that further aging will help. Decent fruit now, but a hint of balsamic makes me wonder if it's already on the downward slide.
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The wine has a dark crimson color. It opens with clove, allspice, and anise. The combination is like an exotic chocolate from Vosges. The balance is a little off, but it packs a punch, so it's hard to notice. The secondary characteristics have developed. This has led to the wine showing much better than it did when it was released. The wine is not profound, but it is one that is enjoyable right now. Pop and pull. As for the wines future from here, only time will tell.
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Served with Bread, then some cheese... Hint of eucalyptus in the nose. then big red fruit aromas. Vanilla/American oak, and some alcohol awareness in the nose, too. Rounded tannins dominate the mouth, a bit hot. Short finish; could be better. Served a bit cold - maybe 58-60 degrees F.
Will let it breath an hour and try again. A little better, but all in all the wine is a bit of an underperformer.
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Nice dusty overtones, good mouth feel with pronounced blackberries and vanilla. Short finish though, nice sipping wine, but nothing to write home about.
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Great California cab flavors. Opened up nicely in about 15 minutes and was drinking beautifully, but started to fade after an hour and a half and was a shadow of itself after 3 hours. Pop n' pour 'em if ya got 'em!
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Medium to dark red. Plum fruit with a hint of vanilla on the nose. Plenty of fruit on the palate with a little cocoa. Heavy mouthfeel with a medium-long, dry finish. Tannins are very pleasant with this wine.
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Dark maroon color. Blackberries, licorice, plum, chocolate and a bit of vanilla on the nose. Medium to full body with ripe tannins and good acidity. Big blast of blackberries hits the palate with dried herbs, vanilla, plums and a bit of minerals. A decent length finish with spicy berries, vanilla, and a bit of oak. A nice Napa cab for the price. Would probably benefit with a bit more cellar time.
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Flock 2003 Cal Cab Tasting (Ken's - Northbrook, IL): Dark ruby with a reticent nose of dusty currant fruit. Palate is more expressive with concentrated chocolatey fruit and dusty tannin. Fruit forward and enjoyable --- but on the simple side. 4+12+15+7=88. My #10, Group #10,
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Cabernet typicity. Chocolate, later on a smoky/roasty plummy smell. Dark red color. Bursts of sweet red fruits. Fine mouth coating tannins, medium body, medium long finish. Acid lurks beneath the the fruit and tannin. First tried this on 21/10/2006. Nice at the time but was overshadowed by other wines opened at the time and by the aussie steaks we were grilling. At time of initial opening I filled up a 250ml airtight screwcap bottle then kept in a cold ref. Had this time with roast lamb and couscous; this is very nice now and its month and a half in the ref may have improved it - I can see why decanting is recommended at this stage of its life. Having said that, this wine is more flavorful than I normally prefer and I don't know if I could finish more than 250ml on one occasion at this stage of its life. Will have to see what this tastes like three years from now.
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This is a great Napa QPR wine. $19.95 at napacabs.com. This has all the pieces to the puzzle for a Cabernet costing 3 times as much. Big nose of cassis, blackberry, anise, chocolate and nice hint of vanilla oak. Blackberry, cassis, plums, cherries, smoke on the palate with a nice chocolate and fruity finish. Initially out of the bottle, very tight, but after 3 hours of air this wine gained complexity, smoothness, and went from medium bodied to fullbodied. Tannins are classic rutherford dust, but seem pretty mild and not that dry, which is a good thing IMO. My only wish, that this would be more fruit forward. I was very impressed with the long and rich aftertaste, reminds me of the spectacular finish of a Keenan 02. I can see how JL rated this an 88, yeah right out of the bottle, but I bet he never gave it 3 hours of air and tried it then!
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Dark garnet color. Aromas/flavors of vanilla, cocoa, red/black fruit, black olive and sweet oak. Elegant styled wine with supple tannins. Long, lingering finish that delivers characteristic Rutherford Dust.
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Consumed at home with hamburgers. Bright disc. Opaque ruby robe with red rim. Clean nose, opening after 30 minutes to show moderately intense aromas of chocolate, black currants and smoke. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with medium-to-high acidity and medium, slightly dry tannins. The flavors parallel the nose and the medium-length finish is slightly coarse. While certainly a decent Cabernet, this effort is lacking in comparison to the 2002.
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Heritage: Very rich nose of dark blackberry, soft vanilla/oak hints, with slight fern/blueberry? Nice velvety mth; fairly heavy bod with med. fin. Good stuff for style.
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Quick Day Trip to Napa (Napa Valley CA): Barrel tasting at winery. Ripe, round black fruit. Pleasant but seemingly short, even if very easy to enjoy. Best young. 84-86 point potential for me.
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2/1/2020 - Nico P. Likes this wine:
14.5%. From a magnum. Clear medium dark red, no fading. Bright red berry fruit with a hint of blueberry. Oak has dissipated to a more subtle flavor enhancing level. Pleasantly surprised that this has held up so well, and this bottle would have had a quite few more years of good drinking left in it. Tartness more noticeable than the subdued tannins, not enough to make this unbalanced but enough to make this more food friendly than I expected given the high listed abv; however, an atypical Napa vintage, so perhaps I wouldn’t like the 2004 or 2002 of this wine as much as I liked this.
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4/17/2011 - Nico P. wrote: 91 Points
Nicely fragrant napa cab. Balanced, plush textures. Settled down and drinking very well now and maybe up to 2013.
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4/1/2011 - vanpe003 wrote: 87 Points
On the nose, opens with an unusual but distinct note of orange peel on the nose. That fades a bit with time in the glass, with some secondary notes making an appearance. On the palate, a bit rough. Good flavors, but acidity and tannins make it a bit harsh. Not the lush mouthfeel I would look for. I'm not sure the fruit is big enough to absorb the acidity. Said differently, I think this wine might be a bit out of balance, tipping toward acidic. That's just my guess though. No more bottles left.
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3/5/2011 - WI WineLover wrote: 87 Points
Bought a case of this 6 years ago....this was the last bottle. Unfortunately, it never developed into the gem I was hoping for.
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11/9/2010 - GGinSF wrote: 86 Points
Really wanted to love this wine, but it just didn't do it for me. Not bad at all, actually pretty decent; just not great. A bit too astringent, but I'm not convinced that further aging will help. Decent fruit now, but a hint of balsamic makes me wonder if it's already on the downward slide.
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8/6/2010 - Roentgen Ray wrote: 91 Points
The wine has a dark crimson color. It opens with clove, allspice, and anise. The combination is like an exotic chocolate from Vosges. The balance is a little off, but it packs a punch, so it's hard to notice. The secondary characteristics have developed. This has led to the wine showing much better than it did when it was released. The wine is not profound, but it is one that is enjoyable right now. Pop and pull. As for the wines future from here, only time will tell.
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9/23/2009 - stevenc.rees@gmail.com wrote: 87 Points
Served with Bread, then some cheese...
Hint of eucalyptus in the nose. then big red fruit aromas. Vanilla/American oak, and some alcohol awareness in the nose, too. Rounded tannins dominate the mouth, a bit hot. Short finish; could be better. Served a bit cold - maybe 58-60 degrees F.
Will let it breath an hour and try again.
A little better, but all in all the wine is a bit of an underperformer.
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5/11/2009 - winegr wrote: 89 Points
Nice wine. No specific notes.
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5/10/2009 - bprosenberg wrote: 91 Points
A nice, well-layered cabernet with some fruit. Drink now.
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12/6/2008 - cvvhrn wrote: 86 Points
Hints of dust and sour plums on the nose with smoke, minerals and dark fruit on the palate. short finish. But not very memorable either.
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11/27/2008 - Fozziedoggie wrote: 88 Points
Nice dusty overtones, good mouth feel with pronounced blackberries and vanilla. Short finish though, nice sipping wine, but nothing to write home about.
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10/7/2008 - bahiadave wrote:
pretty good. velvety finish. nice qpr.
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5/30/2008 - bob92 wrote: 90 Points
Great California cab flavors. Opened up nicely in about 15 minutes and was drinking beautifully, but started to fade after an hour and a half and was a shadow of itself after 3 hours. Pop n' pour 'em if ya got 'em!
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5/4/2008 - TimF wrote: 89 Points
Medium to dark red. Plum fruit with a hint of vanilla on the nose. Plenty of fruit on the palate with a little cocoa. Heavy mouthfeel with a medium-long, dry finish. Tannins are very pleasant with this wine.
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1/31/2008 - kac911 wrote:
nice, not too heavy for a cab
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12/31/2007 - DTWOB wrote: 90 Points
Got to love the Rutherford "dust" that smacks you in the face every time with this wine.
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11/27/2007 - Grapz wrote: 90 Points
solid performer again.
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8/14/2007 - cbbrown3 wrote: 91 Points
Dark maroon color. Blackberries, licorice, plum, chocolate and a bit of vanilla on the nose. Medium to full body with ripe tannins and good acidity. Big blast of blackberries hits the palate with dried herbs, vanilla, plums and a bit of minerals. A decent length finish with spicy berries, vanilla, and a bit of oak. A nice Napa cab for the price. Would probably benefit with a bit more cellar time.
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3/12/2007 - kac911 wrote:
Let this age, try in 9 months. December '07
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1/19/2007 - GTFreek wrote: 91 Points
Very nice, medium bodied, interesting smoky finish which could have lasted longer. Not a bursting in your face big cab, but subtle and tasty.
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1/18/2007 - Nanda wrote: 88 Points
Flock 2003 Cal Cab Tasting (Ken's - Northbrook, IL): Dark ruby with a reticent nose of dusty currant fruit. Palate is more expressive with concentrated chocolatey fruit and dusty tannin. Fruit forward and enjoyable --- but on the simple side. 4+12+15+7=88. My #10, Group #10,
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1/10/2007 - rartexas wrote:
This was a great Cab that I enjoyed at Georges on the Cove in LaJolla last night.
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1/7/2007 - Nico P. wrote: 91 Points
Cabernet typicity. Chocolate, later on a smoky/roasty plummy smell. Dark red color. Bursts of sweet red fruits. Fine mouth coating tannins, medium body, medium long finish. Acid lurks beneath the the fruit and tannin. First tried this on 21/10/2006. Nice at the time but was overshadowed by other wines opened at the time and by the aussie steaks we were grilling. At time of initial opening I filled up a 250ml airtight screwcap bottle then kept in a cold ref. Had this time with roast lamb and couscous; this is very nice now and its month and a half in the ref may have improved it - I can see why decanting is recommended at this stage of its life. Having said that, this wine is more flavorful than I normally prefer and I don't know if I could finish more than 250ml on one occasion at this stage of its life. Will have to see what this tastes like three years from now.
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11/3/2006 - kac911 wrote:
lighter, doesn't need food. good
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10/26/2006 - LACERS wrote: 90 Points
This is a great Napa QPR wine. $19.95 at napacabs.com. This has all the pieces to the puzzle for a Cabernet costing 3 times as much. Big nose of cassis, blackberry, anise, chocolate and nice hint of vanilla oak. Blackberry, cassis, plums, cherries, smoke on the palate with a nice chocolate and fruity finish. Initially out of the bottle, very tight, but after 3 hours of air this wine gained complexity, smoothness, and went from medium bodied to fullbodied. Tannins are classic rutherford dust, but seem pretty mild and not that dry, which is a good thing IMO. My only wish, that this would be more fruit forward. I was very impressed with the long and rich aftertaste, reminds me of the spectacular finish of a Keenan 02. I can see how JL rated this an 88, yeah right out of the bottle, but I bet he never gave it 3 hours of air and tried it then!
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5/26/2006 - GolferChris wrote: 92 Points
Dark garnet color. Aromas/flavors of vanilla, cocoa, red/black fruit, black olive and sweet oak. Elegant styled wine with supple tannins. Long, lingering finish that delivers characteristic Rutherford Dust.
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5/15/2006 - 58degrees wrote: 87 Points
No notes, enjoyable but recall a narrow dimension to this one. I do remember although I enjoyed it I also decided it did not qualify for a re-order.
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4/2/2006 - dwhsieh wrote: 88 Points
Nice but a slightly funky finish. Not as good as the 2002 but worthwhile for the price.
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2/19/2006 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 87 Points
Consumed at home with hamburgers. Bright disc. Opaque ruby robe with red rim. Clean nose, opening after 30 minutes to show moderately intense aromas of chocolate, black currants and smoke. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with medium-to-high acidity and medium, slightly dry tannins. The flavors parallel the nose and the medium-length finish is slightly coarse. While certainly a decent Cabernet, this effort is lacking in comparison to the 2002.
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12/17/2005 - peternelson wrote: 89 Points
Heritage: Very rich nose of dark blackberry, soft vanilla/oak hints, with slight fern/blueberry? Nice velvety mth; fairly heavy bod with med. fin. Good stuff for style.
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1/31/2004 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Quick Day Trip to Napa (Napa Valley CA): Barrel tasting at winery. Ripe, round black fruit. Pleasant but seemingly short, even if very easy to enjoy. Best young. 84-86 point potential for me.
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