From my good buddy @liteitonfire. Beautiful, bold Napa cab. A very distinct hint of spiciness on the pallet along with strawberries, black cherries, black licorice, and mocha. New world.
It's been two years since my last opportunity to experience this bottle. Not much has changed as the fruit is still cruising with massive power. Ripe, broadening dark fruits with firm tannic structure. This baby is just getting hitting a window that I enjoy.
Drink or hold 94
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Lunch with Brad Grimes. No formal notes written but this bottling is still a baby next to the others. Still plenty of dark fruit baby fat to shed. This is just fantastic and will gain complexity with time. 08 Thorevilos 09 Cappella 10 R.H.
Big, rich, bold and decadent. This wine is quintessential Napa Cabernet Sauvignon made in a ripe style. Intense black currant, black cherry, mocha, incense, and molasses form the foundation of this dark, brooding wine. Despite the richness there is a surprising amount of lift from violets, minerals, and tobacco leaf elements. I presume this is some amount of Cabernet Franc blended in. If your preference is old world wines, stay away, otherwise enjoy the ride. Eight years old and still an infant with a finish that is still awash in tannins.
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Very concentrated and actually tastes more like a ripe Bordeaux than a cali cab. Went perfect with steaks. Opened 4 hours before then 1 hour decant and was ready to drink. Early on was still closed on the nose but after it was singing. Very concentrated wine staining to a certain degree. Still young but approachable. All in very good!.
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Deep purple, nice nose, great blue and purple fruit, cassis, full bodied with nice finish. Paired amazingly well with ribeye steak. It continuously improved over two hours. Drinking very well. I would definitely buy again.
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This is a stellar St Helena offering ! The wine speaks of refined pedigree, precision, and controlled power. Removed from a 56 degree cellar and decanted for 1 hour with occasional swirling.
Beautiful bouquet of spiced plum, birch, boysenberry, cigar ash, and Christmas potpourri. Although it saturates the palate with well delineated and rich fruit, the wine is more about structure and grace.The wine just glides seamlessly with an explosion of cinnamon, blackberry, sugar coated plum, and clove nuance. Nice grip and extension on the back end. Reminded me of some of the Colgin offerings although not quite at that level here.
Those that can hold for another 2-3 years should experience even more dramatic nuance. Some of these higher end 2010 wines are really coming in to their own. I can only imagine how wonderful the top end Abreu's must be as they are quite beyond my affordability....
Relatively restrained style of napa cab. Good fruit but not at all showy or overly forward. There is still a lot of structure here, I'd guess this will be better in 2-3 years. Quite nice!
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This is a very big wine with loads of dark fruit, spice, tannins and structure. The potential is tremendous and this wine will need every bit of 7-10 years to reach its pinnacle. Will follow this one.
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- Violet color with a long finish - Very dark almost opaque. Tannins are present but potential here obvious. This baby needs another five years at least to come into harmony.
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Itchy trigger finger on this one, I know--this is a big wine, all the stuffing, just in need of a little cellaring and let the finish come together more and alleviate some of the youthful tannins. I think this will be great in a few years.
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1/27/2024 - CHarder Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is imo at peak/at prime. Will probably stay here for 5-7yrs. Basically an outstanding Napa Cab balancing fresness and fruit.
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6/10/2023 - havana4 🍾🍇 Likes this wine: 94 Points
From my good buddy @liteitonfire. Beautiful, bold Napa cab. A very distinct hint of spiciness on the pallet along with strawberries, black cherries, black licorice, and mocha. New world.
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10/1/2022 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 94 Points
It's been two years since my last opportunity to experience this bottle. Not much has changed as the fruit is still cruising with massive power. Ripe, broadening dark fruits with firm tannic structure. This baby is just getting hitting a window that I enjoy.
Drink or hold 94
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7/30/2021 - CHarder Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is big and bold. But remains fresh. Give it 2-3 yrs and then a 2hr decant. Then I think it will be at its peak.
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10/10/2020 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 95 Points
Lunch with Brad Grimes. No formal notes written but this bottling is still a baby next to the others. Still plenty of dark fruit baby fat to shed. This is just fantastic and will gain complexity with time.
08 Thorevilos
09 Cappella
10 R.H.
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8/8/2020 - CHarder wrote: 94 Points
Wow. What a fantastic wine. Needs +1hrs decant to open up. Delivers excellent full bodied juice. Not in any way over the top though
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7/17/2020 - bonedoc wrote:
Intense, concentrated, mocha, a big boy not for the old world lovers.
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5/8/2020 - beau11 wrote: 96 Points
In a great spot. Great balance and persistence. Rich fruits with a nice touch of cigar box. Great midpalate and finish. In a great spot.
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3/22/2020 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 95 Points
It’s been 3 years since I last tried this and I believe it has come together since then. Drinking very well now.
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4/9/2019 - brettay Likes this wine: 94 Points
Big, rich, bold and decadent. This wine is quintessential Napa Cabernet Sauvignon made in a ripe style. Intense black currant, black cherry, mocha, incense, and molasses form the foundation of this dark, brooding wine. Despite the richness there is a surprising amount of lift from violets, minerals, and tobacco leaf elements. I presume this is some amount of Cabernet Franc blended in. If your preference is old world wines, stay away, otherwise enjoy the ride. Eight years old and still an infant with a finish that is still awash in tannins.
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10/14/2018 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very concentrated and actually tastes more like a ripe Bordeaux than a cali cab. Went perfect with steaks. Opened 4 hours before then 1 hour decant and was ready to drink. Early on was still closed on the nose but after it was singing. Very concentrated wine staining to a certain degree. Still young but approachable. All in very good!.
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10/13/2018 - D3S Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep purple, nice nose, great blue and purple fruit, cassis, full bodied with nice finish. Paired amazingly well with ribeye steak. It continuously improved over two hours. Drinking very well. I would definitely buy again.
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11/11/2017 - drdan8 Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is a stellar St Helena offering ! The wine speaks of refined pedigree, precision, and controlled power. Removed from a 56 degree cellar and decanted for 1 hour with occasional swirling.
Beautiful bouquet of spiced plum, birch, boysenberry, cigar ash, and Christmas potpourri. Although it saturates the palate with well delineated and rich fruit, the wine is more about structure and grace.The wine just glides seamlessly with an explosion of cinnamon, blackberry, sugar coated plum, and clove nuance. Nice grip and extension on the back end. Reminded me of some of the Colgin offerings although not quite at that level here.
Those that can hold for another 2-3 years should experience even more dramatic nuance. Some of these higher end 2010 wines are really coming in to their own. I can only imagine how wonderful the top end Abreu's must be as they are quite beyond my affordability....
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2/26/2017 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Relatively restrained style of napa cab. Good fruit but not at all showy or overly forward. There is still a lot of structure here, I'd guess this will be better in 2-3 years. Quite nice!
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2/7/2015 - The Wine Guy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Black and red cherry, dark fruits, tight tannins deep color vanilla, cedar, licorice layers of structure.
needs time and decant did not do either.
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12/29/2014 - Beauchad Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is a very big wine with loads of dark fruit, spice, tannins and structure. The potential is tremendous and this wine will need every bit of 7-10 years to reach its pinnacle. Will follow this one.
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7/26/2014 - LSussman wrote:
- Violet color with a long finish - Very dark almost opaque. Tannins are present but potential here obvious. This baby needs another five years at least to come into harmony.
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7/20/2014 - shadow wrote: 96 Points
Big rich and loaded with spice.
Lingers on the palate, that rich afterglow you did not expect.
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4/9/2014 - MikeZ Likes this wine:
Itchy trigger finger on this one, I know--this is a big wine, all the stuffing, just in need of a little cellaring and let the finish come together more and alleviate some of the youthful tannins. I think this will be great in a few years.
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