I bit confused on this wine. This note is based on a 30 min decant. The wine looks crimson colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like raisin, forest floor, oak and stoniness. It tastes like strawberry, raspberry, black pepper and lead pencil. The body is medium. The wine has coarse texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has high acidity.
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75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot. Melka is the winemaker. Decanted and drank over 3.5 hrs. Fruit forward aromas of red and black fruit, spice, and oak. Rich while showing the plushness of the merlot and aromatics of the petit verdot. Smooth and well integrated, with just enough body for grip at this point. Long finish, with a little complexity but I wish there was more. Lacking power to push it to a higher score. This fruit forward style of cab paired incredibly well with a dry rubbed T-bone steak - rich enough to mesh with the dish. Drinking very well now, but I'm not sure this has the body to improve further, although it should hold for at least another 5 yrs.
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Elegant napa cab, though slightly jammy it had a rich and smooth texture that complemented the dark fruit. Concentrated but glides effortlessly across the tongue. Lots of mocha/coffee/toasted oak, but also with a hint of bordeaux-like nuances like leather/cedar. Loved it.
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Opened not decanted. This wine is just hitting it's drinking window and unfortunately it's my last bottle. On the entry loads of chocolate, mocha, oak and vanilla. On the mid-palate: dark black bramble fruit with some tannins. On the finish: a somewhat sweet vanilla citrus. Terrific wine. Very Good.
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Opened not decanted. Similar notes as the last bottle. Saturated nose of sweet, over ripe berries in syrup with a whiff of heat. On the palate: blackberry jam (or perhaps boysenberry or marrionberry [a hybrid of the two]) with a slight watery middle showing some sharp tannic notes. But the dark berry fruit combined with some cocoa elements makes this a terrific wine right now. No hints of mustiness that I've been experiencing with the Napa cabs and cab blends I've had recently. Very Good. (148 views)
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Opened not decanted. (Pulled on a whim after struggling with a 100 year old window that's rotting out in our living room. There's nothing like the phrase "custom woodworking" that begins to cast a pall over my heart and check book).
Super saturated nose of berry syrup. On the palate: intial dry powdery attack with blackberry jam, mayple syrup and chocolate dust, ending with a dry / wet finish. Just entering it's drinking window. Very seductive and Very Good.
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I had no idea what to expect with this. Fortunately, the huge fruit was backed up with solid structure and secondary nuances of earth and oak -- not overdone here. The style is definitely fruit forward and high alcohol. Melka pulls it off.
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Opened not decanted. Rich maroon in color; huge nose of over ripe and almost decayed fruit; on the palate, dark raisins with grape must, touches of chocolate and at this point, an extremely dry finish. Coming along nicely. Reminds me of Melka's other effort of the Lail's J. Daniel Cuvee. Good at this point. Could be Very good in the future.
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A LOT of fruit here. Sweet tannins, quite a bit of oak on the palate and finish.
I originally scored this an 90, but upon reflecting I downgraded it. Not sure what it was about the fruit, perhaps too ripe, perhaps a touch of a medicinal quality, but I found the mid-palate on this disappointing. I have two more bottles of this and, frankly, I think I'll find an excuse to give them away. I wanted to like this bottle, but I just don't.
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Opened not decanted. In the (somewhat) clear light of day, I am finally opening the bottle that I so highly recommended several months ago. Really dark fruit, noticable alcohol with smooth but oaky tannins and strong tastes of vanilla, ecualyptus and black licorice. Needs bottle time / air time. Could be really interesting. Good at this point, but not great.
Day 3. Easy to consume, but still a lot of oak. Good
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89-90 points. Dark ruby/purple to the rim. A big, luscious cab with gobs of vanilla, blueberry, cassis, blackberry & licorice. A ton of fruit with a very nice mouthfeel, sweet tannin and a respectable finish. The oak is far too prominent, though. Still a very young wine. If the oak integrates with more bottle age this wine will be dynamite. Maybe the oak will be toned down a bit in their next bottling?
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I had this today at the Family Winemakers Event. No formal notes of any kind, but it just blew me away, a really luscious Napa Cabernet. Just bought 6. To me this is a MUST BUY.
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9/16/2015 - Cuellar's Cellar Likes this wine: 89 Points
I bit confused on this wine. This note is based on a 30 min decant. The wine looks crimson colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like raisin, forest floor, oak and stoniness. It tastes like strawberry, raspberry, black pepper and lead pencil. The body is medium. The wine has coarse texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has high acidity.
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3/8/2014 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine: 91 Points
75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot. Melka is the winemaker. Decanted and drank over 3.5 hrs.
Fruit forward aromas of red and black fruit, spice, and oak.
Rich while showing the plushness of the merlot and aromatics of the petit verdot. Smooth and well integrated, with just enough body for grip at this point. Long finish, with a little complexity but I wish there was more. Lacking power to push it to a higher score.
This fruit forward style of cab paired incredibly well with a dry rubbed T-bone steak - rich enough to mesh with the dish.
Drinking very well now, but I'm not sure this has the body to improve further, although it should hold for at least another 5 yrs.
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2/13/2012 - John McCabe wrote: 89 Points
A bit pungent, seems slightly off, consistent with the last one I had.
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1/30/2011 - drock25 wrote: 91 Points
Very good napa cab. A little overdone.
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5/21/2010 - Hazeo wrote: 92 Points
Elegant napa cab, though slightly jammy it had a rich and smooth texture that complemented the dark fruit. Concentrated but glides effortlessly across the tongue. Lots of mocha/coffee/toasted oak, but also with a hint of bordeaux-like nuances like leather/cedar. Loved it.
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11/30/2009 - adityab wrote: 92 Points
excellent taste of deep berries, a little plum. Drank after 45m open in the cellar. Nicely balanced, well integrated, mellow tannins. Very good.
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10/4/2009 - Bill in Chicago wrote: 93 Points
Nice blend - good fruit - mellow and drinkable. 92-94
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6/2/2009 - tanglenet wrote:
Opened not decanted. This wine is just hitting it's drinking window and unfortunately it's my last bottle. On the entry loads of chocolate, mocha, oak and vanilla. On the mid-palate: dark black bramble fruit with some tannins. On the finish: a somewhat sweet vanilla citrus. Terrific wine. Very Good.
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1/8/2009 - tanglenet wrote:
Opened not decanted. Similar notes as the last bottle. Saturated nose of sweet, over ripe berries in syrup with a whiff of heat. On the palate: blackberry jam (or perhaps boysenberry or marrionberry [a hybrid of the two]) with a slight watery middle showing some sharp tannic notes. But the dark berry fruit combined with some cocoa elements makes this a terrific wine right now. No hints of mustiness that I've been experiencing with the Napa cabs and cab blends I've had recently. Very Good. (148 views)
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6/26/2008 - tanglenet wrote:
Opened not decanted. (Pulled on a whim after struggling with a 100 year old window that's rotting out in our living room. There's nothing like the phrase "custom woodworking" that begins to cast a pall over my heart and check book).
Super saturated nose of berry syrup. On the palate: intial dry powdery attack with blackberry jam, mayple syrup and chocolate dust, ending with a dry / wet finish. Just entering it's drinking window. Very seductive and Very Good.
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5/25/2008 - cck wrote: 92 Points
I had no idea what to expect with this. Fortunately, the huge fruit was backed up with solid structure and secondary nuances of earth and oak -- not overdone here. The style is definitely fruit forward and high alcohol. Melka pulls it off.
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10/25/2007 - Kaygould Likes this wine: 92 Points
wine tasting class
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10/2/2007 - tanglenet wrote:
Opened not decanted. Rich maroon in color; huge nose of over ripe and almost decayed fruit; on the palate, dark raisins with grape must, touches of chocolate and at this point, an extremely dry finish. Coming along nicely. Reminds me of Melka's other effort of the Lail's J. Daniel Cuvee. Good at this point. Could be Very good in the future.
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7/28/2007 - tanglenet wrote:
Taken to an offline. Decanted for 6 hours. Became port like on the nose and palate with oak. Decanted way too long. Fair.
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6/10/2007 - SWatson wrote: 88 Points
A LOT of fruit here. Sweet tannins, quite a bit of oak on the palate and finish.
I originally scored this an 90, but upon reflecting I downgraded it. Not sure what it was about the fruit, perhaps too ripe, perhaps a touch of a medicinal quality, but I found the mid-palate on this disappointing. I have two more bottles of this and, frankly, I think I'll find an excuse to give them away. I wanted to like this bottle, but I just don't.
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2/25/2007 - tanglenet wrote:
Opened not decanted. In the (somewhat) clear light of day, I am finally opening the bottle that I so highly recommended several months ago. Really dark fruit, noticable alcohol with smooth but oaky tannins and strong tastes of vanilla, ecualyptus and black licorice. Needs bottle time / air time. Could be really interesting. Good at this point, but not great.
Day 3. Easy to consume, but still a lot of oak. Good
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2/11/2007 - rothdog wrote: 89 Points
89-90 points. Dark ruby/purple to the rim. A big, luscious cab with gobs of vanilla, blueberry, cassis, blackberry & licorice. A ton of fruit with a very nice mouthfeel, sweet tannin and a respectable finish. The oak is far too prominent, though. Still a very young wine. If the oak integrates with more bottle age this wine will be dynamite. Maybe the oak will be toned down a bit in their next bottling?
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8/20/2006 - tanglenet wrote:
I had this today at the Family Winemakers Event. No formal notes of any kind, but it just blew me away, a really luscious Napa Cabernet. Just bought 6. To me this is a MUST BUY.
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