2.5 hrs decant. First EMH for me. I can imagine that this old school Cab might polarize opinions: with its strong acidity, relatively light body and sour edge it’s definitely an AFWE wine. It reminded me of a St Julien from the 1980s! Blackberry dominates the fruit, tannins are medium intensity and well integrated, some loam notes starting to emerge. Not at all what I expect from a Napa Cab, in a good way. I enjoyed the lack of ponderousness. Different and welcome for that. Score: 91. Relative to expectations: +
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subtle soil aroma, nose is reticent. color is fairly light for cab. youthful on appearance. a pretty humble wine. well balanced; though I prefer the elegant, it is a little thin for me. two hours in a decanter did it a lot of favors but did not fill out much; tasted kinda weird on the front end on open. A quality wine but not a lot stands out for me.
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Casual, last-minute dinner with friends, so this did not get any advance treatment, but it still showed why it's special. I picked this out because EMH was one of my dad's favorite Cabernets in the last few years of his life. Since he had passed just a couple of days earlier it seemed an appropriate wine to share.
I have always found EMH to be relatively classic in style, but this was full on classic - red fruit, firm tannins, but stuffing to balance - yet not overwhelming. Rather than just a casual dinner I would love to have been sitting with a medium rare ribeye, and my dad sitting across the table. He would have loved this, as it would have reminded him of things he drank in the early 1970s, before things got supercharged. Special didn't have to mean over-the-top. It could mean more refined. I sat with the last glass for an hour or so, taking small sips every few minutes. I got better every sip. I'll hold my remaining bottles for a while, and then maybe open one up on my dad's birthday...with a ribeye steak.
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A beautiful "old School" Cabernet. Decanted 2 hours and it needed it. Black berry, cassis, leather, cherry, pomegranate, and some graphite on the nose. The palate show black berry, cassis, leather, cherry, vanilla, earth. Good acidity. medium body. The tannins have softened nicely in the long finish. In a good place now, but no hurry to open my last bottle.
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11/5/2023 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 91 Points
2.5 hrs decant. First EMH for me. I can imagine that this old school Cab might polarize opinions: with its strong acidity, relatively light body and sour edge it’s definitely an AFWE wine. It reminded me of a St Julien from the 1980s! Blackberry dominates the fruit, tannins are medium intensity and well integrated, some loam notes starting to emerge. Not at all what I expect from a Napa Cab, in a good way. I enjoyed the lack of ponderousness. Different and welcome for that.
Score: 91. Relative to expectations: +
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5/18/2023 - Discobiscuits42 wrote: 90 Points
subtle soil aroma, nose is reticent. color is fairly light for cab. youthful on appearance. a pretty humble wine. well balanced; though I prefer the elegant, it is a little thin for me. two hours in a decanter did it a lot of favors but did not fill out much; tasted kinda weird on the front end on open. A quality wine but not a lot stands out for me.
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2/4/2023 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Casual, last-minute dinner with friends, so this did not get any advance treatment, but it still showed why it's special. I picked this out because EMH was one of my dad's favorite Cabernets in the last few years of his life. Since he had passed just a couple of days earlier it seemed an appropriate wine to share.
I have always found EMH to be relatively classic in style, but this was full on classic - red fruit, firm tannins, but stuffing to balance - yet not overwhelming. Rather than just a casual dinner I would love to have been sitting with a medium rare ribeye, and my dad sitting across the table. He would have loved this, as it would have reminded him of things he drank in the early 1970s, before things got supercharged. Special didn't have to mean over-the-top. It could mean more refined. I sat with the last glass for an hour or so, taking small sips every few minutes. I got better every sip. I'll hold my remaining bottles for a while, and then maybe open one up on my dad's birthday...with a ribeye steak.
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1/16/2023 - gharter Likes this wine: 94 Points
A beautiful "old School" Cabernet. Decanted 2 hours and it needed it. Black berry, cassis, leather, cherry, pomegranate, and some graphite on the nose. The palate show black berry, cassis, leather, cherry, vanilla, earth. Good acidity. medium body. The tannins have softened nicely in the long finish. In a good place now, but no hurry to open my last bottle.
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9/5/2020 - ljl203 wrote: 91 Points
Deep reddish purple color. Alcohol on the nose. Figs, blueberries, stems. Strong acid. Need a few more years to integrate
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6/25/2019 - BobMilton Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nice restrained Napa Cab. Good fruit, nice acidity, perhaps a touch young still.
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6/12/2018 - Charlie Carnes Likes this wine:
Julie made me open this... I wanted to let her rest for a few years. Excellent, none the less! Pretty red CS fruit, glossy, bright, and really yummy.
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