Popped and poured...great from the start and improved over a couple hours before the bottle disappeared...some sweetness combined with red and black fruit...medium plus length and mellow tannins...drinking wonderfully now.
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This was given a short 30min decant before being consumed over the next two days.
My note is likely going to be reminiscent of my experience with the 2015 Panek I opened 3yrs ago. Out of the RM Cabernet lineup, Panek is the pleasure bomb. One of the signature traits I get from some of TRBs cabs is his ability to pull the entire fruit spectrum (entry of bright red fruits, mid palate of fresh and sweet blue fruits before a commanding and juicy black fruit finish). From the start, this was uber concentrated, but in an elegant way (not brawny). 2hrs later, this smoothed out and channeled a silky profile. This leans to a more floral, dark cherry, mocha fruit flavor profile up front before an inky, juicy, dark chocolate covered black cherry with mint and savory notes. Still on the upswing. Decant 2hrs or hold another 2-3yrs. However, it’s in a hedonistic stage now with minimal air.
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Yes it's big and delicious. No reason to make excuses, just enjoy it for what it is. I enjoyed that cedar box notes. It is a well made new world California Cabernet from Napa.
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Brought to dinner along with an 18 Myriad Empyrean. Both decanted for over an hour.
This was a bigger wine than I remember and compared to the 18 and 19 Rivers Marie NV cab I’ve had more recently. Big dark fruits, jammy, berry liqueur. Really concentrated mouth coating wine but the acid and tannins prevent it from being flabby. Nice long finish.
No need to rush to drink these, plenty of life left. The Empyrean was surprisingly more elegant and refined by comparison. I’m used to mikes style being pretty juicy and bold.
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Was excellent from the PNP when opened at a restaurant. Lush, dark, flavorful with a long finish -- just great stuff. Excellent QPR! Not as great on 2nd day but still really good. Score is the average of both days -- probably 95+ on day 1.
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Nose screams sour cherry, first sip, sour cherry, hot sweaty leather. Tannins are borderline bad ass, than wash away in a saliva induced rinse. Big and bold, flash of dirt and a long finish. easy 97 pts
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Four hour decant. Bright, but very very deep magenta color. Blackberry jam on French toast, plum, and blanched almonds on the nose. Smooth, dry, full bodied palate, with some slightly tart strawberry. Firm tannins on the longish finish.
This is simultaneously big and elegant, which is a tough balance to strike. Very nice improvement over the past year.
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Beautifully smooth, velvety wine with definite raspberry and hints of kirsch. Clings to the glass and the palette. Great QPR like all the Rivers Marie cabs. Mouthfeel lingers for close to a minute. Great stuff.
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Four hour decant. Bright, yet super deep magenta color. Cocoa Puffs, iced maraschino cherry, blueberry, and raspberry on the nose. Smooth, dry, deep fruited palate, with silty, resonating acidity. Full, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.
This is simultaneously rich and elegant, but somehow lacked a “wow factor”. Absolutely wonderful wine and I’m hoping another year or two takes this up a notch.
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This is an outstanding Cab that is just waking up from its sleep. Needs a bit of decant time. Has a wonderful array of dark fruit flavors, mocha, currant and a touch of spice; excellent concentration; > 10 second finish. Could hold for 10+ but enjoyable now with patience
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PnP; 20 yr anniversary dinner. Needs time and/or a decant. Definitely in a better place later in the evening versus when opened. Consistent with other CTers previous notes. This is great wine that will get better with time.....1st bottle of our 2016's we have opened. Expect to climb 1 to 2 points.
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Decanted three hours and it needed it. Not nearly as tight an unforgiving as the 2015 Panek, but this baby is in need of 5 years to come into its own.
This wine is like Zion Williamson- while its talented right now, I can just imagine how good it'll be in 2024. An unstoppable freight train, balanced skill set, and the best representation of its craft.
Young, young, young. Delicious, delicious, delicious. This will only get better with more cellar time but I’m glad that I listened to prior reviews and opened a bottle now to get a base line. It will be hard to resist the temptation to drink my remaining bottles early.
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A really nice bottle and it bested 2 others (Carte Blanche and Jack Quinn - although all were different years). This kept calling to me. The proof is in the pudding and the other 2 bottles, well, I will enjoy them tomorrow.
Dark purple with a little red around the rim. Tons of fruit, mineral components, and unlike previous Panek, this was ready for business! Pretty smooth for a Panek wine at this youthful stage, dark fruit, lots of mineral with a nice long finish.
Held up very well on Day 2 - strutting its stuff and showing its pedigree.
6+ hour decant. Wanted to see what the 2016’s were all about. Still way too young, but provided quite a bit of pleasure. Deep ruby. On the nose black currant, plum, cassis and mocha with black peppercorn, herbs and crushed rock. Great texture on palate, firm (but not life sucking) tannins that have just the right amount of Napa sweetness. I love that this wine displays both strength and elegance (something hard to do for Napa Cabs). I am excited for this wines future! (94-97)
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Decanted 3 hours but still and obviously painfully young. Ripe red fruit, oak, red currant, and mixed liqueurs (cherry, raspberry, blueberry). Like the Lore plenty of green notes, chalkiness and mouth drying tannins. Need 5 years in bottle.
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July 2018 Rivers-Marie Visit (At Mending Wall winery): Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be part of the just released portfolio of RM cabs. These were not decanted, just opened and poured to the glasses. A wow-like wine, with big concentration. Olive, cedar, tight currant and dark berry fruit with an intense and chocolatey finish.
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2/27/2024 - hanasowner wrote: 95 Points
Popped and poured...great from the start and improved over a couple hours before the bottle disappeared...some sweetness combined with red and black fruit...medium plus length and mellow tannins...drinking wonderfully now.
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12/24/2023 - Shay.Aldriedge Likes this wine: 94 Points
This was given a short 30min decant before being consumed over the next two days.
My note is likely going to be reminiscent of my experience with the 2015 Panek I opened 3yrs ago. Out of the RM Cabernet lineup, Panek is the pleasure bomb. One of the signature traits I get from some of TRBs cabs is his ability to pull the entire fruit spectrum (entry of bright red fruits, mid palate of fresh and sweet blue fruits before a commanding and juicy black fruit finish). From the start, this was uber concentrated, but in an elegant way (not brawny). 2hrs later, this smoothed out and channeled a silky profile. This leans to a more floral, dark cherry, mocha fruit flavor profile up front before an inky, juicy, dark chocolate covered black cherry with mint and savory notes. Still on the upswing. Decant 2hrs or hold another 2-3yrs. However, it’s in a hedonistic stage now with minimal air.
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3/26/2023 - brigcampbell wrote:
Yes it's big and delicious. No reason to make excuses, just enjoy it for what it is. I enjoyed that cedar box notes. It is a well made new world California Cabernet from Napa.
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2/5/2023 - JLuch1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Brought to dinner along with an 18 Myriad Empyrean. Both decanted for over an hour.
This was a bigger wine than I remember and compared to the 18 and 19 Rivers Marie NV cab I’ve had more recently. Big dark fruits, jammy, berry liqueur. Really concentrated mouth coating wine but the acid and tannins prevent it from being flabby. Nice long finish.
No need to rush to drink these, plenty of life left. The Empyrean was surprisingly more elegant and refined by comparison. I’m used to mikes style being pretty juicy and bold.
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2/4/2023 - zylmanj Likes this wine: 93 Points
Good wine. This isn't in my palate wheelhouse but I can see why most would like this.
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1/20/2023 - iamandyc Likes this wine: 94 Points
Was excellent from the PNP when opened at a restaurant. Lush, dark, flavorful with a long finish -- just great stuff. Excellent QPR! Not as great on 2nd day but still really good. Score is the average of both days -- probably 95+ on day 1.
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11/24/2022 - shadow wrote: 97 Points
Nose screams sour cherry, first sip, sour cherry, hot sweaty leather.
Tannins are borderline bad ass, than wash away in a saliva induced rinse.
Big and bold, flash of dirt and a long finish.
easy 97 pts
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1/14/2022 - cab blends Likes this wine: 95 Points
TRB and MS Blind Tasting; 1/14/2022-1/23/2022: Dark red in color
Strong tannins 8/10
Nice long finish
NS HL1 AS 1
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12/23/2021 - GiWineDoc Likes this wine: 95 Points
Singing after 1 hr decant
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10/2/2021 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 96 Points
Four hour decant. Bright, but very very deep magenta color. Blackberry jam on French toast, plum, and blanched almonds on the nose. Smooth, dry, full bodied palate, with some slightly tart strawberry. Firm tannins on the longish finish.
This is simultaneously big and elegant, which is a tough balance to strike. Very nice improvement over the past year.
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4/1/2021 - Cali Fan Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautifully smooth, velvety wine with definite raspberry and hints of kirsch. Clings to the glass and the palette. Great QPR like all the Rivers Marie cabs. Mouthfeel lingers for close to a minute. Great stuff.
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12/27/2020 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 94 Points
Four hour decant. Bright, yet super deep magenta color. Cocoa Puffs, iced maraschino cherry, blueberry, and raspberry on the nose. Smooth, dry, deep fruited palate, with silty, resonating acidity. Full, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.
This is simultaneously rich and elegant, but somehow lacked a “wow factor”. Absolutely wonderful wine and I’m hoping another year or two takes this up a notch.
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8/30/2020 - Kiteman12 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nose: cedar, ruby/blue fruit, spice, cassis, anise
Palate: dark / black fruit- cherry, clove/cinnamon/baking spice, excellent linger, strong but consistent tannin structure.
Fantastic wine. Enjoyed it 2 years ago. Enjoyed revisiting now.
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4/4/2020 - royalscam wrote: 95 Points
This is an outstanding Cab that is just waking up from its sleep. Needs a bit of decant time. Has a wonderful array of dark fruit flavors, mocha, currant and a touch of spice; excellent concentration; > 10 second finish. Could hold for 10+ but enjoyable now with patience
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10/2/2019 - gsiokis Likes this wine: 94 Points
PnP; 20 yr anniversary dinner. Needs time and/or a decant. Definitely in a better place later in the evening versus when opened. Consistent with other CTers previous notes. This is great wine that will get better with time.....1st bottle of our 2016's we have opened. Expect to climb 1 to 2 points.
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9/2/2019 - ageverett Likes this wine: 95 Points
Double decant. Super approachable, and disappeared quickly. As usual, dark purple fruits, slate. Delicious juice here.
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4/3/2019 - blarmston Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted three hours and it needed it. Not nearly as tight an unforgiving as the 2015 Panek, but this baby is in need of 5 years to come into its own.
This wine is like Zion Williamson- while its talented right now, I can just imagine how good it'll be in 2024. An unstoppable freight train, balanced skill set, and the best representation of its craft.
96 now with clear upside.
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4/1/2019 - jpmo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Young, young, young. Delicious, delicious, delicious. This will only get better with more cellar time but I’m glad that I listened to prior reviews and opened a bottle now to get a base line. It will be hard to resist the temptation to drink my remaining bottles early.
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1/16/2019 - #1Winelover wrote: 96 Points
A really nice bottle and it bested 2 others (Carte Blanche and Jack Quinn - although all were different years). This kept calling to me. The proof is in the pudding and the other 2 bottles, well, I will enjoy them tomorrow.
Dark purple with a little red around the rim. Tons of fruit, mineral components, and unlike previous Panek, this was ready for business! Pretty smooth for a Panek wine at this youthful stage, dark fruit, lots of mineral with a nice long finish.
Held up very well on Day 2 - strutting its stuff and showing its pedigree.
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12/19/2018 - SommJourney05 Likes this wine: 94 Points
6+ hour decant. Wanted to see what the 2016’s were all about. Still way too young, but provided quite a bit of pleasure. Deep ruby. On the nose black currant, plum, cassis and mocha with black peppercorn, herbs and crushed rock. Great texture on palate, firm (but not life sucking) tannins that have just the right amount of Napa sweetness. I love that this wine displays both strength and elegance (something hard to do for Napa Cabs). I am excited for this wines future! (94-97)
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12/8/2018 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 3 hours but still and obviously painfully young. Ripe red fruit, oak, red currant, and mixed liqueurs (cherry, raspberry, blueberry). Like the Lore plenty of green notes, chalkiness and mouth drying tannins. Need 5 years in bottle.
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7/26/2018 - Frank Murray III wrote:
July 2018 Rivers-Marie Visit (At Mending Wall winery): Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be part of the just released portfolio of RM cabs. These were not decanted, just opened and poured to the glasses. A wow-like wine, with big concentration. Olive, cedar, tight currant and dark berry fruit with an intense and chocolatey finish.
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