Very dark red color. PNP, drank a couple glasses over 2.5 hours. There's an enticing perfume immediately with a mix of sandalwood, leather, cassis, cigar box and leather, peat and sweet lead pencil. The palate is sublime, with a harmonious feel to the tangy cassis, wild black raspberry, dried earth and absolutely wonderful spices and white pepper. There's a hint of menthol, subtle green pepper and wood that goes layers into the pencil and leather notes. The last of five wonderful bottles. A fitting way to bid adieu to a long standing old friend with many, many years ahead. 94+ to 95pts.
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12L format, opened on Thursday 12/30/21, when the 12 of us managed to put a serious dent in the bottle (roughly 45% finished). We revisited on Friday and Saturday, and I took the remaining ~25% home tonight, where I decanted into a magnum, 750, and two glasses for the wife and I. As you might imagine, this was extremely youthful in this format, and held up with hardly any noticeable decline over 3+ days. Some mint and spice on the nose, with beautiful cassis and plum fruit, a smooth midpalate and chewy but smooth tannins on the back end. While clearly a California cab, it tends toward a more restrained style, and the oak was unobtrusive and became better integrated with air and time. A real treat to try this in this format.
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Deep, dark opaque garnet in the glass, 2 hours of air reveals graphite on the nose with strong dark fruit on the palate. Great depth to the fruit. Great tobacco flavor on the palate. Amazing how this doesn't drink like a 19 yo bottle! Plenty of life left in this one given the remaining acidity and tannic structure. Initially gave this a 94 but with another hour of air the finishing acidity and fruit brings it up another point for me.
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Jen-a-palooza with Paul, Mark and Carol; 10/22/2021-10/24/2021 (Atlanta): Drinking beautifully right now, a perfect aged napa cab. This is 1.5 better than the Venge today but also has a lot more life ahead. Expressive nose of cassis, darker fruits, some vanilla and oak, sous bois, graphite mineral ling finish. A bit of an acid zing which mellows out after a few hours. Dark and youthful in color. Thank you for sharing this one Mark! Can’t wait until our 97’s arrive
Awesome night with Mary and Barry...this was the kickoff wine. Pnp by moi...cork in great shape, wine still deep, dark purple/magenta, no hint of bricking or aging whatsoever. Nice oak/cedar component, mushrooms, and dark red fruit. Tough to believe this wine is almost 20 years old.....can go what? 10? 20 more years? Amazing........
Addendum: as the 1-2 hours wore on drinking this one a very nice cinnamon/barrel spice emerged on the back end and the texture became more velvet like in the mouth.....by the end it was an easy 94 for Barry and me.
Big and juicy. Jelly sandwich. Lacks balance. Too much oak for my tastes. Not sure this will get any better - although I wish it would. Not my cup of tea... or glass of wine so to speak.
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This had a soft, mellow fruit and tannin profile when first opened and enjoyed thru dinner at the Rutherford Grill in St. Helena tonight. For a 17 yo Sonoma cab this is beautiful. Two hours later the dark fruited cab nose and palate reveal more oak/cedar and astringency in the mid and later stages. Gotta love these older cabs from legendary producers like Richard Arrowood when you can find them in the secondary market.
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Very dark red color. PNP, drank 2 glasses over 90 minutes plus. On a day where I had no desire to drink red wine out on the deck, i needed something for my dad and the ribs. Since we had agreed last night to save this for today, this was going to be it. I gave it 20 minutes in the fridge after opening to make sure it was at a good temp and that was a wise move. This has always a been an impressive Bordeaux-like wine. Very earthy with some funk, cassis, blackberry, raspberry, tart on the palate, graphite, crushed rock, spice and lovely fine tannins. Really good as always, and i'm sure it would have been even better in a cool environment.
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Tuesday Night Double Blind $40+ (Alpharetta, GA): Dark core with dull maroon rim; menthol, blackberry, graphite, sweet ripe red and dark fruit, old school feel, lots of oak, sweet fruit, cedar.
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Tuesday Night Double Blind Tasting, $40+ (Bin 75): Deep, dark, smells great, coffee. Made me think Merlot, maybe Italian, and guessed '04 Galatrona. Plenty of structure and life still left here, really well done Cali Cab.
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Very dark red/purple color. Decanted half of the bottle for about 30 minutes and then repeated about an hour later. Split the bottle and followed over 2.5 hours. I've managed to lay off this for about 2 years now. No easy task I might add. Tonight was one of those nights I was looking for something special to drink while we hunkered down with a top sirloin roast in the middle of a big snownami. I couldn't be more pleased with the selection. This wine shines even brighter than it has in the past, as I had hoped it would. A dead ringer for top notch Bordeaux. What a wonderfully complex and aromatic nose; boasting cigar, lead pencil, dried leaves, bright cassis, dark raspberry, and hints of boysenberry. The palate resonates with amazing purity, lovely fruit here, cassis, cherry, cigar, graphite, wood spices, earth, lovely round tannins that are in such a good place, and a very long finish. Wow, balanced, amazing, and very classy. I'm so impressed by the wines that Dick Arrowood made in the late 90's and early 00's.
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Uncorked 2 hours then decanted 1 hr which worked well. Drank while eating a filet tenderloin and also drank against a 2000 Chat. Lynch-Moussas and this was the #1 for the table. It was excellent and peaking. Well-integrated, nice secondary fruit profile, integrated tannis, and the acids and sweetness were in perfect harmony. While these will easily go on another 3 years I have one more and will drink it during 2016. My plan is to save it for some friends that love primary Napa CS's to show them how killer an aged neighboring CS can be. I now understand why the auction prlce has increased! (Also thinking it might be worth a 96 rating.) For me, this is tied for WOTY honors with a 2005 dYquem drank at their chateau.
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Opulent nose of american oak, dark fruits and plum. Dry dusty tannin, good fruit density, excellent length. This was a treat and will get better with time.
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Dark purple in glass, still clear at halo. Aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry. Flavors are still vibrant and fresh, showing blackberry compote, cassis and cigarbox, with tannins fully integrated, sweet and silky, and a wonderful long finish. Still plenty of life in this vintage, surely wish this hadn't been our last bottle. Certainly drinking at its peak, and will for several more years. Decanted 3 hours.
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Difficult to determine what happened to this bottle possibly slightly corked... so disappointed that we almost stopped drinking it.. Never opened up and remained unpleasantly tannic
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I think it's time to drink these babies up. Still very concentrated, bold notes of menthol, licorice, Bell pepper, blackberry. The latter is starting to fade. A touch of earthiness and this one plays a little hot. Plenty of sediment. Not as impressive as my earlier bottle but still quite lovely. I'd say 90-plus but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
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Decanted however long rocknroller says, this gained 1 point from last year. Very nice bordeaux nose, with a little more fruit and mocha on the palate to remind you that it is from California. Great wine, could maybe get a little better in the future.
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New Years 2013 at Kevin's (Minneapolis, MN): Nice wine with menthol, plums, cherry, spices and green olives. Fruit forward style. Should age for another decade and could see this improving. 92-94.
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New Years Eve Celebration Offline (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Very dark red-purple color. Slo-Ox for 3 hours and decanted for 30 minutes. Drank 2 glasses over 4 hours. This has a lovely Bordeaux-esque nose filled with dry earth, menthol, black brambly fruits with cassis, black cherries and tobacco. The palate is full bodied, well layered, velvety, black fruits with cassis and dark cherry, earth, dusty minerals, with a very long and intense finish. This still drinks quite young and improved through the evening. The tannins have mellowed and taken on a very round caressing character. If I can keep my hands off the remaining bottles, this should improve significantly over 5 years. 94(+)pts.
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This cab was still very primary with black currants, blackberries and a hint of tobacco peeking through that eventually faded into the big fruit notes. Seemed like this needed 10 more years to show further evolution.
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Popped and drank over a couple hours. After this opened up, it blew us away. Never had this before. A sexy wine. Quite elegant with perfect balance. Everything was impressive about this wine. Beautiful nose to one of the best finishes of milk chocolate, toffee and some coffee. A little lighter on its feet than some napa counterparts. Plenty of time left. 94/95
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It is Stormy weather here in Portland, just the kind of weather to pop open a bottle of Cabernet. Aromas of blackberry, black cherry and vanilla. Beautifully smooth and velvety on the palate and so enjoyable with the Braised Lamb Shanks.
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Dark as night. Edges slightly brownish. Slightly. nose of pure black currant and boysenberries. Palate shows amazing attack of deep dark black fruits with perfect balance. Black currants, the boysenberries I already mentioned, some blackberries and a hint of black cherries. A almost imperceptible dose of creme de cassis along with some cardamom, cinnamon. A wonderful light-coolness runs through this. Tannins are big with soft edges and acidity just right. Finish keeps it all true and in play. A perfect rendition of Sonoma Cab that I only wish I had 5 more of. Agewise, for me, perfect.
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Extremely dark in the glass, but still slightly purple at the edge, as though it is still young. The nose shows right raspberry with a kiss of oak, plus notes of both maple and spice. Really, it is quite enticing. The palate confirms the youth, with primary red fruit predominating, and not a great amount of secondary notes. I do not get the earth or leather notes I see in other notes, nor do I get the 96 points I read that Parker has given this. However, this is still plenty delicious and still very young, with solid structure to carry it forward. It has a medium-long finish, and plenty of potential to still improve over the next 10+ years. I was not familiar with this producer and I did not know the Parker score when I tasted the wine, but this is definitely a name I know now. Very good wine, and a solid start to the "big red" theme.
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Oh this is good wine. Very good wine. Loads of fruit, leather, and some fresh loamy soil on the nose, exciting spices and herbs on the palate, and a solid medium-long finish. Great, great concentration, really nice acid that drives it through, impeccably balanced, tannins that are well integrated. Can last for another decade easily, but why wait? It's powerful and gorgeous right now. Pops and pours great, decants well as well.
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Robert Parker gave this wine 96 pts. I have drank a lot of the 1999, 2001, and now 2002 and this wine is consistently my favorite wine coming out of Sonoma. Drank this with RDonnelly2 after wine charity auction and this was as good as anything we tasted all day. Mouth-coating wine, with waves of ripe dark fruit, kirsch, cedar and licorice, with menthol accompanying the long finish. My understanding is that Kendall Jackson bought Arrowood within the last few years and more recent vintages are bound to not be as good as this.
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My rating won't go as high as RP's 96, possibly due to pop 'n' pour, possibly due to palate fatigue since this was opened following a charity wine tasting event. Serious and thick, this shows up-front dark fruit (blackberry most prominent), mild anise and earthy cedar with just a touch of menthol in the longish finish. This has always been one of my preferred Sonoma vineyards. 93+
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Rich and concentrated by not in a thoughtless, ostentatious California way. Deep and brooding, some earthiness, nice length. Red meat wine all the way. It didn't hurt that I picked these bottles up under $60.
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Decanted 2 hours and drank over 1 hour, this was a great young cab. Menthol and earth on the nose. A very big and rich palate. Complex fruit flavors of ripe cherry and blackberry. Some spice. Tannins on the strong side but within the range of acceptability for a cab. It was definitely getting better as it sat in the glass. This is very good now and will probably be a showstopper in 2-3 years.
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Holiday Party (Gail and Steph's, Mpls, MN): Very dark red. Decanted for 1.5hrs. Drank 1+ glass over 1.5 hours. Excellent nose with damp earth, menthol, blueberry, creme de cassis, dusty, kirsch. The palate is rich and full bodied, velvety, cassis, kirsch, graphite, dusty minerals, well defined with medium grained somewhat firm tannins. This continued to improve through the night, and I wish i would have had more of to further evaluate. Still quite young, this appears to be on the edge of something exceptional. I would suggest at least 2-3 hours decant time for this presently. Scored based on where this was at the end of the night with the final drops of the bottle. 93+ to 94 pts with room to improve significantly.
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Old Towne Market, Orcutt, CA- tasting: Aromas of plum, earth-slate, and currant. Deep black fruit on the palate with tobacco, cedar, and blue-floral notes. Balanced and rich. Round polished tannins and a full finish. Nicely developed, but still tastes young.
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Vastly different bottle this time. Beautiful nose of blackberry, hints of spice, dark cherries and the mouth feel was just pleasing, smooth and silky yet vibrant with waves of black fruit, completely in balance to a long outstanding finish. Complementary and enjoyable with Braised Beef Short Ribs.
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used Vinturi - initial nose very floral and fragrant, bright -- cherry/raspberry - smooth tannins evident initially, but other flavors expanded with air - after an hour bramble and licorice/anise on the nose -smooth but some heat/spice mid-palate - mouth-filling and long finish - really enjoyable bottle of wine
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This is drinking so well right now. Have 2 more bottles and can't wait. Such a great finish and so well put together. All the right flavors. For the price, it is amazing.
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We are pigs. This was delivered today and we had a rough day and couldn't resist. Yes, we should have saved it for an occaision, but instead we cellared the 2005 and popped this open. Super wow. Within 20 minutes lots of black cherry, herbs, licorice scents. Dark and deep. Agree the tannins are velvet. Flavors of dark fruit, a little leather, layers of flavor. Incredibly smooth with a long smooth finish. Really wonderful, and wish we had more.
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Super fragrant wine. As I was decanting there were strong notes of dark fruit, currant, raspberry, black cherry. That followed through to similar notes on the palate, with chocolate and some baking spice. Velvety tannins well integrated oak. Most noticeable was a finish that lingered. Decanted for an hour.
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Popped and poured. Dark purple/garnet, slightly hazy. Upon pouring, a pronounced perfume wafts from the glass and showcases aromas of black cherry, raspberry, crème de cassis, cedar, fresh herbs, and perhaps just a subtle hint of oak. A floral note seemingly develops with air. Medium-plus body. Wonderfully pure fruit on the palate...think black cherry, mountain berries, and currant flavors that are complimented beautifully by hints of spice from oak and even a faint impression of minerals. Perfectly balanced and so plush, with tannins never too obtrusive on the plus close. So wonderful now, yet will certainly age and improve with additional time in the cellar. This is truly compelling Cabernet, and perhaps one of the best one can hope to find from Sonoma...awesome, ageless juice!
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Dark Garnet with aromas of red and black plums, spice. Round smooth tannins integrated with the red and black fruit. Very uncomplicated and a pleasing finish.
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Upon opening, earthy & slightly herbal, well balanced. But with a few hours of air, some gorgeous fruit came forward. Definitely give this a 2-3 hour decant or wait another 5 years, or you'll miss the good stuff.
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I as sorry this was the only bottle I have. It is an impressive wine that should be good for another 10 years. One of best from Sonoma I have tasted. Great mix of fresh berries with some earthy overtones similar to leather. Tannins very well balanced. Great wine I'll try to add when I can.
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A truly world class bouquet. Opened and decanted an hour prior to dinner. Kitchen immediately, upon opening, was filled with fresh fruit. Very smooth and layered with the perfect oaky overtones. Great juice. Drinking very well, now.
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Nose full of cola, ripe strawberries, black licorice, and sawdust. Full wine with an extremely rich mid-palate. Tannins medium-light, some heat on finish. Most dominant flavors were milk chocolate and blueberry. Notes of sage and spicy clove. Very nice wine, drinking in a good, seemingly long window right now. Decanted 3 hours.
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Seductive mocha oak and coconut runs through the ripe blackberry and spice flavors, but this really wows you with the hints of dusty green vegetable notes. Finishing up long and ending with firm, ripe tannins. -JD94
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10/07/2007: Deep and dark, ruby colored wine. The nose is red fruit, earth, and clove. This is a concentrated, full bodied and multilayer wine with lots of structure and tannins, really well made. The flavor is full, rich elegant yet powerful. The finish is tannic right now and the wine should rest for a few years and then my guess is wow!
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Gigantic and beautiful. Enormous and voluptious. Huge and opulent fruit, full body, well balanced oak and vanilla, and a long finish. Very meaty and nice.
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11/11/2023 - jwebtx wrote:
It's time or somewhere in the 4th Q. An excellent pairing with the NYT's mustard/cognac stew.
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9/22/2023 - rocknroller wrote: 95 Points
Very dark red color. PNP, drank a couple glasses over 2.5 hours. There's an enticing perfume immediately with a mix of sandalwood, leather, cassis, cigar box and leather, peat and sweet lead pencil. The palate is sublime, with a harmonious feel to the tangy cassis, wild black raspberry, dried earth and absolutely wonderful spices and white pepper. There's a hint of menthol, subtle green pepper and wood that goes layers into the pencil and leather notes. The last of five wonderful bottles. A fitting way to bid adieu to a long standing old friend with many, many years ahead. 94+ to 95pts.
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1/2/2022 - GrapeScott wrote: 93 Points
12L format, opened on Thursday 12/30/21, when the 12 of us managed to put a serious dent in the bottle (roughly 45% finished). We revisited on Friday and Saturday, and I took the remaining ~25% home tonight, where I decanted into a magnum, 750, and two glasses for the wife and I. As you might imagine, this was extremely youthful in this format, and held up with hardly any noticeable decline over 3+ days. Some mint and spice on the nose, with beautiful cassis and plum fruit, a smooth midpalate and chewy but smooth tannins on the back end. While clearly a California cab, it tends toward a more restrained style, and the oak was unobtrusive and became better integrated with air and time. A real treat to try this in this format.
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10/23/2021 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 95 Points
Deep, dark opaque garnet in the glass, 2 hours of air reveals graphite on the nose with strong dark fruit on the palate. Great depth to the fruit. Great tobacco flavor on the palate. Amazing how this doesn't drink like a 19 yo bottle! Plenty of life left in this one given the remaining acidity and tannic structure. Initially gave this a 94 but with another hour of air the finishing acidity and fruit brings it up another point for me.
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10/23/2021 - Decanting Queen Likes this wine: 93 Points
Jen-a-palooza with Paul, Mark and Carol; 10/22/2021-10/24/2021 (Atlanta): Drinking beautifully right now, a perfect aged napa cab. This is 1.5 better than the Venge today but also has a lot more life ahead. Expressive nose of cassis, darker fruits, some vanilla and oak, sous bois, graphite mineral ling finish. A bit of an acid zing which mellows out after a few hours. Dark and youthful in color. Thank you for sharing this one Mark! Can’t wait until our 97’s arrive
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7/27/2021 - Old Joe Likes this wine: 93 Points
dark color extremely smooth with a distinguishing finish
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6/25/2021 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 93 Points
Awesome night with Mary and Barry...this was the kickoff wine. Pnp by moi...cork in great shape, wine still deep, dark purple/magenta, no hint of bricking or aging whatsoever. Nice oak/cedar component, mushrooms, and dark red fruit. Tough to believe this wine is almost 20 years old.....can go what? 10? 20 more years? Amazing........
Addendum: as the 1-2 hours wore on drinking this one a very nice cinnamon/barrel spice emerged on the back end and the texture became more velvet like in the mouth.....by the end it was an easy 94 for Barry and me.
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10/2/2020 - LMWS Jimmy and Rocio Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nice mature wine. Mello tanins. Smoky dark fruit
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5/10/2020 - ovenmitt wrote: 89 Points
Big and juicy. Jelly sandwich. Lacks balance. Too much oak for my tastes. Not sure this will get any better - although I wish it would. Not my cup of tea... or glass of wine so to speak.
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10/4/2019 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 93 Points
This had a soft, mellow fruit and tannin profile when first opened and enjoyed thru dinner at the Rutherford Grill in St. Helena tonight. For a 17 yo Sonoma cab this is beautiful. Two hours later the dark fruited cab nose and palate reveal more oak/cedar and astringency in the mid and later stages. Gotta love these older cabs from legendary producers like Richard Arrowood when you can find them in the secondary market.
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6/24/2018 - pdadams66 Likes this wine: 92 Points
As before. Impressive.
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1/17/2018 - pdadams66 Likes this wine: 93 Points
At Ciccio with Randy, Alice and Virginia.
From memory a fantastic wine - deep, dense, complex, well defined Cabernet fruit. Drinking very well now.
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7/2/2017 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
Very dark red color. PNP, drank 2 glasses over 90 minutes plus. On a day where I had no desire to drink red wine out on the deck, i needed something for my dad and the ribs. Since we had agreed last night to save this for today, this was going to be it. I gave it 20 minutes in the fridge after opening to make sure it was at a good temp and that was a wise move. This has always a been an impressive Bordeaux-like wine. Very earthy with some funk, cassis, blackberry, raspberry, tart on the palate, graphite, crushed rock, spice and lovely fine tannins. Really good as always, and i'm sure it would have been even better in a cool environment.
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4/14/2017 - fedro Likes this wine: 93 Points
wonderful and worth waiting for. Personally I don't think this should be kept for much longer as it felt right at peak. Superb length
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7/19/2016 - Rezy13 wrote:
Tuesday Night Double Blind $40+ (Alpharetta, GA): Dark core with dull maroon rim; menthol, blackberry, graphite, sweet ripe red and dark fruit, old school feel, lots of oak, sweet fruit, cedar.
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7/19/2016 - lgeeker Likes this wine:
Tuesday Night Double Blind Tasting, $40+ (Bin 75): Deep, dark, smells great, coffee. Made me think Merlot, maybe Italian, and guessed '04 Galatrona. Plenty of structure and life still left here, really well done Cali Cab.
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6/5/2016 - rashcar Likes this wine: 94 Points
WTN for me among Cakebread dancing bears and Insignia. Good structure, nose and finish.
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2/2/2016 - rocknroller wrote: 95 Points
Very dark red/purple color. Decanted half of the bottle for about 30 minutes and then repeated about an hour later. Split the bottle and followed over 2.5 hours. I've managed to lay off this for about 2 years now. No easy task I might add. Tonight was one of those nights I was looking for something special to drink while we hunkered down with a top sirloin roast in the middle of a big snownami. I couldn't be more pleased with the selection. This wine shines even brighter than it has in the past, as I had hoped it would. A dead ringer for top notch Bordeaux. What a wonderfully complex and aromatic nose; boasting cigar, lead pencil, dried leaves, bright cassis, dark raspberry, and hints of boysenberry. The palate resonates with amazing purity, lovely fruit here, cassis, cherry, cigar, graphite, wood spices, earth, lovely round tannins that are in such a good place, and a very long finish. Wow, balanced, amazing, and very classy. I'm so impressed by the wines that Dick Arrowood made in the late 90's and early 00's.
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12/25/2015 - wine247365 wrote: 95 Points
Uncorked 2 hours then decanted 1 hr which worked well. Drank while eating a filet tenderloin and also drank against a 2000 Chat. Lynch-Moussas and this was the #1 for the table. It was excellent and peaking. Well-integrated, nice secondary fruit profile, integrated tannis, and the acids and sweetness were in perfect harmony. While these will easily go on another 3 years I have one more and will drink it during 2016. My plan is to save it for some friends that love primary Napa CS's to show them how killer an aged neighboring CS can be. I now understand why the auction prlce has increased! (Also thinking it might be worth a 96 rating.) For me, this is tied for WOTY honors with a 2005 dYquem drank at their chateau.
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9/24/2015 - mkoss Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great, chewy cab with bright black fruit notes, perfect tannins, a little acidit, and a really long finish. Drink now!
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12/13/2014 - AWBryce Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opulent nose of american oak, dark fruits and plum. Dry dusty tannin, good fruit density, excellent length. This was a treat and will get better with time.
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11/24/2014 - JS199 wrote: 93 Points
A beautiful expression of cabernet sauvignon. Not quite as good as the previous bottle, but pretty darn tasty. Ditto to previous tasting note.
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8/25/2014 - Snoman Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dark purple in glass, still clear at halo. Aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry. Flavors are still vibrant and fresh, showing blackberry compote, cassis and cigarbox, with tannins fully integrated, sweet and silky, and a wonderful long finish. Still plenty of life in this vintage, surely wish this hadn't been our last bottle. Certainly drinking at its peak, and will for several more years. Decanted 3 hours.
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8/21/2014 - stevenjstein Likes this wine: 93 Points
Took a little time to open up, but just kept getting better with air. Rich, soft, fruit, with just a touch of sweetness. Well structured and balanced.
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7/20/2014 - profiler54 wrote: flawed
Difficult to determine what happened to this bottle possibly slightly corked... so disappointed that we almost stopped drinking it.. Never opened up and remained unpleasantly tannic
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7/14/2014 - DrewWyman wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful color, nose a dark fruit, some menthol notes. Beautiful palate of dark fruit. Drinking great!
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6/15/2014 - jeffal66 Likes this wine: 91 Points
I think it's time to drink these babies up. Still very concentrated, bold notes of menthol, licorice, Bell pepper, blackberry. The latter is starting to fade. A touch of earthiness and this one plays a little hot. Plenty of sediment. Not as impressive as my earlier bottle but still quite lovely. I'd say 90-plus but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
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5/5/2014 - fine137 wrote: 93 Points
Tons of life left, much better 2nd day.
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4/2/2014 - CowboyKell wrote: 95 Points
slightly past peak. very, very good.
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1/1/2014 - galewskj wrote: 94 Points
Decanted however long rocknroller says, this gained 1 point from last year. Very nice bordeaux nose, with a little more fruit and mocha on the palate to remind you that it is from California. Great wine, could maybe get a little better in the future.
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12/31/2013 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 92 Points
New Years 2013 at Kevin's (Minneapolis, MN): Nice wine with menthol, plums, cherry, spices and green olives. Fruit forward style. Should age for another decade and could see this improving. 92-94.
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12/31/2013 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
New Years Eve Celebration Offline (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Very dark red-purple color. Slo-Ox for 3 hours and decanted for 30 minutes. Drank 2 glasses over 4 hours. This has a lovely Bordeaux-esque nose filled with dry earth, menthol, black brambly fruits with cassis, black cherries and tobacco. The palate is full bodied, well layered, velvety, black fruits with cassis and dark cherry, earth, dusty minerals, with a very long and intense finish. This still drinks quite young and improved through the evening. The tannins have mellowed and taken on a very round caressing character. If I can keep my hands off the remaining bottles, this should improve significantly over 5 years. 94(+)pts.
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11/10/2013 - wineaux2 Likes this wine: 92 Points
This cab was still very primary with black currants, blackberries and a hint of tobacco peeking through that eventually faded into the big fruit notes. Seemed like this needed 10 more years to show further evolution.
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10/31/2013 - JS199 wrote: 94 Points
Popped and drank over a couple hours. After this opened up, it blew us away. Never had this before. A sexy wine. Quite elegant with perfect balance. Everything was impressive about this wine. Beautiful nose to one of the best finishes of milk chocolate, toffee and some coffee. A little lighter on its feet than some napa counterparts. Plenty of time left. 94/95
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9/28/2013 - JustDrinkIt Likes this wine: 94 Points
PnP
It is Stormy weather here in Portland, just the kind of weather to pop open a bottle of Cabernet. Aromas of blackberry, black cherry and vanilla. Beautifully smooth and velvety on the palate and so enjoyable with the Braised Lamb Shanks.
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8/22/2013 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Beautiful nose; Great fruit; Falls off quickly
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7/19/2013 - King Cab wrote: 95 Points
Dark as night. Edges slightly brownish. Slightly. nose of pure black currant and boysenberries. Palate shows amazing attack of deep dark black fruits with perfect balance. Black currants, the boysenberries I already mentioned, some blackberries and a hint of black cherries. A almost imperceptible dose of creme de cassis along with some cardamom, cinnamon. A wonderful light-coolness runs through this. Tannins are big with soft edges and acidity just right. Finish keeps it all true and in play. A perfect rendition of Sonoma Cab that I only wish I had 5 more of. Agewise, for me, perfect.
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6/29/2013 - Phredd wrote: 92 Points
Extremely dark in the glass, but still slightly purple at the edge, as though it is still young. The nose shows right raspberry with a kiss of oak, plus notes of both maple and spice. Really, it is quite enticing. The palate confirms the youth, with primary red fruit predominating, and not a great amount of secondary notes. I do not get the earth or leather notes I see in other notes, nor do I get the 96 points I read that Parker has given this. However, this is still plenty delicious and still very young, with solid structure to carry it forward. It has a medium-long finish, and plenty of potential to still improve over the next 10+ years. I was not familiar with this producer and I did not know the Parker score when I tasted the wine, but this is definitely a name I know now. Very good wine, and a solid start to the "big red" theme.
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5/27/2013 - taipeileviathan Likes this wine: 94 Points
Oh this is good wine. Very good wine. Loads of fruit, leather, and some fresh loamy soil on the nose, exciting spices and herbs on the palate, and a solid medium-long finish. Great, great concentration, really nice acid that drives it through, impeccably balanced, tannins that are well integrated. Can last for another decade easily, but why wait? It's powerful and gorgeous right now. Pops and pours great, decants well as well.
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5/5/2013 - fine137 wrote: 92 Points
Much more tannic than previous bottles. still tons of fruit. Its an infant. Hold with confidence.
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4/28/2013 - awilliamson4 wrote: 88 Points
A totally different wine than the last time tasted...tighter and a bit disjointed. This wine was so much less bordeaux like than last time.
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1/28/2013 - awilliamson4 wrote: 93 Points
Dead ringer for a bordeaux. Really surprised the group. I thought it was the best bordeaux style of the night.
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1/28/2013 - Bobo N wrote: 95 Points
Robert Parker gave this wine 96 pts. I have drank a lot of the 1999, 2001, and now 2002 and this wine is consistently my favorite wine coming out of Sonoma. Drank this with RDonnelly2 after wine charity auction and this was as good as anything we tasted all day. Mouth-coating wine, with waves of ripe dark fruit, kirsch, cedar and licorice, with menthol accompanying the long finish. My understanding is that Kendall Jackson bought Arrowood within the last few years and more recent vintages are bound to not be as good as this.
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1/27/2013 - robertdtwo Likes this wine: 93 Points
My rating won't go as high as RP's 96, possibly due to pop 'n' pour, possibly due to palate fatigue since this was opened following a charity wine tasting event. Serious and thick, this shows up-front dark fruit (blackberry most prominent), mild anise and earthy cedar with just a touch of menthol in the longish finish. This has always been one of my preferred Sonoma vineyards. 93+
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12/14/2012 - jeffal66 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich and concentrated by not in a thoughtless, ostentatious California way. Deep and brooding, some earthiness, nice length. Red meat wine all the way. It didn't hurt that I picked these bottles up under $60.
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12/9/2012 - galewskj wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 2 hours and drank over 1 hour, this was a great young cab. Menthol and earth on the nose. A very big and rich palate. Complex fruit flavors of ripe cherry and blackberry. Some spice. Tannins on the strong side but within the range of acceptability for a cab. It was definitely getting better as it sat in the glass. This is very good now and will probably be a showstopper in 2-3 years.
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12/8/2012 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
Holiday Party (Gail and Steph's, Mpls, MN): Very dark red. Decanted for 1.5hrs. Drank 1+ glass over 1.5 hours. Excellent nose with damp earth, menthol, blueberry, creme de cassis, dusty, kirsch. The palate is rich and full bodied, velvety, cassis, kirsch, graphite, dusty minerals, well defined with medium grained somewhat firm tannins. This continued to improve through the night, and I wish i would have had more of to further evaluate. Still quite young, this appears to be on the edge of something exceptional. I would suggest at least 2-3 hours decant time for this presently. Scored based on where this was at the end of the night with the final drops of the bottle. 93+ to 94 pts with room to improve significantly.
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11/24/2012 - MattMauldin wrote: 92 Points
Old Towne Market, Orcutt, CA- tasting: Aromas of plum, earth-slate, and currant. Deep black fruit on the palate with tobacco, cedar, and blue-floral notes. Balanced and rich. Round polished tannins and a full finish. Nicely developed, but still tastes young.
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11/18/2012 - JustDrinkIt wrote: 94 Points
PnP
Vastly different bottle this time. Beautiful nose of blackberry, hints of spice, dark cherries and the mouth feel was just pleasing, smooth and silky yet vibrant with waves of black fruit, completely in balance to a long outstanding finish. Complementary and enjoyable with Braised Beef Short Ribs.
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7/24/2012 - sgamiz wrote: 96 Points
BWON - excellent wine showing signs of maturity - delicious.
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6/11/2012 - AngryPrez wrote: 93 Points
used Vinturi - initial nose very floral and fragrant, bright -- cherry/raspberry - smooth tannins evident initially, but other flavors expanded with air - after an hour bramble and licorice/anise on the nose -smooth but some heat/spice mid-palate - mouth-filling and long finish - really enjoyable bottle of wine
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5/12/2012 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Very nice true cab; Good body; Doesn't havre the heavy fruit that the earlier bottles had
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3/6/2012 - phlegls wrote: 92 Points
Popped & Poured - Probably better with a decant and a couple of hours of some air
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2/24/2012 - napa23 Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is drinking so well right now. Have 2 more bottles and can't wait. Such a great finish and so well put together. All the right flavors. For the price, it is amazing.
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2/2/2012 - Awilcox wrote: 96 Points
We are pigs. This was delivered today and we had a rough day and couldn't resist. Yes, we should have saved it for an occaision, but instead we cellared the 2005 and popped this open. Super wow. Within 20 minutes lots of black cherry, herbs, licorice scents. Dark and deep. Agree the tannins are velvet. Flavors of dark fruit, a little leather, layers of flavor. Incredibly smooth with a long smooth finish. Really wonderful, and wish we had more.
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2/2/2012 - ChadRS wrote: 94 Points
Super fragrant wine. As I was decanting there were strong notes of dark fruit, currant, raspberry, black cherry. That followed through to similar notes on the palate, with chocolate and some baking spice. Velvety tannins well integrated oak. Most noticeable was a finish that lingered. Decanted for an hour.
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1/31/2012 - *Vine* wrote:
Popped and poured. Dark purple/garnet, slightly hazy. Upon pouring, a pronounced perfume wafts from the glass and showcases aromas of black cherry, raspberry, crème de cassis, cedar, fresh herbs, and perhaps just a subtle hint of oak. A floral note seemingly develops with air. Medium-plus body. Wonderfully pure fruit on the palate...think black cherry, mountain berries, and currant flavors that are complimented beautifully by hints of spice from oak and even a faint impression of minerals. Perfectly balanced and so plush, with tannins never too obtrusive on the plus close. So wonderful now, yet will certainly age and improve with additional time in the cellar.
This is truly compelling Cabernet, and perhaps one of the best one can hope to find from Sonoma...awesome, ageless juice!
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1/29/2012 - JustDrinkIt wrote: 90 Points
Dark Garnet with aromas of red and black plums, spice. Round smooth tannins integrated with the red and black fruit. Very uncomplicated and a pleasing finish.
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1/11/2012 - branman1986 wrote: 92 Points
Upon opening, earthy & slightly herbal, well balanced. But with a few hours of air, some gorgeous fruit came forward. Definitely give this a 2-3 hour decant or wait another 5 years, or you'll miss the good stuff.
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12/15/2011 - JOsgood wrote:
Really big with considerable concentration and a long finish.
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12/14/2011 - EMichels wrote: 93 Points
Very nice; Good depth
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11/8/2011 - sraders wrote: 94 Points
I as sorry this was the only bottle I have. It is an impressive wine that should be good for another 10 years. One of best from Sonoma I have tasted. Great mix of fresh berries with some earthy overtones similar to leather. Tannins very well balanced. Great wine I'll try to add when I can.
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2/15/2011 - NavyGrog wrote: 93 Points
A truly world class bouquet. Opened and decanted an hour prior to dinner. Kitchen immediately, upon opening, was filled with fresh fruit. Very smooth and layered with the perfect oaky overtones. Great juice. Drinking very well, now.
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2/3/2011 - tom999s wrote: 92 Points
Opened up for 2 hours prior. Very well balanced with fruit and finish
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1/6/2011 - tom999s wrote: 93 Points
great flavors and continued to open for almost 2 hours.
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12/15/2010 - eric42 wrote: 92 Points
Nose full of cola, ripe strawberries, black licorice, and sawdust. Full wine with an extremely rich mid-palate. Tannins medium-light, some heat on finish. Most dominant flavors were milk chocolate and blueberry. Notes of sage and spicy clove. Very nice wine, drinking in a good, seemingly long window right now. Decanted 3 hours.
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1/23/2010 - pdonahue wrote: 95 Points
very deep color and seductive aromas! Great flavor of mocha and red fruit. A very good wine.
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6/15/2009 - InternationalWineReport wrote: 94 Points
Seductive mocha oak and coconut runs through the ripe blackberry and spice flavors, but this really wows you with the hints of dusty green vegetable notes. Finishing up long and ending with firm, ripe tannins. -JD94
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5/8/2008 - brianofthevine wrote: 89 Points
Black cherry and chocolate.
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1/7/2008 - brianofthevine wrote: 92 Points
Red cherry and caramel notes with subtle chocolate.
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12/26/2007 - crg wrote: 91 Points
Aromas full of fresh fruit with hints of spice. The finish was still quite tannic and this bottle should rest for at least a year.
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10/14/2007 - enosnob wrote: 94 Points
10/07/2007: Deep and dark, ruby colored wine. The nose is red fruit, earth, and clove. This is a concentrated, full bodied and multilayer wine with lots of structure and tannins, really well made. The flavor is full, rich elegant yet powerful. The finish is tannic right now and the wine should rest for a few years and then my guess is wow!
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7/23/2007 - migliore wrote:
Wow, this was a really nice, soft cab. Would have liked a little more backbone to make me think it would age a little better.
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12/1/2006 - mmyette wrote: 94 Points
Gigantic and beautiful. Enormous and voluptious. Huge and opulent fruit, full body, well balanced oak and vanilla, and a long finish. Very meaty and nice.
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