tasted blind great fruit, classy, very new world but without the serious oomph of a top year, my companions found it on the weak side, but i couldnt stop gushing about how lovely it was. and then they accused it of being Burgundian! but, i must say it had real power with a sense of weightlessness. Also notable was a hint of barnyard, with tannins still quite present ; while i think this is snack-dab in its drinking window, i see no sign of it fading anytime soon. perhaps i need to seek out off-vintage Bryant.
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My first experience with this producer, so wasn't sure what to expect. I bought this at auction after seeing positive CT scores! This community was not wrong, this wine is really great right now. Classic and elegant old Napa, you could throw this into a blind tasting of similarly priced 90s Bordeaux and surprise a lot of people I'd think.
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This is showing brilliantly now. Mature, but not fully so, there is more positive evolution ahead. A smooth, rich wine, with great class and complexity. Good acidity, with firm yet silky tannins which hold the wine together very well. Surprised me as to how good it was, and I’d put this in front of the 1994 now. There is another 15-20 years of great drinking ahead with this wine.
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I drank this bottle partly out of concern that it would soon be past its prime. In fact, while it may not improve, it is delicious at this mature stage. The flavors tend toward dark fruits, blueberry, and it has a chewy, leathery texture after two hours of decanting and some time in the glass.
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I wasn't expecting much here but this has aged nicely and was not overly jammy. Softened with time it shows an elegant style of aged Cab with lingering flavors of blackberry and licorice. Not all that complex but quite silky and smooth with a lovely minty flavor on the finish.
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At a table full of Napa Valley pundits, this showed surprisingly well. It has aged beautifully and showed delicious black fruits accented by eucalyptus, licorice and boysenberry. A fairly full wine but the finish is refined and complex with notes of dark spices and violets. Only the second vintage of BF and made perhaps just before Napa Valley vintners went off the deep end.
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I was struck with a moment of panic when I first opened this bottle. The cork had a very fruity smell, almost like raisins. I was worried that the bottle may have been flawed or over the hill but that fortunately was not the case. I let the wine breathe in bottle for an hour and then decanted for an hour. This wine just got better with air and really opened up. The nose is fantastic and powerful. Very full wine but with minimal alcohol. Really easy to drink with just enough tannins on the long finish. I wish this wasn't my last bottle! A fantastic wine.
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Amazing nose of cranberries, mint, cinnamon and cherry pit. The palate has tart berries, some dried beef and tobacco. It glides through the tongue and surprisingly there are some drying tannins still. A bit over the fruit hill for me but delicious nonetheless.
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New Year's Eve dinner. Decanted for 30 minutes. Wonderful in all aspects. Color dark clear. Aroma you can sense from a distance. Well aged California cab with flavors of dark fruit, boysenberry, cassis, and very little if any toasted oak. Long finish. Wish I had more. Looking forward to try 1994-97 bottles we have in cellar.
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At home with ex-Nobu chef Tom Bascon: Came after Jadot Clos St Jacques '90 and Palmer '83...Opened for 4 hours before first pour. Color was deep, opaque crimson. Nose was classic Napa notes - black fruit and vanilla. First sip confirmed the bigness of the wine despite its being close to 20 years. Some oakiness peeps out. Grippy and long. Still somewhat lacking in integration but all of the elements are there and I expect this to come together soon and when it does, this should come close to outstanding. This is classic Napa Cab and not pretending to be anything else. Delicious nevertheless.
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I was underwhelmed by this wine. It seemed to be missing something. Maybe it is not ready yet by the taste did not live up to the wonderful nose. I'll take a good Bordeaux or a Rhone over this any day.
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Terrific and very drinkable right now. Dark red in color with aromas of currant, leather, spice and cherry. Flavors of dried cranberry, cherries with a creamy mouthfeel. Just a terrific well aged wine that is worth every penny. The best Bryant I have ever had.
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(Cult California Cabernet tasting @ Martin Weiner’s) For me, the 1993 Bryant was the wine of the night. Very similar to the 1997 Bryant, but just a peg below. The wine had a cloudy, deep purple color. Bouquet of sweet, dark fruit and lavender. The flavors change with each sip – sweet tannins with sweet blue fruit, lavender and briar. The fruit dominates the flavors (not in a bad way), but the secondary flavors follow through nicely. This elegant wine is beautifully balanced. Amazing stuff! Drink now as this wine is starting its downward slide. I can’t see this getting any better from where it is now.
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1994 and 1997 California Cabernet Retrospective (Chicago, IL): Tends towards darker fruits with some red undercurrents. Full on the palate, but falls off to too much alcohol on the finish. Very concentrated. A bit candied. Better than my last bottle of this. Rated 17/20.
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Still a very culty feel to this, with flashy, delicious, dark fruit notes. Huge disconnect between the fruit and structure - while the former is forward and abundant, the latter has largely faded, to the point where it offers no support for the wine. Enjoyable for its fruit, but clearly time to drink and without the stuffing it once had.
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One of my all time favorite Cali Cabs. This wine answers all of the question about wether or not these wines age. This bottle looks just like I remember it., like a blueberry pie.
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Outstanding wine in every way, the wine was smooth, great structure, velvet on the palete, evoked more in each glass as it opened. Didn't decant. my WOTY...
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Blind tasting follies - Bryant, Sloan, Pride, Abreu and Skyhawk(??): Blind: Weird, fishy taste. Didn't like much of anything about the wine. 82 points is generous, but don't want to offend anyone. Hope I didn't bring it! <60 After reveal: group score 87.6 A few people liked it, but most felt it was a weak wine in the flight. No one thought it was corked or an off bottle, but who knows?
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Just delicous. Wine has soften with time and much more apprachable paired with food. Wonderful nose of dark fruit with hints of tobacco. Big and heavy mouthfeel with good structure and little tannins. You couldn't hardly pick up and traces of earthiness to this wine... it could still use more age to enhance its complexity. A definate good wine but not the best comparted to the 97 vintage!
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Oh, the generosity... (Duff's Restaurant, St. Louis, MO): Black cherry, cassis, coffee nose. Lush mouthfeel with all of the tannins pretty much integrated. Very tasty wine. To pick nits, this was a bit simple and the finish was a little short -- but, that's being picky. It really is in a much better place than the Maya from a drinkability perspective.
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9/3/2022 - soyhead wrote:
tasted blind
great fruit, classy, very new world but without the serious oomph of a top year, my companions found it on the weak side, but i couldnt stop gushing about how lovely it was. and then they accused it of being Burgundian! but, i must say it had real power with a sense of weightlessness. Also notable was a hint of barnyard, with tannins still quite present ; while i think this is snack-dab in its drinking window, i see no sign of it fading anytime soon. perhaps i need to seek out off-vintage Bryant.
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10/30/2021 - bsbrown05 Likes this wine: 94 Points
PnP. Ready to go. Bouquet of a pure left bank Bordeaux, and if blinded, would have been difficult to discern a difference.
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10/2/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 96 Points
My first experience with this producer, so wasn't sure what to expect. I bought this at auction after seeing positive CT scores! This community was not wrong, this wine is really great right now. Classic and elegant old Napa, you could throw this into a blind tasting of similarly priced 90s Bordeaux and surprise a lot of people I'd think.
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6/26/2020 - Formerwinemaker Likes this wine: 97 Points
This is showing brilliantly now. Mature, but not fully so, there is more positive evolution ahead. A smooth, rich wine, with great class and complexity. Good acidity, with firm yet silky tannins which hold the wine together very well. Surprised me as to how good it was, and I’d put this in front of the 1994 now. There is another 15-20 years of great drinking ahead with this wine.
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11/10/2018 - feerjfk Likes this wine: 95 Points
I drank this bottle partly out of concern that it would soon be past its prime. In fact, while it may not improve, it is delicious at this mature stage. The flavors tend toward dark fruits, blueberry, and it has a chewy, leathery texture after two hours of decanting and some time in the glass.
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9/22/2018 - Old Vino Likes this wine: 94 Points
delicious. fully mature. no sign of age-related decline, but doubt it will pick up more depth with additional cellaring. drink up.
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5/30/2018 - dream Likes this wine: 91 Points
I wasn't expecting much here but this has aged nicely and was not overly jammy. Softened with time it shows an elegant style of aged Cab with lingering flavors of blackberry and licorice. Not all that complex but quite silky and smooth with a lovely minty flavor on the finish.
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12/9/2016 - gejohnston Likes this wine: 95 Points
My first Bryant and it lived up to the hype. Amazing example of a Napa classic.
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3/22/2016 - Old Vino wrote: 92 Points
Fully mature may be past its peak drink up. Enjoyable.
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2/4/2016 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
At a table full of Napa Valley pundits, this showed surprisingly well. It has aged beautifully and showed delicious black fruits accented by eucalyptus, licorice and boysenberry. A fairly full wine but the finish is refined and complex with notes of dark spices and violets. Only the second vintage of BF and made perhaps just before Napa Valley vintners went off the deep end.
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2/18/2015 - duke9919 Likes this wine: 94 Points
I was struck with a moment of panic when I first opened this bottle. The cork had a very fruity smell, almost like raisins. I was worried that the bottle may have been flawed or over the hill but that fortunately was not the case. I let the wine breathe in bottle for an hour and then decanted for an hour. This wine just got better with air and really opened up. The nose is fantastic and powerful. Very full wine but with minimal alcohol. Really easy to drink with just enough tannins on the long finish. I wish this wasn't my last bottle! A fantastic wine.
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5/11/2014 - Uglypinga Likes this wine:
Amazing nose of cranberries, mint, cinnamon and cherry pit. The palate has tart berries, some dried beef and tobacco. It glides through the tongue and surprisingly there are some drying tannins still. A bit over the fruit hill for me but delicious nonetheless.
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4/23/2013 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drink up. Great bottle, but past its peak for my taste. Still held on to some gorgeous fruit, but wish I had drank 2-3 years ago. Still loved it.
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12/31/2012 - Old Vino Likes this wine: 96 Points
New Year's Eve dinner. Decanted for 30 minutes. Wonderful in all aspects. Color dark clear. Aroma you can sense from a distance. Well aged California cab with flavors of dark fruit, boysenberry, cassis, and very little if any toasted oak. Long finish. Wish I had more. Looking forward to try 1994-97 bottles we have in cellar.
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7/11/2012 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION Likes this wine: 95 Points
Moderate fruit, big leather, big earth, long mouthfeel. In the last stretch.
See more detail at
http://maximumsatisfaction.tumblr.com/post/27030151521
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1/21/2012 - Madaboutwine wrote: 92 Points
At home with ex-Nobu chef Tom Bascon: Came after Jadot Clos St Jacques '90 and Palmer '83...Opened for 4 hours before first pour. Color was deep, opaque crimson. Nose was classic Napa notes - black fruit and vanilla. First sip confirmed the bigness of the wine despite its being close to 20 years. Some oakiness peeps out. Grippy and long. Still somewhat lacking in integration but all of the elements are there and I expect this to come together soon and when it does, this should come close to outstanding. This is classic Napa Cab and not pretending to be anything else. Delicious nevertheless.
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9/2/2010 - rdfech01 wrote: 93 Points
Still going strong. Cherry/blueberry fruit, fully integrated tanin. Still a favorite.
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7/24/2010 - allenAchilles wrote: 89 Points
I was underwhelmed by this wine. It seemed to be missing something. Maybe it is not ready yet by the taste did not live up to the wonderful nose. I'll take a good Bordeaux or a Rhone over this any day.
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11/11/2009 - rwstorer wrote: 95 Points
Terrific and very drinkable right now. Dark red in color with aromas of currant, leather, spice and cherry. Flavors of dried cranberry, cherries with a creamy mouthfeel. Just a terrific well aged wine that is worth every penny. The best Bryant I have ever had.
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9/25/2009 - rthun wrote: 99 Points
(Cult California Cabernet tasting @ Martin Weiner’s) For me, the 1993 Bryant was the wine of the night. Very similar to the 1997 Bryant, but just a peg below. The wine had a cloudy, deep purple color. Bouquet of sweet, dark fruit and lavender. The flavors change with each sip – sweet tannins with sweet blue fruit, lavender and briar. The fruit dominates the flavors (not in a bad way), but the secondary flavors follow through nicely. This elegant wine is beautifully balanced. Amazing stuff! Drink now as this wine is starting its downward slide. I can’t see this getting any better from where it is now.
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4/28/2009 - psmith wrote:
1994 and 1997 California Cabernet Retrospective (Chicago, IL): Tends towards darker fruits with some red undercurrents. Full on the palate, but falls off to too much alcohol on the finish. Very concentrated. A bit candied. Better than my last bottle of this. Rated 17/20.
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2/28/2009 - psmith wrote:
Still a very culty feel to this, with flashy, delicious, dark fruit notes. Huge disconnect between the fruit and structure - while the former is forward and abundant, the latter has largely faded, to the point where it offers no support for the wine. Enjoyable for its fruit, but clearly time to drink and without the stuffing it once had.
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10/2/2008 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 97 Points
One of my all time favorite Cali Cabs. This wine answers all of the question about wether or not these wines age. This bottle looks just like I remember it., like a blueberry pie.
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7/3/2008 - RWilkinson wrote:
Outstanding wine in every way, the wine was smooth, great structure, velvet on the palete, evoked more in each glass as it opened. Didn't decant. my WOTY...
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1/14/2007 - buckeye76 wrote: 97 Points
RICH BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS, AND BLACK CHERRIES IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR. GREAT COMPLEXITY AND A VERY LONG FINISH.
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2/19/2006 - Greg W wrote: 82 Points
Blind tasting follies - Bryant, Sloan, Pride, Abreu and Skyhawk(??): Blind: Weird, fishy taste. Didn't like much of anything about the wine. 82 points is generous, but don't want to offend anyone. Hope I didn't bring it! <60 After reveal: group score 87.6 A few people liked it, but most felt it was a weak wine in the flight. No one thought it was corked or an off bottle, but who knows?
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11/12/2005 - jhngo wrote: 96 Points
Just delicous. Wine has soften with time and much more apprachable paired with food. Wonderful nose of dark fruit with hints of tobacco. Big and heavy mouthfeel with good structure and little tannins. You couldn't hardly pick up and traces of earthiness to this wine... it could still use more age to enhance its complexity. A definate good wine but not the best comparted to the 97 vintage!
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6/23/2005 - BordeauxNut wrote:
Oh, the generosity... (Duff's Restaurant, St. Louis, MO): Black cherry, cassis, coffee nose. Lush mouthfeel with all of the tannins pretty much integrated. Very tasty wine. To pick nits, this was a bit simple and the finish was a little short -- but, that's being picky. It really is in a much better place than the Maya from a drinkability perspective.
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9/25/1999 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
Great Cult Tasting: Sweet fruit, but not as lush as the 94 or 95 versions. A bit of a distracting tartness.
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