Napa 2023: the quieter version; 2/6/2023-2/11/2023 (Napa/Sonoma California): I had really hoped that this would have a nice showing as we were with someone from Bryant for lunch and then the bottle seemed to be in a great spot. Very lovely dark style of wine. Very integrated with good secondary notes showing through. Lots of life. Overall I was quite happy with it.
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served 2 hours and 15 minutes after decanting. Nose was soooo fragrant, with mint, tobacco, pencil lead. Soft and rounded on the palate, with a touch of sweetness. Opened up to show a huge nose with leather and a hint of green pepper. Absolutely fantastic.
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Remarkable nose of dark cherry, red berries and cassis. Tobacco, spicebox and gravel. The palate feel is seamless, sexy and polished with powdery soft tannin. Black cherry, red berries and dried blueberries. Sweet Maduro tobacco and spicebox. Finish is reminiscent of a top notch pessac with gavel, tobacco and bright red fruit notes.
The low abv of this early era at Bryant is tremendous. Top flight Pritchard Hill cabernet.
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Surprisingly deep, jammy fruit in this 25 year old Cabernet, blueberries, blackberries, black cherries and a touch of mint in the nose. Blackberries and black currants in the flavor. Nice complexity, well balanced, and a long smooth finish. This inaugural vintage of Bryant Family surpassed our expectations given the modest scores in the wine press.
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deep, deep color. cherry & spice box nose. needs 2 hrs in decanter. complex, long finish. 1 glass left & saved for next day. very smooth. Can go anothger five yrs, but nice now
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Second of two of that vintage, both corks were breached. Came out kind of tannic and lacking fruit, but balanced OK after about half an hour in the decanter. Not what I was hoping for after a good bottle last time. Drinkable, but nothing special.
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My surprise of the night. I was hopeful, but a bit skeptical given the timing and the Last Bottle provenance. Turns out nothing to be worried about. Opened prob 30 minutes before consumption and decanted and this wine just got better throughout the night. There was this flavor - more on the savory side, very interesting and delicious, that I tried to identify, but not exactly sure what it was. It was maybe a salty buttery uname (sp?) flavor. I enjoyed it more than I expected and I ended up drinking the extras at the table.
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Blueberry, cassis, and a little forest floor on nose. Decanted. Everything from beginning to end showed this wine was past it's prime. Enjoyable as it showed its past goodness. My bad I should have had years ago. A lone bottle that got lost.
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Deep inky black purple. Aromas of cassis and blueberry, with just a hint of something a bit funky and off-putting. Full bodied, silky, rich with a very long finish -- seemed years younger than its vintage. On the palate round red fruit and cassis -- however, on the mid-palate, the hint of funkiness I picked up in the nose came through like earthy peat moss, in an unpleasant way. I was hoping this would blow off, but it persisted. The wine was so full and well structured that it remained drinkable, but not up to the level of what this wine should be. I'll pull another bottle and compare sometime soon.
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This was a miracle. I thought the cork had been breached years ago and never had the courage to open. Did so last night, and cork was completely soaked (pulled out with tongs) with sticky capsule. But low and behold, wine was excellent, especially after decanting an hour. Round, fruity, good secondary flavors and finish, but not flabby or bricked at all. Can't pass judgement on future bottles, but this was suprisingly good.
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We drank two bottles of this wine tonight. Both corks looked suspicious, and each was very different, but quite lovely in their own way. One was much heavier than the other, and the lighter one seemed less mature. But both were excellent.
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13.4% alcohol. Served blind. Had been double decanted. Very pretty red color with bricking at the edge of the glass. Stunning bouquet that is pure Cabernet. It has plenty of fruit, black currant and a lighter fruit element that borders on red, but also sumptuous layers of complexity -- earth, tobacco, cedar. In the mouth, this really reminded me of Premier Cru Bordeaux from a vintage like 1993 or 1994. It wasn't fiercely concentrated, but it had beautiful elegance and was just texturally stunning. The flavors are so pure and unfold with layer after layer of currant fruit, earthy complexity, tobacco, and some minerals. The striking thing was how beautiful all these elements worked together. The balance was impeccable. There was such a textural element to the wine, velvety and balanced in the mouth, with each flavor pure and true. There could have been a bit more concentration to make it truly profound, but this is a wine that grows in memory. The finish was slightly short, and if I have one quibble it would be that one might ask for more on the finish. A fabulous wine. A-/A
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Unbelievable that this is a 15 year old wine. Tight but unwinds over the next two hours with black olives, cloves, mushrooms, sweet tobacco, currant, black cherries, and graphite. Just an incredible wine with it's best years ahead of it. I've had several 92's (my son's birth year) and this is by far showing the youngest. I'd hold this wine until its 20th.
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The very best cab I have ever had to date. Deep inky color, the nose knocked my socks off, pure silk in the mouth, the finish lasted days... or so it seemed.
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From the onset, I thought this wine was going to fail me. A faded corroded capsule, signs of leakage gave me signs that this wine wasn't going to live up to its namesake. Tasted right after opening, it was flat dead and lifeless. All I got was of cooked fruits and a hot finish. But as it breathed and relaxed more, it gained a powerful youthful quality that most 92's won't show. Most California wines do not age well at all. They deteriorate quickly into earthy gritty wines. This one however was big bold fresh and slightly tannic. It had life and legs after 2 hours into the night. The big round fruit was still kicking. A youthful surprisingly strong finish still lingered. This vintage was a true classic wine in all senses. I ask others in our community to add more commentary to this particular vintage.
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Going back and entering old tasting notes I came across this amazing experience--a Saturday Draeger's tasting in Menlo Park, 2 ounce pour of '92 Bryant for $5! I had it written down as "leather, tannins, yet smooth"... Ahhh, the old days!
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9/22/2023 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Spicy, purple fruit, cassis, chocolate, soft, linear, dimensional with good texture. Did not last long, however. 93-94
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2/26/2023 - mcwinecellar1 Likes this wine: 98 Points
This is drinking fabulous. Bordeaux profile. Just wonderful.
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2/10/2023 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Napa 2023: the quieter version; 2/6/2023-2/11/2023 (Napa/Sonoma California): I had really hoped that this would have a nice showing as we were with someone from Bryant for lunch and then the bottle seemed to be in a great spot. Very lovely dark style of wine. Very integrated with good secondary notes showing through. Lots of life. Overall I was quite happy with it.
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9/12/2022 - Peech Likes this wine: 98 Points
served 2 hours and 15 minutes after decanting. Nose was soooo fragrant, with mint, tobacco, pencil lead. Soft and rounded on the palate, with a touch of sweetness. Opened up to show a huge nose with leather and a hint of green pepper. Absolutely fantastic.
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5/25/2022 - G_H wrote: 93 Points
Mature napa when opened and quite delicious for the first hour, but quite delicate as it faded quite quickly thereafter. Drink up (with pleasure)
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3/5/2022 - RockinCabs wrote: 96 Points
Remarkable nose of dark cherry, red berries and cassis. Tobacco, spicebox and gravel. The palate feel is seamless, sexy and polished with powdery soft tannin. Black cherry, red berries and dried blueberries. Sweet Maduro tobacco and spicebox. Finish is reminiscent of a top notch pessac with gavel, tobacco and bright red fruit notes.
The low abv of this early era at Bryant is tremendous. Top flight Pritchard Hill cabernet.
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2/26/2017 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Surprisingly deep, jammy fruit in this 25 year old Cabernet, blueberries, blackberries, black cherries and a touch of mint in the nose. Blackberries and black currants in the flavor. Nice complexity, well balanced, and a long smooth finish. This inaugural vintage of Bryant Family surpassed our expectations given the modest scores in the wine press.
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2/16/2017 - barrytaylor Likes this wine: 96 Points
deep, deep color. cherry & spice box nose. needs 2 hrs in decanter. complex, long finish. 1 glass left & saved for next day. very smooth. Can go anothger five yrs, but nice now
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3/26/2016 - levinml wrote: 90 Points
Second of two of that vintage, both corks were breached. Came out kind of tannic and lacking fruit, but balanced OK after about half an hour in the decanter. Not what I was hoping for after a good bottle last time. Drinkable, but nothing special.
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2/6/2015 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
My surprise of the night. I was hopeful, but a bit skeptical given the timing and the Last Bottle provenance. Turns out nothing to be worried about. Opened prob 30 minutes before consumption and decanted and this wine just got better throughout the night. There was this flavor - more on the savory side, very interesting and delicious, that I tried to identify, but not exactly sure what it was. It was maybe a salty buttery uname (sp?) flavor. I enjoyed it more than I expected and I ended up drinking the extras at the table.
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1/8/2015 - scmoore99 wrote:
Blueberry, cassis, and a little forest floor on nose. Decanted. Everything from beginning to end showed this wine was past it's prime. Enjoyable as it showed its past goodness. My bad I should have had years ago. A lone bottle that got lost.
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1/3/2014 - zenwinemaster wrote: 89 Points
Deep inky black purple. Aromas of cassis and blueberry, with just a hint of something a bit funky and off-putting. Full bodied, silky, rich with a very long finish -- seemed years younger than its vintage. On the palate round red fruit and cassis -- however, on the mid-palate, the hint of funkiness I picked up in the nose came through like earthy peat moss, in an unpleasant way. I was hoping this would blow off, but it persisted. The wine was so full and well structured that it remained drinkable, but not up to the level of what this wine should be. I'll pull another bottle and compare sometime soon.
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11/1/2013 - wa2ofd wrote: 95 Points
92 Bryant sublime.... Red fruit cherry on nose, typical culty sweetness on attack...subdued Taninins w/medium finish...much better than 94...
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5/19/2013 - levinml wrote: 93 Points
This was a miracle. I thought the cork had been breached years ago and never had the courage to open. Did so last night, and cork was completely soaked (pulled out with tongs) with sticky capsule. But low and behold, wine was excellent, especially after decanting an hour. Round, fruity, good secondary flavors and finish, but not flabby or bricked at all. Can't pass judgement on future bottles, but this was suprisingly good.
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3/9/2010 - SkyCellar Likes this wine: 93 Points
We drank two bottles of this wine tonight. Both corks looked suspicious, and each was very different, but quite lovely in their own way. One was much heavier than the other, and the lighter one seemed less mature. But both were excellent.
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11/22/2009 - shaferguy91 wrote: 93 Points
Wonderful cab with a lot of time left.
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12/17/2008 - gutt22 wrote:
13.4% alcohol. Served blind. Had been double decanted. Very pretty red color with bricking at the edge of the glass. Stunning bouquet that is pure Cabernet. It has plenty of fruit, black currant and a lighter fruit element that borders on red, but also sumptuous layers of complexity -- earth, tobacco, cedar. In the mouth, this really reminded me of Premier Cru Bordeaux from a vintage like 1993 or 1994. It wasn't fiercely concentrated, but it had beautiful elegance and was just texturally stunning. The flavors are so pure and unfold with layer after layer of currant fruit, earthy complexity, tobacco, and some minerals. The striking thing was how beautiful all these elements worked together. The balance was impeccable. There was such a textural element to the wine, velvety and balanced in the mouth, with each flavor pure and true. There could have been a bit more concentration to make it truly profound, but this is a wine that grows in memory. The finish was slightly short, and if I have one quibble it would be that one might ask for more on the finish. A fabulous wine. A-/A
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4/6/2008 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 92 Points
Very dark purple color. Still rich and luxurious on the nose but starting to show some secondary aromatics like cassis and cigar box. Long fininsh.
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11/14/2007 - babnik wrote: 95 Points
Unbelievable that this is a 15 year old wine. Tight but unwinds over the next two hours with black olives, cloves, mushrooms, sweet tobacco, currant, black cherries, and graphite. Just an incredible wine with it's best years ahead of it. I've had several 92's (my son's birth year) and this is by far showing the youngest. I'd hold this wine until its 20th.
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3/12/2007 - DTWOB wrote: 98 Points
The very best cab I have ever had to date. Deep inky color, the nose knocked my socks off, pure silk in the mouth, the finish lasted days... or so it seemed.
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11/28/2005 - jhngo wrote: 96 Points
From the onset, I thought this wine was going to fail me. A faded corroded capsule, signs of leakage gave me signs that this wine wasn't going to live up to its namesake. Tasted right after opening, it was flat dead and lifeless. All I got was of cooked fruits and a hot finish. But as it breathed and relaxed more, it gained a powerful youthful quality that most 92's won't show. Most California wines do not age well at all. They deteriorate quickly into earthy gritty wines. This one however was big bold fresh and slightly tannic. It had life and legs after 2 hours into the night. The big round fruit was still kicking. A youthful surprisingly strong finish still lingered. This vintage was a true classic wine in all senses. I ask others in our community to add more commentary to this particular vintage.
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7/2/1995 - danstrings wrote: 92 Points
Going back and entering old tasting notes I came across this amazing experience--a Saturday Draeger's tasting in Menlo Park, 2 ounce pour of '92 Bryant for $5! I had it written down as "leather, tannins, yet smooth"... Ahhh, the old days!
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