Bold, yet Soft. To me, Plum flavors dominated, Blackberry or Black Cherry (couldn't quite determine) was under the Plum. The finish was nice. Went quite well with a grilled Porterhouse, then even better in my opinion with Smoked Swiss cheese after the meal.
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Dark and intense. Initial eucalyptus note gives way to more deep berry and some chocolate. Tannins underlie the big dark fruit. Still has life ahead. Excellent.
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The color is garnet and nearly opaque with some red orange to the edge. The smells are strawberry, tar, damp earth, dark cherry, and anise. The tastes are dark cherry, licorice, damp stone, spice, vanilla, and nyquil. The tannins are still stout but sheer and dry. Nice long finish.
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Chappellet Retrospective at TexSom: One of the best wines at the entire event - the fruit was vibrant - high toned cherry and blackberry...can tell the cab franc that was added.
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Drinking beautifully with focused cassis, black olives, cedar and licorice. Fruit is mature, but still vibrant with great perfume on the nose and resolved tannins/balanced acidity.
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Purchased on release for all of $26 and has moved with us from NJ to CA and now CO. Pop and pour. Slight bricking, slighly floral and woody nose with a little stone fruit aroma too. Well-balanced and very bordeaux-like though the fruit is beginning to fall into the background, I'd drink remaining bottles in the coming 2-3 years.
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Clearly more Bordeaux style than Napa, fine tannins, solid fruit and a bit of that dustiness of an old world style wine. Still years of life left, although drinking well now.
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This really turned out to be a fun and interesting bottle of wine, consumed over a three-day period. Nice ruby-purplish color with no obvious signs of aging. Still very complex aromatically, with earthy tar, brown sugary baking spices, cedary cigar box, sage, currants and olives. Initially, the promise of the nose was dashed on the palate, which was greatly marred by an extreme tannic bitterness. In spite of this, hints of dark fruits and a very Bordeaux-like minerality lurked beneath. I recorked the bottle and put it back in the fridge, not expecting much. Two days later, the palate bitterness had all but completely faded, no longer obstructing the excellent black fruit flavors and that nice streak of minerality. Excellent balance and mouthfeel with a medium-length finish. Somewhat reminiscent of a mature St.-Emilion to me. The wine is certainly mature, but should still have several years of drinking life left if stored well.
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Popped and poured. Powerful nose; rich dark fruits, vanilla, mint, cassis. Palate is medium-bodied, with very low acidity and low tannin. Fruit seems to have faded some, as I'm just getting a skosh of tart berry. Hard to rate, as I'm not sure this will improve. Ok, but nothing special.
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Took a little while in the glass to become expressive on the nose but once it did it was very nice. The palate did not disappoint at all. Dark fruit with soft tannins and very mild acidity. This is in a good place right now but will hang out for some years to come.
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Dark red colour. Great nose showing cassis, herbs, plum, earth and some cedary notes as the wine develops with time. Elegant and medium to full bodied on the palate with ripe dark fruits and cassis flavours over savoury earthy notes and some herbs with fine grained tannins and low acidity. Medium-long finish.
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Man, this wine is a glacial ager for a Napa Cab; this thing is aging at a much more Bordeaux-like pace. Only seems appropriate from one of the Valley's most Bordelais-style reds. Even so, that rich plummy fruit could only be California. 5-10 years of life left easily; really still not at its peak yet. An outstanding effort from one of my very favorite Napa wineries.
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This was a world beater in it's youth, but might be losing a step. These wines are usually made to age, but I'm beginning to think this vintage generally, while great in it's youth, is not for the long haul.
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Bought this bottle many years ago and had stored in my eurocave exclusively until tonight. All in all I thought the wine was good, but not as good as I remember this to be. Seems to have lost a good deal of intensity and fullness. Now seems somewhat light in body and flavor. Fruits are still there and are good, just faded. Mouthfeel is fairly moderate. Something good there, but not a velvety mouth coating texture. This seems to be it way down, so if you have bottles, DRINK UP!
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Opened 2 1/2 hrs prior to drinking; not decanted. Deep, opaque-purple coloring, violets and heavy floral notes on the nose, black cherry, more flowers and oak-y saddle leather on the palate. Dry and well balanced, but lacking an added dimension or depth to push the rating of this higher. Nonetheless, this is drinking very well today, and appears to be ageing better than most other Cali cabs in this price range ($26 from winery). No rush at all here.
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Dark, extracted colour. Bouquet of black currants and mint. Flavours of cassis, dark, dusty chocolate and still noticeable oak. Concentrated and complex. Strong tannins (still), could easily age for many more years. An excellent wine. Dry Deep Earthy Ful
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1/1/2021 - lw3369 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Bold, yet Soft. To me, Plum flavors dominated, Blackberry or Black Cherry (couldn't quite determine) was under the Plum. The finish was nice. Went quite well with a grilled Porterhouse, then even better in my opinion with Smoked Swiss cheese after the meal.
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3/3/2017 - aChave Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark and intense. Initial eucalyptus note gives way to more deep berry and some chocolate. Tannins underlie the big dark fruit. Still has life ahead. Excellent.
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8/12/2014 - hackey37 wrote: 92 Points
The color is garnet and nearly opaque with some red orange to the edge. The smells are strawberry, tar, damp earth, dark cherry, and anise. The tastes are dark cherry, licorice, damp stone, spice, vanilla, and nyquil. The tannins are still stout but sheer and dry. Nice long finish.
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8/11/2014 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 95 Points
Chappellet Retrospective at TexSom: One of the best wines at the entire event - the fruit was vibrant - high toned cherry and blackberry...can tell the cab franc that was added.
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4/4/2013 - kenv Likes this wine: 93 Points
WCC 1997 California Cabernet Blind Tasting (Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY): Big smoky ripe nose. Young and sweet in the mouth. Very appealing.
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3/7/2012 - thelostverse wrote: 91 Points
Scuba brought this to a CWM dinner at Machu Picchu. Black fruits and a tiny bit of herbal notes.
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3/7/2012 - Vino Me wrote: 91 Points
CWM dinner with Paul & Stefania (Macchu Picchu Restaurant, Chicago, IL.): Scubarex brought this to the offline. Earthy and rich. Black fruit and pencil shaving notes. Showing very well for a 15 year old wine. Medium body. 91-92 points.
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4/30/2011 - GOL wrote:
Cork shredded apart but wine was great and ready to drink now
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4/25/2011 - DaddyG wrote: 94 Points
Very light tannins and strong plum, prune and black cherry notes best with food we had it with vegetarian lasagna! Or lamb
Excellent
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12/25/2010 - Nedder_travels_the_world wrote: 95 Points
killer classic napa cab - drinking beautifully.
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12/12/2010 - Marc McSorley wrote:
still good fruit. a really nice wine
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11/28/2010 - rmodak wrote: 92 Points
Drinking beautifully with focused cassis, black olives, cedar and licorice. Fruit is mature, but still vibrant with great perfume on the nose and resolved tannins/balanced acidity.
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12/25/2009 - davidandrose wrote: 90 Points
Purchased on release for all of $26 and has moved with us from NJ to CA and now CO. Pop and pour. Slight bricking, slighly floral and woody nose with a little stone fruit aroma too. Well-balanced and very bordeaux-like though the fruit is beginning to fall into the background, I'd drink remaining bottles in the coming 2-3 years.
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12/3/2009 - Forest Creek wrote: 90 Points
Clearly more Bordeaux style than Napa, fine tannins, solid fruit and a bit of that dustiness of an old world style wine. Still years of life left, although drinking well now.
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10/28/2009 - Alex G. wrote:
Smooth tannins, good grip, ample fruit, but the finish isn't particularly long nor complex. In sum: solid, but not remarkable.
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6/8/2009 - TampaDan wrote: 91 Points
This really turned out to be a fun and interesting bottle of wine, consumed over a three-day period. Nice ruby-purplish color with no obvious signs of aging. Still very complex aromatically, with earthy tar, brown sugary baking spices, cedary cigar box, sage, currants and olives. Initially, the promise of the nose was dashed on the palate, which was greatly marred by an extreme tannic bitterness. In spite of this, hints of dark fruits and a very Bordeaux-like minerality lurked beneath. I recorked the bottle and put it back in the fridge, not expecting much. Two days later, the palate bitterness had all but completely faded, no longer obstructing the excellent black fruit flavors and that nice streak of minerality. Excellent balance and mouthfeel with a medium-length finish. Somewhat reminiscent of a mature St.-Emilion to me. The wine is certainly mature, but should still have several years of drinking life left if stored well.
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11/25/2008 - ziavino wrote: 88 Points
Popped and poured. Powerful nose; rich dark fruits, vanilla, mint, cassis. Palate is medium-bodied, with very low acidity and low tannin. Fruit seems to have faded some, as I'm just getting a skosh of tart berry. Hard to rate, as I'm not sure this will improve. Ok, but nothing special.
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4/23/2008 - bwillia wrote: 90 Points
Took a little while in the glass to become expressive on the nose but once it did it was very nice. The palate did not disappoint at all. Dark fruit with soft tannins and very mild acidity. This is in a good place right now but will hang out for some years to come.
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4/22/2008 - salil wrote: 90 Points
Dark red colour. Great nose showing cassis, herbs, plum, earth and some cedary notes as the wine develops with time. Elegant and medium to full bodied on the palate with ripe dark fruits and cassis flavours over savoury earthy notes and some herbs with fine grained tannins and low acidity. Medium-long finish.
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12/20/2007 - VinoTx wrote: 91 Points
Rich and complex. Good balance of fruit, earth, and oak. Little too much tannin at the end, but still really enjoyable.
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10/20/2007 - TampaDan wrote: 91 Points
Man, this wine is a glacial ager for a Napa Cab; this thing is aging at a much more Bordeaux-like pace. Only seems appropriate from one of the Valley's most Bordelais-style reds. Even so, that rich plummy fruit could only be California. 5-10 years of life left easily; really still not at its peak yet. An outstanding effort from one of my very favorite Napa wineries.
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6/14/2007 - JScott wrote: 91 Points
Better than my last look or two. Some tannins, too. Possibly this is entering that phase where it turns from youthful fruit to mature complexity.
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4/6/2007 - gordoh wrote: 91 Points
Excellently aged Napa wine. Still full of intensity. Very nice.
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3/24/2007 - VinumCA wrote:
Gone. Over the hill. Not the same wine I remember.
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3/10/2007 - Dr. Pato wrote:
Dead. Fruit is gone. Boil down and make a reduction. I don't know why I waited to drink this.
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3/5/2007 - JScott wrote: 89 Points
Drink up
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3/2/2007 - EricBe wrote: 90 Points
Don't wait drink now. Still excellent but won't be for long.
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2/27/2007 - EricBe wrote: 90 Points
Drink now. Still good but won't last much longer.
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2/8/2007 - JScott wrote: 90 Points
This was a world beater in it's youth, but might be losing a step. These wines are usually made to age, but I'm beginning to think this vintage generally, while great in it's youth, is not for the long haul.
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12/9/2006 - agbailey wrote: 85 Points
Bought this bottle many years ago and had stored in my eurocave exclusively until tonight. All in all I thought the wine was good, but not as good as I remember this to be. Seems to have lost a good deal of intensity and fullness. Now seems somewhat light in body and flavor. Fruits are still there and are good, just faded. Mouthfeel is fairly moderate. Something good there, but not a velvety mouth coating texture. This seems to be it way down, so if you have bottles, DRINK UP!
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8/11/2006 - JScott wrote: 92 Points
This has got to be one of the better QPR's these days in California. Simply well-made wine.
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4/23/2005 - davidandrose wrote: 90 Points
Opened 2 1/2 hrs prior to drinking; not decanted. Deep, opaque-purple coloring, violets and heavy floral notes on the nose, black cherry, more flowers and oak-y saddle leather on the palate. Dry and well balanced, but lacking an added dimension or depth to push the rating of this higher. Nonetheless, this is drinking very well today, and appears to be ageing better than most other Cali cabs in this price range ($26 from winery). No rush at all here.
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12/8/2003 - cybergod wrote: 92 Points
Dark, extracted colour. Bouquet of black currants and mint. Flavours of cassis, dark, dusty chocolate and still noticeable oak. Concentrated and complex. Strong tannins (still), could easily age for many more years. An excellent wine. Dry Deep Earthy Ful
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