2018 Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 97.3 points

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  12/26/2023 - iamandyc Likes this wine: 98 Points

  In a Christmas Eve cab lineup which included 2004 Rocca Yountville, 2016 Carter The O.G. and 2012 VHR. All these wines were so different but each amazing in their own way -- all required 2-8 hours of double decanting to reach their max potential on this night.
  A stunning complete wine and the best of this lineup. Needed the longest decant (8 hours - no slow ox) to open up and integrate its components. This had the best nose of the bunch. it had tremendous energy on the palate and on the very very long finish. Depth of dark fruit was awesome. I believe that with age this could approach perfection with some additional complexity (there are earthy notes as well as bitter chocolate) and some additional harmonization of the energy the wine emits at this stage.

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  10/15/2023 - bsumoba Likes this wine: 96 Points

  No formal notes. Just impressions. H2H with Vice Versa Dr. Crane. Judging purely off of which one got consumed the earliest, Vice Versa was the more popular wine tonight. That being said, both were phenomenal and both bottles were out before the steaks were finished by the habachi guy who came for a friend's 40th birthday. In terms of treatment prior to drinking, the VV was ready to go out the shoot while the MM needed a 2 hour double decant back into bottle prior to the dinner. I cheated and coravin poured myself an ounce to make sure the wine was good and to determine if any needed additional decanting, etc.

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  5/28/2022 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 97 Points

  Aromas of fresh violets, wet stone, blueberries, and olive tapenade. Pure and precise, this wine is showing great focus from a vineyard known for its expressive and expansive fruit. Medium to full bodied with amazing blue fruit, it is wonderfully balanced and fresh with fine grained sweet tannin and a finish for days.

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  3/3/2022 - sean7711 wrote: 96 Points

  Dr. Crane showdown between the 2018 MM and the 2019 Vice Versa. The VV showed a bit better, but the MM is no slouch. Both were decanted about 3 hours at ~62° before serving and drank closer to room temperature throughout the night.
  
  Ruby colored, a bit of spicy oak (to borrow a descriptor from WBW), this was a great wine. Give it some air and it's in a nice place. Nose was sweet dark cherries, cassis, and vanilla.
  
  Glad I have 1 more bottle of this!

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  8/22/2021 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 97 Points

  Nose: [58°+] A blend of sweet black fruit and forest floor, fresh clean bare oak like felling a tree and leaving its trunk, beautiful perfume of flowers planted near a river with a bunch of stone and pebbles. Over the 6 hour mark, the nose shows the crushed and macerated dark purple and black fruits I love so much. [°]
  
  Palate: [58°-62°] A dark sweetness from black and dark blue fruits with a deep damp earthy component, spiced oak (eventually calms with lots of air time), black mulch and pleasantly sweet fruited steeped tea and soft minerals on the finish.
  
  Attributes: Clear dark ruby. Dry with medium amounts of grainy, chewy tannin. Medium body with medium to medium-plus acidity. Good finish of at least 18 seconds.
  
  Thoughts: Eureka! Shout out to the wine gods for giving me this opportunity to see what all the hype is about for MM. I can't say the same for the last two night's bottlings but most likely those just need time is all (I know, duh moment - I see a bunch of you with your arms crossed, slowly shaking your heads at me.. please don't judge me). What makes this good is that the flavors are almost concentrated but not heavy which is nice. The LPV and blend I had the previous nights seems like it was going for that but it's just not quite there yet, but will probably get there with time. This needs plenty of air time if you're trying to enjoy this now, otherwise wait for another 4-5 years. Happily killed this bottle. 97 tonight and this will definitely get better with time.
  
  Other notes: Bordeaux glass. Emptied bottle into a decanter at cellar temp ~55° for 4 hours before serving, continued to decant while consumed over another 5 hours (total 9hrs). Recommend serving ~62°-64° with a decant of at least 6 hours at cellar temp if opening now or cellar for 4-5 years.

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