9/5/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Best Farella vintage by far

9/5/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Well worth the rating

4/5/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Great big mountain fruit. Excellent

1/29/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Man what a bottle and vintage

1/29/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Simply tremendous effort by John, Doug, Elias and Tucker too. Shared this delicious bottle with Mr Shafer last weekend. What an amazing experience.

1/29/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

One of the best wines I've ever tasted. That is until I had the 2002 vintage 30 minutes later.

1/19/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Best Super Tuscan wine I've ever had. Decanted for 4 hours and it helped immensely.

1/12/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

I decanted this wine for about two hours. This wine still has a tremendous amount of fruit in it and it was so well-balanced that after 10 years I'm pleased to say it's worth 95 points.

1/10/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Phenominal

1/10/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Spectacular effort

1/10/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

The Deem's Merlot never ceases to amaze me. Wow...what a great vintage.

1/10/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Every bit worth this rating and it's still a baby. Give it plenty of time to decant today. Dark fruit with a small hint of chocolate. Nice floral hint on the nose as well .

1/10/2013 - Share 67 wrote:

Decanted for 3 hours and it was lovely. Medium to medium-full bodied. Beautiful nose and a marvelous long finish. Tannins at this point have become very mild.

1/3/2013 - Share 67 Likes this wine:

Very good now and more bottle time will help this vintage measureably.

11/18/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

VERY pleasantly surprised. Excellent quality in all aspects.

11/18/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

This wine is truly hitting its stride now. It reminded me of the very amazing Harlan 2001. Beautifully balanced. Gorgeous nose and medium to mild tannins now.

11/1/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Agree with Shawncho....Right from start, this vintage poured beautifully from the bottle. This is one on the best kept secrets in the Valley IMO. Medium to full bodied. Delightful nose and a nice long well balanced finish.

11/1/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Well worthy of this perfect rating. Every aspect of this wine more than exceeded my expectations. Bravo!!

11/1/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

I would have to put this vintage right up there with Schrader's Old Sparky. Elegant and so well balanced with plenty of shelf life left.

10/19/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Still delicious

9/15/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

After an hour of decanting and mass quantities of bruising we agreed that the nose of this vintage was in the classic range. Very nice notes of dark cherry and plum with hints of anis and casis. The first sip was filled with classic expectation and began on the front palate with well balanced fruit fruit forward layers. But has the wine moved to mid and back palate we felt that there was almost a closed finish and was short to say the least. Honestly felt it was going to be a mirror of the 2002 vintage but it never came out of the locker room. It still is a very nice wine however it will likely take another 5 hours of decanting to smooth it out. But damn the nose was impressive.

9/7/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Outstanding but give this time

9/7/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

A delightful vintage and still drinks so well right after corking

9/7/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

This Treva vintage has aged beautifully thus far.

8/17/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Remarkable!!! THis wine improved by the sip . Beautiful nose, ballbearing texture , and exquisite layering. Wish I had 2 or 3 more.

2/28/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Rediculous

1/28/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

WOW.....If the 2002 Insignia was the Wine of the Year, the Backus Vineyard would have/should have been the runner up. I decanted 4 bottles for most of the afternoon and made sure they were served as close to 65 degrees as possible. Dark red velvet cake is the best description I can give along with a ball bearing texture all the way to the swallow. The finish was long and smooth and continued to improve with more air time between sips. It was errily similiar to its near neighbor the 2002 Hillside Select(my favorite of the vintage). Craig Williams and Tom Shelton nailed this vintage for the Joe Phelps brand. Just a shame Bill Phelps didn't recognize their talents as we consumers did a few years later. I partnered this awesome wine with a delightful roasted leg of lamb and was quite pleased with the outcome. Cheers to this wine and to Tom Shelton who's passing was so sad and unexpected 3 1/2 years ago. He was such a good friend and advocate to the growth of the quality of Napa Valley wines!!!

1/28/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Decanted 4 bottles for 2 hours and was just a little disappointed in the overall performance. I am a big fan of the Napa 2004 canernet vintage and was expecting a little more balance and fruit . The aroma was there and was quite pleasing. I enjoy Martha McClellan wine and missed the hint of dark chocolate I have tasted in Sloan and Checkerboard wine. That's not to say the Blankiet is not good. It really is nice and I believe will improve with more bottle time. It certainly complimented the beef tenderloin we served with it!!!

1/28/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Decanted 4 bottles for 6 hours and believe the time opened was well worth it. The nose had a lovely floral bouquet with hints of dark fruit(blueberry and balck cherry I would say). The taste was medium to full bodied and was beautifully balanced as it rolled to the back of the mouth. The grilled pork chops compimented this excellant vintage very well. Enjoy!!

1/28/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Delicious...decanted for about an hour and all the characteristics of an extraordinary Shafer wine began to surface. VERY smooth on the tongue and a medium to long finish. The Hillside Select drank very well with a beautifully tender braised rib. Cheers!!

1/22/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

The Mrs. And I had bottle Friday night at Ruth Chris. I was a little nervous as i had a 2003 Staglin to back it up just in case. I decanted it for about 30 minutes as we sipped a martini. Well my wife had the first sip of Flora and she went on and on about how good it was. She can be a little picky so I tried it and was blown away about how delicious it was. I gave it 97 points and believe it may have been a little better. We had a second bottle with lamb chops and it was equally impressive.

1/13/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Ths vintage is well worth decanting for at least 2 hours. I believe it will continue to improve with time.

1/13/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Very Impressive....This vintage has done very well after 10 years. Beautiful bouque. Fabulous layers of dark fruit, coacoa, and casis. And a rich long finish.

1/13/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Delicious Cabernet....not so bold but beautifully balanced and appealing nose.

1/1/2012 - Share 67 wrote:

Classic Tokalon nose. Dark fruit, chocolate and a hint of pepper. Incredibly balanced and a beautiful medium to long finish. The tannins were very soft. It's been a while since I opened my last 2001 and this wine certainly has lasted the test of time. This extraordinary wine paired very well with grilled lamb chops and consomee rice.

12/11/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Very nice but still a little too young.

12/11/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

I decanted it for about 4 hours and the nose had a beautiful dark chocolate and peppermint aroma. The taste was medium to full bodied and had a well balanced taste to it. I definitely believe the 1997 is at maturity now and will be this way for many years to come. It tasted great with risotto.

12/11/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

My wife and I shared this bottle with a lovely roasted rack of lamb and mushroom risotto. I decanted it for about 2 hours. The aroma was signature Cabernet and the fruit, balance, and finish was exquisite. It was certainly up to the task of competing with the lamb and by dinners end the wine was like red velvet cake. Phillipe Melka out did himself with this vintage.

11/17/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Great right out of the bottle....lovely texture...well balanced...long finish.....dark fruit full bodied taste.

10/2/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Best bottle yet from this incredible vintage.

9/30/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Amazing bottle from a fabulous vintage. The wine continued to open with every swirl. Classic nose and a beautiful long finish. Aging very nicely.

7/7/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Early....will be divine in time

7/7/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Out of this world

6/25/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Without a doubt one of THE most underwated wineries in Napa. Delious balance and wonderful nose.

6/25/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Superb...And the 02 Reserve was even better.....

6/25/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Great vintage...One of Foley's best IMO

6/12/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

One of Foley's best efforts. Aging beautifully.

5/28/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

This will be another classic by Barbara and the family

5/28/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

Amazing

2/24/2011 - Share 67 wrote:

I believe this would have been Mark Harold's last vintage with Buccella and maybe his best. It drank perfectly right out of the bottle and was beautifully layered and so very well balanced. Dark fruit and cocoa are strongly present and a long full bodied finish awaits. The nose is classic Cabernet and is as good as the taste. Well done Bill and Alicia