Concentrated and dense. Still need some time to release the fruit from the tannin wrapping and hit the sweet spot. Give it 2-3 more years of aging and it is going to be amazing wine.
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Dark, opaque, indigo in color. Dark cherry, blackberry, coffee, anise and nutmeg on the palate. Bold and fruit forward, full bodied with grippy tannins. Medium finish. This improves significantly with a 4 hour decant. Although this is certainly within the drinking window, significant air is needed to tame the tannins. Really nice with a mushroom covered tenderloin.
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Definite improvement over our prior bottle four years ago. More ready to drink without significant air. Big and bold, typical Diamond Mountain characteristics. Still early in its life.
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Full of dark black and blue fruit with quite a bit of oaky vanilla on the palate. A very good wine on its own but compared to two bottles of Diamond Creek, this was a bit one dimensional. Still plenty of tannin so this could improve over the next 4 or 5 years.
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Drinking really well right now. Has mellowed out a bunch, and will likely be even better in 1-2 years. Decanted about an hour. Tannins have softened a bit and are not overpowering, but they are still there giving the wine structure. Huge fruit. Dark / black cherry. Massive vanilla on the nose that lasts through the long long finish. Fun wine.
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Dense black Wait! This is dense rich stuff. Upon opening this is dusty dry stuff that starts opening after and hour to rich fruit, dusty leathery tannins, burnt sassafras. Seems quite a wine... for the future
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Dark inky purple, boysenberry, black currant, mocha, vanilla bean and black cherry on the nose, a mouthful on the attack with dark berry fruit, black tea, graphite, iron, velvety tannins and juicy acidity, long complex finish with earthy dark fruit, black plum, Asian spice, black tea and so much more
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Brought to restaurant so did not decant. Disappointing at first too overpowering not balanced. Second glass more drinkable. Minimum two (2) hours in decanter might improve overall experience. I hope...
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Knew this one needed a decant but tried it when first opened anyway, it was really biting. Five hour decant really smoothed it out. Nice big cab with typical Diamond Mountain ripe fruit characteristics. Will wait a few years on our remaining bottles.
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Similar to my previous tasting notes, although the tannins are biting tonight and the wine isn't as accessible. I like this wine, but the QPR isn't terrific. The gem of the Cliff Lede wine club is really the "Rock Block" wine. Sadly this year they raised the price by 15%, while also deciding not to give the club discount on the BTK Cab. I've soured a bit on the value of the club.
This has a stronger mineral and acid backbone than some of the other CL wines. Nicely balanced, smooth texture for a young wine, but typical for the '12 vintage.
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This wine is so young, I popped and poured and it was tight as a chinese finger trap. Still tasty, but nothing to write home about. I re-corked it and poured out the rest the next evening and the wine had really transformed into a smooth beautiful bouquet. Much more integrated and with great depth of flavor! Moral of the story - either let this sit or decant for 2+ hours.
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I was totally unfair to this wine. I received it today from UPS, and promptly popped and poured it at our favorite restaurant. Bottle shock be damned. That said, I was pretty impressed. It's a beautiful wine, with a terrific nose, bountiful concentration and a very nice long finish. Actually, much better than I expected, as I see this is one of the few single vineyards that Cliff Lede doesn't seem to send to Advocate (Parker) for ratings. At this point, I believe it is drinking much better than the Howell Mountain, but it will certainly get better with age. Another couple years and I think this is 94-95 points if it evolves. I find Cliff Lede to be one of the better high production wineries out there, and I think their wine club is one of the few worth joining if you love Stag's Leap cabernet.
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5/14/2024 - Winiac wrote: 93 Points
Concentrated and dense. Still need some time to release the fruit from the tannin wrapping and hit the sweet spot. Give it 2-3 more years of aging and it is going to be amazing wine.
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5/16/2021 - Heff#1 Likes this wine: 91 Points
A fine 9 year old Napa cab. Smooth. Understated. Balanced.
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11/21/2020 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark, opaque, indigo in color. Dark cherry, blackberry, coffee, anise and nutmeg on the palate. Bold and fruit forward, full bodied with grippy tannins. Medium finish. This improves significantly with a 4 hour decant. Although this is certainly within the drinking window, significant air is needed to tame the tannins. Really nice with a mushroom covered tenderloin.
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11/14/2020 - Coachron13 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Definite improvement over our prior bottle four years ago. More ready to drink without significant air. Big and bold, typical Diamond Mountain characteristics. Still early in its life.
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4/30/2020 - Sulfur16 wrote: 96 Points
Superb!
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12/24/2018 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 88 Points
Full of dark black and blue fruit with quite a bit of oaky vanilla on the palate. A very good wine on its own but compared to two bottles of Diamond Creek, this was a bit one dimensional. Still plenty of tannin so this could improve over the next 4 or 5 years.
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11/23/2018 - RossiRosso Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking really well right now. Has mellowed out a bunch, and will likely be even better in 1-2 years. Decanted about an hour. Tannins have softened a bit and are not overpowering, but they are still there giving the wine structure. Huge fruit. Dark / black cherry. Massive vanilla on the nose that lasts through the long long finish. Fun wine.
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12/22/2017 - WFWIII wrote:
It tasted to me like fruit and it was very dry and dark. It tasted like dark fruits like plums. I however really enjoyed it.
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9/26/2017 - cos65 Likes this wine:
Dense black
Wait!
This is dense rich stuff.
Upon opening this is dusty dry stuff that starts opening after and hour to rich fruit, dusty leathery tannins, burnt sassafras. Seems quite a wine... for the future
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6/7/2017 - duchamp Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark inky purple, boysenberry, black currant, mocha, vanilla bean and black cherry on the nose, a mouthful on the attack with dark berry fruit, black tea, graphite, iron, velvety tannins and juicy acidity, long complex finish with earthy dark fruit, black plum, Asian spice, black tea and so much more
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2/20/2017 - Papillon1112 wrote: 91 Points
Brought to restaurant so did not decant. Disappointing at first too overpowering not balanced. Second glass more drinkable. Minimum two (2) hours in decanter might improve overall experience. I hope...
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8/16/2016 - Coachron13 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Knew this one needed a decant but tried it when first opened anyway, it was really biting. Five hour decant really smoothed it out. Nice big cab with typical Diamond Mountain ripe fruit characteristics. Will wait a few years on our remaining bottles.
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4/6/2016 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Similar to my previous tasting notes, although the tannins are biting tonight and the wine isn't as accessible. I like this wine, but the QPR isn't terrific. The gem of the Cliff Lede wine club is really the "Rock Block" wine. Sadly this year they raised the price by 15%, while also deciding not to give the club discount on the BTK Cab. I've soured a bit on the value of the club.
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2/15/2016 - KeithSurg wrote: 92 Points
This has a stronger mineral and acid backbone than some of the other CL wines. Nicely balanced, smooth texture for a young wine, but typical for the '12 vintage.
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2/12/2016 - matthewearl wrote: 92 Points
This wine is so young, I popped and poured and it was tight as a chinese finger trap. Still tasty, but nothing to write home about. I re-corked it and poured out the rest the next evening and the wine had really transformed into a smooth beautiful bouquet. Much more integrated and with great depth of flavor! Moral of the story - either let this sit or decant for 2+ hours.
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12/9/2015 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 93 Points
I was totally unfair to this wine. I received it today from UPS, and promptly popped and poured it at our favorite restaurant. Bottle shock be damned. That said, I was pretty impressed. It's a beautiful wine, with a terrific nose, bountiful concentration and a very nice long finish. Actually, much better than I expected, as I see this is one of the few single vineyards that Cliff Lede doesn't seem to send to Advocate (Parker) for ratings. At this point, I believe it is drinking much better than the Howell Mountain, but it will certainly get better with age. Another couple years and I think this is 94-95 points if it evolves. I find Cliff Lede to be one of the better high production wineries out there, and I think their wine club is one of the few worth joining if you love Stag's Leap cabernet.
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2/28/2015 - Buckeyewino Likes this wine: 89 Points
Still a little young but drank nicely
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