Opaque crimson, looks 5 years old. Incredible freshness for its age. Ripe, sweet blackcurrant; earth; bell pepper; striking acidity that gives it so much lift and energy without being so sour as to dominate the fruit. Just perfect balance. Great mouthfeel too, with pillowy tannins that just sort of leave a dusting on the palate. This bottle could easily go 20 more years, but there’s no reason to wait.
Stunning. Just what you hope for. Maturity, balance, freshness, nuance. Just fabulous. If you have this wine, drink it up and enjoy what California Cab can be.
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Decanted for an hour. Cork wasn't toast, but was very crumbly. Had to run the wine through a strainer.
Didn't have quite the fruit we saw in the bottle back in June, but was still a fruit forward wine. Red fruits. Low alcohol. Sediment really showed, and secondary flavors were pretty minimal.
Still a really fun bottle and a great way to celebrate my wife's birthday with a birth year wine. Overall don't think it is going to get much better with time. Drink up.
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Enjoyed with dinner at Press in St. Helena. Was not decanted. Cork was in great shape.
Still holding its color well. Lots of dark red fruit present. Secondary notes are there - leather, sandalwood. Spice box. But the fruit is still in the forefront. Medium weight. Very well composed finish that left you wanting to go back for more. Alcohol just 13.1%.
Overall a very nice wine that I think still has years in it. My wife's first birth year wine, which was fun.
We were looking for something from Napa with at least 20 years of age on it. The somm was pretty on point with this - advised that it would still have good fruit left. That was totally accurate. But if I had to do it over again, would have probably chosen something with more secondary (or even tertiary) notes.
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Classic to to the place and wine - over-wrought and inelegant despite the huge fruit load. It has minerality and oodles of fruit but there is no intensity, no balance... Ugh.
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beautiful again, not 'other-worldly' as it has been in the past, but this wine was fantastic, plenty of body left, fruit profile wasn't red or dark but somewhere in between, a nice dash of spice (oak driven?… if so there was no sense of oak - other than the spice - in the palate), great balance with a touch of grip from moderate acidity, elegant and with some oomph at the same time… great! and amazingly much less expensive - when you can find it - than newer vintages
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this suffered cuz it was opened after '03 pride cab reserve and '03 pride claret reserve, nonetheless liked by Cole and myself as subtle and complex, i have had this before and this bottle may or may not have been as good as prior, hard to tell after the big / good pride bottles
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truly beautiful once again, my previous notes do this wine justice... saw the notes from April 1st this year... i wonder if that was bottle variation cuz every bottle i've had recently has had plenty on secondary character but a good amount of soft cherry to provide drinking pleasure (and i'm not into cabs with little or no fruit)
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another great showing for this wine, not as much of a kaliedescope palate experience as the last time (hence the lower score) but great anyway, all tannins were gone, good acid still around to keep it lively but 'easy drinking' palate and interesting nose with both showing fruit and mint/pine needles, also an interesting period about an hour after decanting where the palate was strongly floral/sandalwood
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Past prime. Earthy and cedary and leafy and tart, with the gritty structure showing through. Surprisingly a bit better on day 2, but still not very good. Probably better 10 years ago.
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Wow!... the best Cali Cab i've ever had, tasted with Joe and Keith on the back patio by the fire, nose and palate evolved significantly over the course of two hours... on the palate it had plenty of dark fruits but not fruity if you know what i mean, layers of complex flavors rolled through that i can't identify (which is an indication of just how complex and dynamic this was)... entering this note a few months later and should say that i have had two more of these and they have been very much as good, tho the last required several hours of air before the fruit came forward... and the last bottle also had some tannins while the first two were fully resolved... this experience is what wine is all about for me, hard to see it get better
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Bob Gaynor - Night of Excess!: Dark ruby in color. Sweet fruit nose with a decidedly minty aroma. Medium bodied fruit. Not as nuanced or complexed as others in the flight. Good - drink up.
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This bottle held up well. Cork was soft and crubled when pulled. Beautiful color without much separation. Rich, dark garnet. Muted nose. Eucalytus comes out. Smooth, rich and elegant on the palate. Medium long finish.
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At Singer & Foy survey of '84 cabs. Dark ruby color. Coats the glass. Deep, lovely, varietal aroma. Blackcurrants and cassis. Just a hint of mint. Lovely. Pretty nice wine in the mouth, too. Very astringent with a boatload of unresolved tannin, packed with fruit. Tobacco notes too. Great future. Drinkable now, but could use a few more years. 5-12-15-8: 90/100.
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With MPL and BLR at lunch at the London Wine Bar. Extremely dark. Very rich, deep nose with multiple nuances. Excellent concentration and depth of flavor. Juicy and good. Lasting. 5-11-16-7: 89/100.
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8/11/2021 - cooberp Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opaque crimson, looks 5 years old. Incredible freshness for its age. Ripe, sweet blackcurrant; earth; bell pepper; striking acidity that gives it so much lift and energy without being so sour as to dominate the fruit. Just perfect balance. Great mouthfeel too, with pillowy tannins that just sort of leave a dusting on the palate. This bottle could easily go 20 more years, but there’s no reason to wait.
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7/30/2017 - jgh123 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stunning. Just what you hope for. Maturity, balance, freshness, nuance. Just fabulous. If you have this wine, drink it up and enjoy what California Cab can be.
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1/14/2017 - ageverett Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for an hour. Cork wasn't toast, but was very crumbly. Had to run the wine through a strainer.
Didn't have quite the fruit we saw in the bottle back in June, but was still a fruit forward wine. Red fruits. Low alcohol. Sediment really showed, and secondary flavors were pretty minimal.
Still a really fun bottle and a great way to celebrate my wife's birthday with a birth year wine. Overall don't think it is going to get much better with time. Drink up.
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6/23/2016 - ageverett Likes this wine: 95 Points
Enjoyed with dinner at Press in St. Helena. Was not decanted. Cork was in great shape.
Still holding its color well. Lots of dark red fruit present. Secondary notes are there - leather, sandalwood. Spice box. But the fruit is still in the forefront. Medium weight. Very well composed finish that left you wanting to go back for more. Alcohol just 13.1%.
Overall a very nice wine that I think still has years in it. My wife's first birth year wine, which was fun.
We were looking for something from Napa with at least 20 years of age on it. The somm was pretty on point with this - advised that it would still have good fruit left. That was totally accurate. But if I had to do it over again, would have probably chosen something with more secondary (or even tertiary) notes.
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9/28/2015 - lepetitchateau wrote: 88 Points
Classic to to the place and wine - over-wrought and inelegant despite the huge fruit load. It has minerality and oodles of fruit but there is no intensity, no balance... Ugh.
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4/2/2015 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
beautiful again, not 'other-worldly' as it has been in the past, but this wine was fantastic, plenty of body left, fruit profile wasn't red or dark but somewhere in between, a nice dash of spice (oak driven?… if so there was no sense of oak - other than the spice - in the palate), great balance with a touch of grip from moderate acidity, elegant and with some oomph at the same time… great! and amazingly much less expensive - when you can find it - than newer vintages
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11/30/2013 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 91 Points
this suffered cuz it was opened after '03 pride cab reserve and '03 pride claret reserve, nonetheless liked by Cole and myself as subtle and complex, i have had this before and this bottle may or may not have been as good as prior, hard to tell after the big / good pride bottles
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5/2/2013 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 93 Points
truly beautiful once again, my previous notes do this wine justice... saw the notes from April 1st this year... i wonder if that was bottle variation cuz every bottle i've had recently has had plenty on secondary character but a good amount of soft cherry to provide drinking pleasure (and i'm not into cabs with little or no fruit)
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4/16/2013 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 93 Points
another great showing for this wine, not as much of a kaliedescope palate experience as the last time (hence the lower score) but great anyway, all tannins were gone, good acid still around to keep it lively but 'easy drinking' palate and interesting nose with both showing fruit and mint/pine needles, also an interesting period about an hour after decanting where the palate was strongly floral/sandalwood
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4/1/2013 - coremill wrote: 84 Points
Past prime. Earthy and cedary and leafy and tart, with the gritty structure showing through. Surprisingly a bit better on day 2, but still not very good. Probably better 10 years ago.
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11/18/2011 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 96 Points
Wow!... the best Cali Cab i've ever had, tasted with Joe and Keith on the back patio by the fire, nose and palate evolved significantly over the course of two hours... on the palate it had plenty of dark fruits but not fruity if you know what i mean, layers of complex flavors rolled through that i can't identify (which is an indication of just how complex and dynamic this was)... entering this note a few months later and should say that i have had two more of these and they have been very much as good, tho the last required several hours of air before the fruit came forward... and the last bottle also had some tannins while the first two were fully resolved... this experience is what wine is all about for me, hard to see it get better
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8/1/2008 - Nanda wrote: 88 Points
Bob Gaynor - Night of Excess!: Dark ruby in color. Sweet fruit nose with a decidedly minty aroma. Medium bodied fruit. Not as nuanced or complexed as others in the flight. Good - drink up.
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12/10/2006 - Kryn13 wrote:
Not a lick of fruit left. Didn't taste spoiled. Still had tannins...very earthy taste.
B
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7/24/2006 - norsktorsk wrote: 92 Points
This bottle held up well. Cork was soft and crubled when pulled. Beautiful color without much separation. Rich, dark garnet. Muted nose. Eucalytus comes out. Smooth, rich and elegant on the palate. Medium long finish.
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9/24/2005 - Pool Boy wrote: 92 Points
Dave's Dinner Hosting the DC Crü (Dave's Casa): Chocolate bittersweet good, charred log with hunk of hatchet out of it that is then somewhat moistened as if drenched by a rainfall 92
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7/22/1997 - buckeye76 wrote: 92 Points
LOTS OF RICH FRUIT, BLACKBERRIES AND PLUMS IN THE NOSE. BLACKBERRIES AND DEEP FRUIT IN THE FLAVOR. LONG FINISH.
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6/1/1991 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 90 Points
At Singer & Foy survey of '84 cabs. Dark ruby color. Coats the glass. Deep, lovely, varietal aroma. Blackcurrants and cassis. Just a hint of mint. Lovely. Pretty nice wine in the mouth, too. Very astringent with a boatload of unresolved tannin, packed with fruit. Tobacco notes too. Great future. Drinkable now, but could use a few more years. 5-12-15-8: 90/100.
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12/1/1988 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 89 Points
With MPL and BLR at lunch at the London Wine Bar. Extremely dark. Very rich, deep nose with multiple nuances. Excellent concentration and depth of flavor. Juicy and good. Lasting. 5-11-16-7: 89/100.
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