Deep clear purple with a ton of sediment Quite sweet big stag’s fruit, utterly delicious if a bit too delicious for its own good. Finishes a bit simple. Purchased on release this is holding up quite well in no immediate danger
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This wine is on point at the moment. Tertiary notes are emerging but a solid core of dried red and black fruit remains. There is a classic stags leap cocoa powder element that surround the fruit. On the palate this is full body, med acid, and med+ tannin. It’s a grippy wine but there is plenty of fruit and life left here. Recommendation is to serve this with a juicy steak. Certainly not falling off at this point and built for another 5+ years of aging.
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This bottle (my last) definitely feels like it has moved past its prime and is starting to tire. Drank over two days. The wine is fairly balanced and silky but the structure is starting to edge out the fruit making the finish a bit edgy. Nice secondary flavors and pairs well with food. My recommendation is to drink up based on this bottle.
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Served as the first bottle of evening. Excellent balanced wine. Earthy on the nose. I decanted for a few hours which helped calm the wine down. Tannins have calmed down over time. Dark fruit, cassis, oak on the mid palate and long finish. Still a pretty bold cab though. Would pair well with steak.
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This is a wine that is tough to give an overall score because it comes down to style. Highs -- deep rich cassis and blackberry fruit, long finish, lots of structure to support fruit and nice layers of tobacco, bitter chocolate and hint of licorice. Lows -- nose is oaky and dusty tannins come down hard on the finish creating a bitterness when drinking on its own (a good steak would compliment this). It's a high quality wine from a tougher vintage that I'd rather have than some of the blah wines I've tasted lately. Not sure if aging will tame the tannins enough to make this amazing or it's destined to remain a jackhammer.
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Decanted with an aerator and served after a couple of hours. If you like big tannins that grip the back end, this one's for you. Big fruit upfront and pretty simple for being mostly cabernet. Need a big ribeye to match this one. Have the feeling that the tannins are overtaking the fruit so I'd drink them now if I had more.
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Teetering in between primary and secondary. Earthy on the nose, subdued fruit on the palate, and still a little tannic. Not as good as it likely once was.
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Earthy on the nose. Nice fruit on the palette very tannic still. This note is within 1 hour of opening. Comparing it against other Napa reds and Washington reds
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Big, bold and opulent. Full of plum, blackberry, blueberry, clove and a bit of tobacco box. Full bodied with a long, lingering finish. First time I have tasted a "Rock Block" with some age and this was silky and polished. Will be interested in seeing how these vary from year to year as the vineyard plots change.
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Rich fruit in a velvet package. A bit dusty but otherwise well integrated with nice structure. Heavier bodied but not flabby. Spices in black and blue fruits. Tasted like a baby at this stage. Could be 95+ if the chalkiness resolves itself.
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Nose: Gorgeous Plum, Black Cherry and Licorice. Pie spice and Cigar. Palate: Firm palate with Blackberry, Currant and earthy Anise notes. Some tobacco/earth here too. Quite big with significant tannin 8 years past the vintage. Finish: Deep with blackberry fruit leather and cassis. Long finish.
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"These go to eleven"...A classic line from Spinal Tap that found its way onto rock and roll aficionado Cliff Lede's bottle. The rock block wines have a volume indicator of 11 on the top of the bouchon...if concentration, ripeness and flavor is the metaphor for volume - the wine is spot on...
Consistent with prior notes - really nice wine and not considered the winery's best - but great. Blue-black fruits, fruit forward lasting through mid palate. Mint, chalk, vanilla, black currants, spice, black pepper, licorice...Full bodied, long finish.
Solid tannins, still evolving but great now.
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In the OC with my parents. Cliff Lede wines rarely disappoint, always interesting and never ordinary. This is my 3rd bottle of Moon Sympathy, it keeps getting better...
Color was a translucent red, full fruit forward nose on the opening. Blueberry-blackberry flavors, cigar, earth, plums - after 30 minutes this shows on the front of the palate.
Ready now, will probably not improve much but will have life left if you want to hold it.
Day 2 was still evolving, has some guts to it.
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Cabernet Hedonism (Rob & Bev's place): The wine is blue-black. It offers up an interesting array of tobacco leaf, with a chalky and minty quality, leading into the ripe cassis fruit. Smells pretty yummy so far. On the palate, there is a sweetness to this wine on the entry (perhaps alcohol?), giving way to mint and vanilla, followed by black cherry, licorice, and spice. The early sweetness changes into a nice, moderate astringency from the solid tannins. Quite lively on the palate, a very good wine. 92 pts.
Tasted 2 days later from this partially consumed bottle. 98% Cab Sauv, 2% Cab Franc. 75% new French oak. 15% alc (the highest of the night). I think the higher alcohol was indeed what I was getting as sweetness during the blind tasting. Interesting. Licorice, spicy black pepper, and black currant fruit on the nose. Certainly some mint as well. On the palate, I sense more alcoholic heat on this wine (since I now know it is there). Delicious ripened dark fruits including plums and cassis, with a few other flavors like blackberry and a little jamminess that is slightly over the top for me. This is a great effort, a bit too ripe for my current taste, but super nonetheless for what it can achieve. Will drink well for a decade or more. Score stays at 92 pts.
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A beast! Big and Bold, yet silky smooth. Decanted for 3+ hours and was well worth it. Black fruit on the front to mid palate with subtle notes of Dark Chocolate. A Long, long finish. Drink now and decant.... or lay down for years..
Way it goes
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Fairly typical of the vintage. Nice balance of fruit and secondary flavors of cigar, vanilla, and cedar. Decent mouth feel and finish. Really nice wine.
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Very effective CA Cab. Definitely taste the dark cherry upon introduction to the mouth. The fruit then disappears in a very abridged finish. Excellent balance, not much oak, not heavy tannins or a big burst of fruit. A very good wine that is somewhere in between a solo home run and an RBI double.
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Deep tanzanite color leads to a nose of candied cherry, christmas tree, and currant. Full body has flavors of currant, allspice, dark cherry, blackberry, and chocolate. Finish lasts 45 seconds. Great bottle of wine.
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Needs a couple of hours of air to open up. Very nice. Surprisingly, a transparent dark red color, not inky or black like one might expect. Very nice and even elegant. Not the fireworks of the huge '05 rock block, but very nice and beautiful in its own way.
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7/22/2023 - cos65 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep clear purple with a ton of sediment
Quite sweet big stag’s fruit, utterly delicious if a bit too delicious for its own good. Finishes a bit simple.
Purchased on release this is holding up quite well in no immediate danger
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11/12/2022 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:
This wine is on point at the moment.
Tertiary notes are emerging but a solid core of dried red and black fruit remains.
There is a classic stags leap cocoa powder element that surround the fruit.
On the palate this is full body, med acid, and med+ tannin. It’s a grippy wine but there is plenty of fruit and life left here. Recommendation is to serve this with a juicy steak. Certainly not falling off at this point and built for another 5+ years of aging.
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4/25/2022 - iamandyc Likes this wine: 92 Points
This bottle (my last) definitely feels like it has moved past its prime and is starting to tire. Drank over two days. The wine is fairly balanced and silky but the structure is starting to edge out the fruit making the finish a bit edgy. Nice secondary flavors and pairs well with food. My recommendation is to drink up based on this bottle.
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11/14/2020 - The Wine Sherpa Likes this wine: 96 Points
Served as the first bottle of evening. Excellent balanced wine. Earthy on the nose. I decanted for a few hours which helped calm the wine down. Tannins have calmed down over time. Dark fruit, cassis, oak on the mid palate and long finish. Still a pretty bold cab though. Would pair well with steak.
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8/22/2017 - iamandyc Likes this wine:
This is a wine that is tough to give an overall score because it comes down to style. Highs -- deep rich cassis and blackberry fruit, long finish, lots of structure to support fruit and nice layers of tobacco, bitter chocolate and hint of licorice. Lows -- nose is oaky and dusty tannins come down hard on the finish creating a bitterness when drinking on its own (a good steak would compliment this). It's a high quality wine from a tougher vintage that I'd rather have than some of the blah wines I've tasted lately. Not sure if aging will tame the tannins enough to make this amazing or it's destined to remain a jackhammer.
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1/1/2017 - BordeauxBoy wrote: 90 Points
Decanted with an aerator and served after a couple of hours. If you like big tannins that grip the back end, this one's for you. Big fruit upfront and pretty simple for being mostly cabernet. Need a big ribeye to match this one. Have the feeling that the tannins are overtaking the fruit so I'd drink them now if I had more.
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9/14/2016 - Coachron13 wrote: 89 Points
Teetering in between primary and secondary. Earthy on the nose, subdued fruit on the palate, and still a little tannic. Not as good as it likely once was.
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7/16/2016 - knlowery Likes this wine: 90 Points
Earthy on the nose. Nice fruit on the palette very tannic still. This note is within 1 hour of opening. Comparing it against other Napa reds and Washington reds
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8/9/2015 - ejca Likes this wine:
Good not great.
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7/10/2015 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 92 Points
Big, bold and opulent. Full of plum, blackberry, blueberry, clove and a bit of tobacco box. Full bodied with a long, lingering finish. First time I have tasted a "Rock Block" with some age and this was silky and polished. Will be interested in seeing how these vary from year to year as the vineyard plots change.
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8/11/2014 - iamandyc Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich fruit in a velvet package. A bit dusty but otherwise well integrated with nice structure. Heavier bodied but not flabby. Spices in black and blue fruits. Tasted like a baby at this stage. Could be 95+ if the chalkiness resolves itself.
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7/28/2014 - RockinCabs wrote: 93 Points
Nose: Gorgeous Plum, Black Cherry and Licorice. Pie spice and Cigar. Palate: Firm palate with Blackberry, Currant and earthy Anise notes. Some tobacco/earth here too. Quite big with significant tannin 8 years past the vintage. Finish: Deep with blackberry fruit leather and cassis. Long finish.
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12/24/2013 - walkerjfw wrote: 93 Points
On Christmas eve - wrapping presents...
"These go to eleven"...A classic line from Spinal Tap that found its way onto rock and roll aficionado Cliff Lede's bottle. The rock block wines have a volume indicator of 11 on the top of the bouchon...if concentration, ripeness and flavor is the metaphor for volume - the wine is spot on...
Consistent with prior notes - really nice wine and not considered the winery's best - but great. Blue-black fruits, fruit forward lasting through mid palate. Mint, chalk, vanilla, black currants, spice, black pepper, licorice...Full bodied, long finish.
Solid tannins, still evolving but great now.
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1/19/2013 - walkerjfw wrote: 92 Points
In the OC with my parents. Cliff Lede wines rarely disappoint, always interesting and never ordinary. This is my 3rd bottle of Moon Sympathy, it keeps getting better...
Color was a translucent red, full fruit forward nose on the opening. Blueberry-blackberry flavors, cigar, earth, plums - after 30 minutes this shows on the front of the palate.
Ready now, will probably not improve much but will have life left if you want to hold it.
Day 2 was still evolving, has some guts to it.
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1/15/2013 - EJKIII wrote: 93 Points
Full-bodied. Dark fruit followed by beautiful structure and finish. Smoke, vanilla, cigar box.
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3/2/2012 - J-Sho Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cinnamon, chocolate and plum with some cedar. Palate on heavier side with soft tannins and lots of dark fruit. Nice finish.
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1/13/2012 - drrobvino wrote: 92 Points
Cabernet Hedonism (Rob & Bev's place): The wine is blue-black. It offers up an interesting array of tobacco leaf, with a chalky and minty quality, leading into the ripe cassis fruit. Smells pretty yummy so far. On the palate, there is a sweetness to this wine on the entry (perhaps alcohol?), giving way to mint and vanilla, followed by black cherry, licorice, and spice. The early sweetness changes into a nice, moderate astringency from the solid tannins. Quite lively on the palate, a very good wine. 92 pts.
Tasted 2 days later from this partially consumed bottle. 98% Cab Sauv, 2% Cab Franc. 75% new French oak. 15% alc (the highest of the night). I think the higher alcohol was indeed what I was getting as sweetness during the blind tasting. Interesting. Licorice, spicy black pepper, and black currant fruit on the nose. Certainly some mint as well. On the palate, I sense more alcoholic heat on this wine (since I now know it is there). Delicious ripened dark fruits including plums and cassis, with a few other flavors like blackberry and a little jamminess that is slightly over the top for me. This is a great effort, a bit too ripe for my current taste, but super nonetheless for what it can achieve. Will drink well for a decade or more. Score stays at 92 pts.
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1/1/2012 - bway_wine wrote: 91 Points
Drank on new years. Graphite and cedar, with minimal black fruit. Probably didn't let open for long enough.
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12/25/2011 - PB29 wrote: 97 Points
A beast! Big and Bold, yet silky smooth.
Decanted for 3+ hours and was well worth it.
Black fruit on the front to mid palate with subtle notes of Dark Chocolate.
A Long, long finish.
Drink now and decant.... or lay down for years..
Way it goes
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7/4/2011 - winopops3 wrote: 93 Points
Fairly typical of the vintage. Nice balance of fruit and secondary flavors of cigar, vanilla, and cedar. Decent mouth feel and finish. Really nice wine.
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4/23/2011 - HBvino wrote: 93 Points
Very effective CA Cab. Definitely taste the dark cherry upon introduction to the mouth. The fruit then disappears in a very abridged finish. Excellent balance, not much oak, not heavy tannins or a big burst of fruit. A very good wine that is somewhere in between a solo home run and an RBI double.
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11/6/2010 - flashvictor Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep tanzanite color leads to a nose of candied cherry, christmas tree, and currant. Full body has flavors of currant, allspice, dark cherry, blackberry, and chocolate. Finish lasts 45 seconds. Great bottle of wine.
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3/31/2010 - elamasters wrote: 92 Points
Needs a couple of hours of air to open up. Very nice. Surprisingly, a transparent dark red color, not inky or black like one might expect. Very nice and even elegant. Not the fireworks of the huge '05 rock block, but very nice and beautiful in its own way.
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