It's time for my #FridayCabernetfix.
Deep purple in color with a short purple rim.
Pretty nose of blueberries, cooked black cherries, blackberries, figs, cedar, vanilla, spices, chocolates, earth, herbs, coffee, tobacco, licorice and black pepper.
Full bodied and smooth with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry on the palate with blackberries, currants, black cherries, raisins, dried figs, vanilla, cedar, cola, spices, dark chocolates, coffee, earth, bitter herbs and peppercorn.
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This is a gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley. Feels like a Napa Cabernet with a Bordeaux touch. Fruity and rich, yet elegant.
Good right out of the bottle, and better after 2 hours in the decanter, but it definitely needs longer than that.
What a great mouthfeel. I just love these Napa Bordeaux blends.
Still young and would be better in 5 to 10 years. Could be a 97+ point wine in 10 years. Will continue to age nicely in the next 20 years.
Thank you John for sharing this with me.
A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec.
14.5% alcohol by volume.
94 points.
$500. — 3 years ago
Amazing- great full body and tasty — 5 years ago
Note the bottle is the 2018 Pinot which was not found in the system here yet.
All their wines are the bomb diggity! — 5 years ago
With the Wine Blight laying waste to her vineyards, France went from 8:1 exporter in 1870 to 6:1 importer in 1887. Legions of wine farmers faced total financial ruin. With no cure - or even a proper diagnosis - in sight, many saw no option but to flee to lands not yet affected.
The influx of institutional knowledge that flooded into former backwater wine regions like Rioja catapulted them into relevance, and soon matured into a world-class standard. The farmers had found respite, but couldn't run forever. By the time Phylloxera crossed the Pyrenees, however, there would be new ways to fight back.
French botanist Jules-Emile Planchon had a theory. If the blight was caused by a microscopic American insect as he suspected, perhaps grafted European varieties on American rootstock would be resistant. This would be confirmed by Missouri entomologist Charles Riley, and with millions of rootstocks supplied by Texas horticulturalist T.V. Munson, the Wine Blight was soon in remission.
(This is adapted from notes for Le Dû’s Wines ‘History of Wine 1453AD-Present’ seminar, where this wine was poured) — 6 years ago
Third time trying this. Tightly coiled and reminiscent of young Meursault on popping the cork, with a certain reductive flintiness to its wonderfully pure Jonagold apple fruit. After being open for a couple days the wine is altogether more expressive, with creme brulee, almond, and bread dough aromas complementing its still vibrant core of orchard fruit and minerality. Strikingly rich and sumptuous for its relatively modest alcohol and lip-smacking acid structure. Given how positively it evolved and unfurled with a few days worth of oxygen, I'd lay this down for at least a couple years. Hats off. — 7 years ago
Drinking great — 2 years ago
Honey and apricots. Outstanding! — 4 years ago
Ripe dark fruit core punctuated by herbal spices, dark chocolate and iron minerals. Feel a bit angular on the palate, but it was delicious and well balanced. Firm tannins.
I don’t think we gave it enough time to open up. This will cruise for another 5, 6 years. — 5 years ago
In my last sighted review of the 2016 Cos d’Estournel, I wrote: "I suspect it will close down for a period in its youth." Perhaps it is already beginning to shut down, because though this wine was deeply impressive, it fell just a notch short of ethereal previous bottles, despite its "pixelated black fruit" on the nose and "sublime balance" on the palate. I tasted the wine twice thereafter, though this time with a 4-6 hour decant, and this revealed the Cos d'Estournel that has amazed since I first tasted it out of barrel. (Neal Martin, Vinous, August 2020)
— 5 years ago
Excellent Malbec. Had at Linger Restaurant in Denver, CO. Would buy if I could find it in Alabama. Unfortunately cannot. — 6 years ago
Wow, incredible “Sangiovese” grape, smooth finish. Bold and silky — 7 years ago
Where red wine started for me — 4 years ago
We had the 2013 Vintage on 5/2-3/21. This was a terrific full bodied, well balanced wine. Tastes of blackberry, plum, kirsch and vanilla on the palate. The tannins were smoothed out. A great example of the Napa floor. — 5 years ago
Nice Smooth fruit forward little tart. — 6 years ago
Dependable good taste! $13 H-E-B — 7 years ago
Lee Pitofsky
From 6 liter! — 2 years ago