Sean Sims

8.9

Wow, jam, dark stone fruit. Deep purple rim. A pleasure to drink as I grill — 5 years ago

GaryWEdwards

9.6

Comment later. Whoa! RP says "this dense ruby/purple wine has a stunningly pure bouquet of dark fruit, wet rocks, graphite, and subtle background toast/vanillin. Full-bodied, masculine, and very deep and concentrated, this titanic effort is at least 8-10 years away from its plateau of maturity." And I say this juicy berry is ready for duck, venison, and beef stew now. — 6 years ago

Kirk F

9.4

Blown away. Young but evolved beautifully over 3 hours. — 7 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.5

The 2009 Dom Pérignon is a simply fabulous effort from a challenging vintage in Champagne. The musty and earthy aromatics grab you straight away followed by wild mushrooms, brioche, poached pear and toasted hazelnut aromatics that impress. Incredibly balanced and with remarkable finesse, this showcases flavors of lemon zest, baked apple and marzipan with biscuit. Today this is just a touch youthful, needing some additinonal time to develop. Nonetheless this is a simply gorgeous Champagne with marvelous cellaring potential. Try to hold off on this stunner for at least two years. Disgorged in June 2016. Drink 2020-2040- 95 — 7 years ago

Mark Howard

9.3

Ok, first thing- thank you Rick Banks for the gift of this bottle. Secondly, we have an affinity for this producer as Elizabeth and I shared a bottle of pinot from Hartford Court on the night we met. Now about the wine. Bold blue fruit aromatics with a hint of licorice. Mid palate shows some red fruits mainly raspberries. Soft tannins fading away to a sweet finish. Not many domestic pinots have life after 8 years, this one definitely does. Best to consume sooner than later, maybe over the next year or so. What a wonderful treat. Thanks my friend! — 7 years ago

with Elizabeth

Narun P

9.0

60 CS, 30 M, 5.5 CF, 3 PV, 1.5 Malbec

Dark and brooding, semi transparent, still youthful.

Restrained bouquet at first but after 1 hour of thorough decanting, it decided to wake up. Cassis, toasted cedar wood, lovely tobacco and tea leaf undertone.

The palate gives away quite good amount of tannin remaining. Nice balance of acidity. More dark than red fruit. A lot of secondary characters start to come out. Finish strongly on the cedary/woodsy note.

For a second wine in a heralded vintage (i.e. usually not good), this is a success. Has staying power to keep going for 5 more years easily. If pop now, need a long decanting time. It's in that very sleepy phase. 90+ — 8 years ago

Stas Medvedev

9.4

🏅 Rating 94+/100 (4,45⭐)

This is my 3rd and the last bottle over the past year. It definitely sits at its plateau now and fully awake. Difficult to say when the drinking window will close down. ⁣
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Lots of energy and precision. Cabernet Sauvignon dominant. Perfumed black currant jam with leaves. Complex tertiary aromas make a beautiful bouquet. Balance of tannins, fruits and acidity at its perfection. Tannins have soften but not yet faded away.⁣
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Undoubted 2nd Growth quality. — 5 years ago

Matthieu Michon

9.4

Loads of dark fruit, beautiful nose, complex wine but still a good five years away from being in the right place! — 6 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.0

Consistent quality year in and year out . The difference is how the fruit is presented. The 2015 version presents the same quality fruit and balance as previous vintages, the difference is the fruit is showcased in a fuller, rounder light in 2015. Lacks some of the focus that the ‘14 had that I prefer but in no way does this take away from the high quality of this wine. — 7 years ago

Greg Gregory

9.7

Great bottle. Fresh, fruit, stunning color, just a few ticks away from being a perfect bottle. — 7 years ago

with Fritz

Alicia Cypress

9.3

An intoxicating nose and a palate that’s spicy at first, but starts to go away after 45 minutes of air. Still quite young, so it’s still tight, but easy to drink and easy to enjoy! — 8 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.3

Open-ish and enjoyable, but so many years away from fullness. What comes across as richness now should moderate a bit over the next decade to allow the more savory/olive-y/herbal layers to own their own space. Check back. — 8 years ago

Edmond Bordelon

9.6

Nine Suns and their favorite son, Sam Kaplan!
Sam and his lovely wife, Nancy were kind enough to take time out of their Florida vacation and stop by our house for a great Tasting Event of his big 3 Wines,... Arkenstone, Memento Mori and Nine Suns. And then he pulled out his latest project, soon to be released in the fall, Maxem! (Named after his two children, Max and Emma.) Not to compete with his huge red blends, his Maxem line is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both from the famed UV Vineyard in Sonoma. (Think Aubert Pinot Noir😃). I will try to review the Maxem wines later, but back to the amazing Nine Suns red blend from Pritchard Hill. We had the 2012 recently and were blown away by how much it has improved in such a short time. The 2013 needed some more time, but you can already sense the greatness to come. Already balanced feel and long finish. I decanted it for 4 hours to ensure we were doing justice to this deep purple stunner. While I liked the 2012 better, this 2013 was still lush and had blueberries as the major fruit up front and dark cherries on the back end. Sam talked about Nine Sun's amazing Houyi Vineyard, calling it the Rodéo Drive of Napa with all of their big neighbors. 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot. Robert Parker gave it a 96, and I am in full agreement! — 9 years ago

with Beth and Katherine

Carlos E Duran

9.0

Opens up with floral, strawberry and red berries notes. Upon first taste some strawberry and subtle watermelon, nice acidity going. Medium body and leaning towards the dry spectrum of wines. A bit of a bite at the end but not offensive. Perfect summer wine, had it alongside some fresh ceviche — 6 years ago

Vijay Parikh

9.6

Signature Richebourg withAsian spice and forest floor but somewhat short in length. Blown away by the 1990 tonight — 6 years ago

Greg Wright

9.2

Dark red fruits, charcoal and rosemary. Tannins have melted away and acidity is well balanced. Not as deep and complex as the magnum I had a couple months back. Good but not great. Perhaps just an “off” bottle?? — 6 years ago

Laurent Godeau

9.0

Beautiful black fruits, earthy and gamy nose. The Merlots did well in 2008. Very charming fine grained tannins. Open right away with evolution to minty and underwood. This is a beautiful wine drank with my best company ever, my beautiful wife. What else? — 7 years ago

Craig Williams

9.7

Was prepared to be disappointed and came away very pleased. Initial impressions of cherry/strawberry with savory, woodsy elements with finely resolves tannins. Bright acidity frames the long finish. Over time, more mocha notes appeared , yet the wine remained compelling. For me, this was perfectly evolved. — 7 years ago

with Gavin and Maureen

Kyle Harvey

9.0

Clean clean clean Nero - had it before but forget the great fruit acid balance, without the overpowering fruit that makes me shy away from this grape so much. Great value for this vino da agricoltura biologica — 8 years ago

Shawn R

9.2

Several stashed away and brought to the front of the cellar. The time is now. Slight variation from the last bottle. Olive tapenade nose at first then showing prune and raisins. Tannins still lift the profile of this wine. Bright acidity. Smoked Mushroom 🍄 complements a strong finish. — 9 years ago