Conrad Green

9.1

quite austere. Dark fruit with a bit of sour plum and a savory core of fruit. Black pepper. Constrained and a little under in terms of ripeness and depth. — 8 months ago

with Ara

Brennan Roy

9.0

One of my favorite cabs. Wonderfully balanced complexity, silky mouth feel, a bit chewy with a delightful finish. Put it up for a couple of years if you can wait. — 9 months ago

romo

9.4

Bit volatile day one, all business day two. Big Xmas spice, feather light feel. Beware the bottle variation. — 10 months ago

LM Segal

9.5

Beautiful in all respects, gently wafting black tea, red flowers. Layers of light and fully resolved red fruit, lots of secondary aromatics. Perhaps a bit past it’s prime but even so, obvious royalty. — 3 years ago

Conrad Green

9.4

A slightly saline iodine note. Tangy blue fruit with sour cherry, leather, tobacco. The fruit and structure are intense . A little bit simple but delicious and authentic. — 6 years ago

with Bex and Naoko

Mike Saviage

9.4

Dark ruby, bright, doesn’t look it’s age. Awesome funky old Cal Cab nose. Notes of cherry, cranberry sauce, dirt and some balsa wood. Some steminess. Great perfume. Nice in the mouth but missing just a little bit in the mid palate. Really enjoyed this. — 8 years ago

Rahul Mukherjee

9.1

Dried fruit and wine in good shape, but acidity overwhelmed a bit of the balance. — 9 years ago

Pierre Arneaux

9.2

Wow. More flavor, much better than their regular cab. Silky, velvet, smooth. Chocolate. Rich fruit. Big, full flavor, lots of flavor. Not old world style for sure, not subtle. It's a big bomb. We would pay up to $75 for this so a bit overpriced to us.
— 10 years ago

Michael Walker

9.5

A bit austere. Really fell down vs the DRII immediately before — 11 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.1

From magnum, and still a bit beefy around the middle, reflecting the vintage. Plush but with character, the perfect choice for those who generally find Beaujolais too thin. — 11 years ago

Bernardo Llaguno G.

9.3

My kind of wine, a lot of meats and dark fruit. Mainly wood and meats in it. I can't have enough of this amazing wine though it can wait for a bit longer for a better opening. — 11 years ago

Boris Mathiszik

9.2

New vintage of Justin’s flagship blend. A bit more constrained, but elegant and delicious as always. At 86% cab, is it really a blend? lol. Nice cassis notes. — 8 months ago

Doug Griffin

9.0

Not sure, I think it’s a bit maderized. However still giving some grippy tannins, rich cherry, vanilla and wood…375 ml. Kind of played out — 9 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.7

Beautiful subtle aroma from Merlot makes it pretty. Its free spirit nose makes you feel what the wine is going to be about. Drinkable and fresh. Apparently missing weight but it doesn’t miss a bit all the way thru the tasting. The aftertaste is long and very, very pleasant after one minute. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured from my cellar. The cork was absolutely perfect. The 2005 pours a rather turbid, deep garnet at nearly 17 years old. There's quite a bit of fine sediment that clings to the edge of the glass with each swirl. Medium+ viscosity. On the nose, this was initially a bit grumpy but within minutes, it relaxed and started to show some real charm. A fully developed wine, this is becoming a bit of a Leather Daddy, full of leather (obviously), bruised and desiccated red, black and blue fruits, Christmas spice fruit cake, coffee, damp earth, and candied nuts. On the palate, the fruit remains quite stunning and confirms the mix of bruised and desiccated fruit with a sort of sherried character. Loads of salmiakki (salted licorice), spiced nuts, pepper, coffee and, you guessed it, leather. The wine was dry, technically, but almost gives the sensation of some RS with all of the over-ripe fruits and the texture was almost sappy, in some ways. However, while this was absolutely rich and well-endowed, it was not cloying. Tannins have fully integrated (though still present) and the acid was like a girdle keeping everything held together. This remains a rather large personality even if it's showing its age. Definitely in a lovely spot...but how much longer will that last? If this wasn't my last bottle, I would probably be drinking these over the next five years unless you want the full Leather Daddy experience...which is okay if that's your thing. — 5 years ago

Jay Root

9.1

Quite nice after breathing for a bit. Quality Smokey California cab — 8 years ago

Randall Brater

8.9

Light with hints of tart and sharp raspberries. Just a little bit of earth. Ok, better with food and cheese than by itself. — 9 years ago

Doctor No

9.3

A classic, old school Bordeaux in a classic year. Decanted x5h. Still bright ruby, nose is mild barnyard with black cherry, leather, graphite on the attack with a lingering sense of tobacco and dried herbs. Tannins are resolving well with a bit of dry dust on the finish. Lively acidity and very youthful overall. — 10 years ago

Dirk Pitt.

9.1

A bit of brett and VA, but still really good. Has a lightness and elegance to it. — 11 years ago

with Winehouse

Rick Baumgarten

9.1

A bit of oxidation, but otherwise, just fine. Fruit still there. 1970, 45 year old wine for our 45th Anniversary. — 11 years ago

Andrew Benn

9.0

RP 94
Described as elegant
Agree though a little disappointed
Great wine but wanted a bit more
Unique flavor profile
Had at the Battery in SF — 12 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

1961 vintage. Ahoy there! Lower neck fill. Durand employed. Opened (not decanted) with plenty of cork splintering/crumbles despite the Durand and meticulous/slow movements. Cork stayed intact but just barely and about 80% saturated. Extensive (3-4 minutes) cleaning of the bottle lip and inch-deep, upper neck to remove fused cork residue. Tasted 45 mins, 2 hours, 4 hours and 6 hours after opening. Heavier body than expected given the producer. A bit of a slap in the face as it rolled in as medium/medium-heavy body which is hilarious. Nose initially a mysterious, century+ sitting room with plenty of decay, dust and past. Things shifted to soy/teriyaki sauce fairly shortly after with a little 5-10 minute fried chicken nose that vanished. Various (dark/semi-sweet) chocolates and cherry reduction sauce eventually emerged. A paced, harmonious narrative stayed constant throughout. Gorgeous experience. Didn't exactly diminish my impressions of H-B being the best first growth in BDX. It's generally the lightest and least-flashy. 1.23.26. — 8 months ago

Byron Hewett

9.3

I liked this quite a bit. Cleaner than the ‘82. Nice fruit. Tannins are mostly resolved. — 2 years ago

Conrad Green

9.0

Slight marmalade, hints of honey. A bit like aged Chenin in character. Still fresh but a little tangy. Fleshed out — 4 years ago

with BOT, Matt and 1 other

Rob Russell

9.0

Just had this in Bordeaux a few weeks ago. Like most wines of this vintage it took a bit of imagination to fully appreciate. It is clearly time to drink this wine, it may be on the downhill side of life. Overall a good experience for what was not noted as a premium vintage, but is a very solid wine. — 7 years ago

Dan skoda

9.6

A little richer than the dom with a bit more toasty oak on the nose and a bit more fruit showing — 8 years ago

Mike Dougherty

9.0

Probably opened it a bit too late. — 9 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Light straw gold. Impactful effervescent nose with notes of bread yeast, lemon, marzipan and apricot. Vibrant in the mouth. Expands and has a long finish. Expect this will get better and more complex with a bit more age. Really good right now tho. — 10 years ago

Bill Bender

9.1

Musty nose and bricking, a bit thin at the onset but developed over the course of the evening, it never hit full stride but it had finesse and class. A very fun night of 3 vintage '66s paired with bison steaks over looking the bay with good people. — 10 years ago

George Chen

9.4

Neck fill and good cork. Immediate nose of cedar, anise, of course eucalyptus and even some hibiscus. It's deep in the glass and core was still tight, even bit tannic and firm acids. This vintage is drinking better now than the legendary 74's as some of that bigger vintage is falling apart. A real beauty! — 11 years ago