Byron Hewett

9.3

Smoooth! Beautifully balanced. Not green at all. — 24 days ago

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9.1

The 2004 Cos d'Estournel has an impressive bouquet with black cherries, hoisin, rose petals and blood orange scents, all mixed with melted tar and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied, with a strong menthol element on the entry that rather dominates the terroir expression. It is very spicy on the finish, with cough candy on the aftertaste. It may be a bit bombastic considering the vintage, but it will continue to age in bottle. (Neal Martin, Vinous, June 2024)
— 10 days 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 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

8.9

1986 vintage. Ripped through six bottles (one corked) for a 1986 BDX dinner @ Mister A's-San Diego. All bottles appropriately aged fill and decent+ corks. Double decanted and tasted over the course of 5 hours. Mix of powdery and stubborn (non-chunky) sed amongst the 6 bottles. Light-medium body throughout. Somewhat muted experience overall. None of the bottles (with variation) shone/sung. Wine is firmly on the downside of the bell curve with best days behind it (based on the 5 + corked bottle examples). There was none of the usual P-L flavor markers but the body hung in there. Pains me to say this but drink up now unless you've got a larger format bottle. Maggie (+) would probably yield a higher score. 3.14.24. — 3 months ago

Tom Garland

9.3

2 hour decant(decent chunky sediment). A stunning dark crimson color with little bricking. On the nose: expressive perfumed notes of dark red fruit, creme de cassis, mushrooms, floral, touch of stewed meat and cigar box. Taste: velvety, classy, fresh wine with red fruit, minerals, herbal, earth, pencil lead and a nice peppery cedar/leather medium plus finish. Sure, maybe not the depth/concentration of a classic vintage, but I can sniff/sip this wine all night. YUM! Happy Father's day to me. — 6 hours ago

with Brenda

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9.6

The 2012 Insignia is in great shape today. Bright acids lend tremendous energy to a mid-weight Insignia that is more about finesse rather than power. Sweet red-fleshed fruit, cedar, tobacco, mint and rose petal are all beautifully delineated. There's not much left to say. The 2012 offers tons of pure pleasure. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2024)
— a month ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 2 months ago

LM Segal

9.8

Takes the reins as best ever Dunn Cabernet for me…needed 45 mins out of Magnum, nose all Bordeaux of cedar and cigar box with a touch of cassis. Velvety palate, layers of red cherry and chocolate espresso bean, long, long finish. Find and drink now if you can. — 11 days ago

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9.5

The 2012 Opus One is a terrific choice for drinking now. Silky and beautifully perfumed, the 2012 is wonderfully open-knit in this tasting. The purity of the fruit is alluring, There's still a good bit of freshness, too. Naturally, the 2012 reflects the medium-bodied style that is typical of the year, but all the elements are very nicely balanced. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, rose petal, spice and blood orange linger. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2024)
— a month ago

Joe Flo

9.7

Hitting on all cylinders. — 2 months ago