Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2015 vintage. At the crest of drinkability meshed with cellar dweller. Right there. Decently priced so that you can hit it in both stages, multiple times. Medium body with solid acidity/tannins and full, frontal fruit. 9.6.23. — 8 months ago

Justin Manni

8.9

It’s so so. Don’t love the after taste—something I’ve noticed with cheap cava. — 9 months ago

Daniel Bloom

9.3

N: Marzipan, Oranges, almonds, verging on sherry, petrol.
P: weirdly fresh as a daisy, bright, you can sense the long time in American oak, but it has no weight. All this from the “ lesser” vineyard of Gravonia.
A wine to think and drink.
— 2 years ago

OMG PEDRO

9.3

Wow … Aromatic Lime, almond, hint of clove, green tea and cardamom in a vegetal and mineral SymphonY !! … Wow ! — 2 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Dark purple plum skin color from center to the rim’s edge where some scarlet also appears. Opaque. Great fruit forward nose that grabs your attention. Notes of blackberries, ripe plums, violets, tobacco, forest floor and some crushed walnuts. Rich and silky in the mouth. Great balance and texture. Tannins perfectly integrated. Long finish. If a Cal Cab can be seductive, this is it. Still youthful but in a great zone tonight. — 6 years ago

Katherine Bordelon

Court of Master Sommelier Guild member

8.9

Perfect with the Hake I was eating simply prepared. Crisp, light but could use a little more time in the bottle. — 7 years ago

with Edmond

Monica Ramirez

9.4

Smooth finish, love this addition from Mondavi. Can taste the hint of bourbon — 7 years ago

Brian Duffy

Sommelier & Beverage Director The Barrymore Las Vegas

9.5

Outstanding! There is the perfect moment for a bottle to be opened and tonight was it. It was the wine equivalent of a album that you can listen to from start to finish. — 8 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. — 9 years ago

Jeffrey Boscamp

9.8

4/28/15 grand finale at j and j. The 90 is what you thought it was and what I remember. And what you can never forget. The ultimate reminder of why one loves wine. — 9 years ago

Jacob Shea

9.7

A fav that I can find at most west coast whole foods — 10 years ago

Skip Smyser

9.6

Huge red fruit, soft tannins. An absolute baby with at least 20 years to evolve. Long lingering aftertaste on the mid pallet. Minerality and tannins will continue to become a bigger part of the taste profile. I won't try again for a few years. Huge upside. You can and should purchase while still available. A great addition to the wine cellar. Now that Phelps has sold it will be interesting to see what they do with Insignia.🍷🍷🍷🍷 — 8 months ago

with Jack

Jay Kline

9.3

Opened about four hours prior to service and allowed to breath. Two bottles were opened tonight from the same cellar and one of the corks showed some small signs of seepage but both wines showed equally. No formal notes. The 1997 Opus One pours a fairly youthful looking deep ruby color with moderate signs of sediment and a near opaque core. The nose exhibited powerful aromas of dark fruits, organic earth, tobacco, leather, horse blanket (brettanomyces?!), and fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry and the structure remains quite firm but the texture is plush and almost chewy. The notes on the nose are confirmed and the finish is long and satisfying.

But the tasting notes only tell half the story here. This was consumed alongside a 1990 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Had these been served together double-blind, I would have absolutely understood if someone called both as left-bank Bordeaux. Yes, the texture was plush and yes, the color was dark(er), but only just. It was just waaaay more Old World leaning to me with the earth and presence of brett. Which makes me wonder, why hasn’t brett been noted very often in other TN’s for this wine? Only (Charlie Carnes and OneFive) really address it directly and maybe this is what most are getting at when they mention “Bordeaux-like” and all the Pauillac vibes. What I can confirm is that these notes were consistent between two bottles from the same case, still in their tissue paper, so I’m reasonably confident that this is characteristic of the 1997 Opus One. I digress; I liked the wine. There, I said it. It was a bit of a one foot in Old School Napa, one foot in New School Napa, handled with an Old World touch. I liked it even better side-by-side with the ’90 Mouton, especially considering the relationship between the two. That being said, folks that can’t get down with a little brett will be turned off by this vintage of Opus. In my case, I would enjoy another opportunity to drink the 1997 some time. Great now with some air to stretch its legs and should be enjoyable through the next decade.
— 9 months ago

Chris MacLean

9.6

The total package, just about everything you can ask from a wine. Length, complexity, total harmony of flavors. Probably more elegant and silky in 5-10 years. — 4 years ago

with Sarah

Rob Moose

9.0

A nice debut for my case of 2011. This is in a happy drinking place for sure. No fireworks, but a great example of an approachable Nebbiolo that you can drink during summer! — 7 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.0

Dare I say we went back to Seasons 52 for another round of $10/glass Caymus? Yes...we did, and it won't be the last round, I can tell you that. — 7 years ago

with Krystal

Greg Gregory

10

Spectacular! Mind blowing. One of my top 10 of all time. On every serious wine lover’s bucket list, and here we had a nigh perfect bottle. While aromatically a little recalcitrant, you still got some of the Margaux violets and potpourri on the nose, hints of clove, all trying to shake off their doldrums. But on the palate, it was timelessly ravishing. The finesse, richness, balance and smoothness, with an underlying, almost flabbergasting mixture of complexity and delicacy, was just astonishing. The finish is marvelously sweet and intense, with chocolate and cassis and utterly seamless tannins. This is a miracle of wine making and an exaltation of vintage and terroir besides. Wow! And bravo! We can only pray for an encore of such a wine. — 8 years ago

Franco Michienzi

Sommelier, Hawksworth Restaurant

10

A little tight because of its age and format(1.5L) Everything is amazingly integrated and can age for many, many,, many years — 10 years ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

9.3

Vega Sicilia Unico '83. Showing some warm fruits, beginning of tertiary character. Quite complex, but can definitely improve with more bottle age. — 10 years ago

Willem Booij

9.4

You can wake me up for this wine, 29 years old and still very much alive. A nose so good that I can snif it for hours. Love it! — 8 months ago

Nathan Renfro

9.5

My first bottle of the ‘16. This is drinking really well right now, and I can’t wait to see it in 10 years. Fruit is ripe, tannins are tight but approachable. Black and red fruit. Acidity still strong but also approachable. Overall well structured and integrated. Just gonna get better with time, but like I said, it can be pnp, but with patience it’ll be fantastic. I agree with WS 95 rating. — 9 months ago

Mike Saviage

9.9

Tasted blind. Deep purple color. Looks very young, compared to the 45 Margaux next to it. Almost opaque. Notes of black fruit, cracked walnuts, sweet fruit, raspberry and some cedar desk. Super rich in the mouth. Seems young and is firm, but tannins are softened and the mouthfeel is velvet touch. Long finish. It peacocks all night. The walnuts thing leads my guess to Latour, but can this be the 45? Is it a 61 or 82? Could be... I go with it being a 59 given how young it seems. Just an amazing bottle of wine, open for ~9 hours by the time we left, it seemed to effortlessly power along. Thanks Stan! — 2 years ago

Roberto Carli

9.1

Now I see how this wine can be so divisive. LOTS of brett at first, more band-aid than barnyard. Takes a while to get past it and then lots of exotic spices show up. But after 40 minutes in the glass still nothing primary. It’s got the funk I can appreciate in some good left bank Bordeaux but also feels somewhat single-threaded. — 3 years ago

Benjamin Keator

9.7

Tart and balanced with a bit of tobacco. I can’t believe how well this drank young with only a 2 hr decant. The quality is off the chart. You can tell it’s young, but I wouldn’t call it a waste to open now (like I would so many others) — 6 years ago

with Michael

Mark Eastom

9.3

Awesome stuff. Biscuit dough, baked apple, a bit of oak influence, beautiful effervescence and great acid. 2005 vintage, but can only imagine how it will be in 20 years.. — 7 years ago

Joe Flo

9.4

What can you say about an aged Shafer Hillside Select. 🍷. Excellent. — 7 years ago

Jonas Mendoza

9.5

The Master of Morgon. This can age for at least another 10 years. — 8 years ago

Thomas Hughes

9.5

I was disappointed with my last Caymus Special Selection vintage, but this beauty brought me back to a bottle that won Wine Spectator's #1 Wine of the Year ... Twice!! Incredible fruit and balance. This can be cellared and enjoyed for years to come. Cheers!! — 9 years ago

Richard Lavanture

8.9

Not a typical cab. Easy for a beginning can drinker. Bit pricey, but good. — 10 years ago

with Jacynda

Ryan Brazell

Rise Over Run

10

Proof positive that a star producer can deliver in variable vintages. This is an easy contender for the most satisfying Bordeaux experience I've had. Stress eliminator par excellence. — 11 years ago