Bob McDonald

9.5

You would never pick this as a 26 year old red wine from the colour. A rich Ruby red with no tawny rim. This has the Penfolds DNA of ripe plum, mocha, coffee bean and chocolate - a trace of liquorice. The palate is medium plus weight, balanced and harmonious maintaining that core strength. Those initially firm tannins have become supple. Drinking at its peak but could stay on this plateau for a couple more years. My last bottle of the 96 but I still have a few more bottles of the Bin 707 from 1996 which was a huge wine. — 4 years ago

Chad Thompson

8.9

Might be the bottle but just a bit past its prime. Still good - sweet core, good acid, dark fruits. — 7 years ago

Alex Hughes

9.4

1989 vintage. One of the best Dunn’s I’ve had. Has held up great with that trademark dark cherry core still intact, and fruit followed by layers of earth and leather. Tannins are still there even after nearly 30 year but a great, layered and integrated wine. Excellent. — 9 years ago

LM Segal

9.3

Dusty sour cherry and cocoa nose on a beautiful dark cherry, sour plum and dark chocolate core. Long, fine tannins. One of 2 bottles was off but the "on" one more than made up for it! Not one of those super-long-term Flacc's, but quite yummy, very much a food wine. — 9 years ago

with Mark, Joe and 1 other

Tom Kobylarz

9.5

Regrettably the one Bodega I missed from a stomach bug on my trip last week, though I still love love you Spain and look forward to going back. Now back to the wine....
A beautiful ruby core with some orange and pink at the edges.
The nose is elegantly fruited, with dry flowers, cherry and American oak notes of coconut, dill and toast.
The palate is elegant, refined, while masterfully complex and persistent at the same time. The finish is long and crazy silky. One of the few GR from a very older producer that uses only proprietary fruit.

— 11 years ago

Dario Scimeca

9.2

This is in a great drinking window. A little funk on the nose that blew off and revealed a dense core of blue fruit and smoothed out tannins. — 11 years ago

with Heather

Mark Grammer

9.4

Delicious. Fruit well balanced with a bit of earth and mocha. Tannins soft on this 08. — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From a great old looking bottle with a mid shoulder fill. Cork is fully saturated and the crud under the capsule had formed a strong seal. Slow-ox’d for a few hours, then decanted for an hour or two before taken to L’Escargot in Carmel. Amber tawny rims with a reddish tawny core. Crazy nose right from the start. Notes of sweet black cherries, tobacco leaf, plums, black pepper, ash and crusty wood, pencil shavings, some just unwrapped cigar and some menthol. Silky in the mouth with firm structure and soft but present acidity. Long and memorable finish. Outstanding performance over several hours. — 6 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.7

Quite a young looking colour , ruby core still with garnet rim. Lovely expressive nose . Ripe blackberry , Asian spice, licorice , leather lots of complexity . On the palate rich and rewarding , sweet tannins and balancing acidity . Lovely ripe fruit , real length also , goes on and on. Lovely wine . — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.3

Deep garnet red with ruby core. Tasted blind. Very tight and dark on the nose with dark cocoa, dark spices and soft dark berries. Heavy tannins (8/10) and full bodied. Very dark palate as well with black cherries, cassis, black currants, dark cocoa and a little woody. Long and lingering finish. Thought this was a bit older than a 2013 but powerful, needs some time to fully develop. Drink till 2032. (93+) — 9 years ago

with Sean and India

LM Segal

9.4

Great breeding trumps a below-average vintage. Blind, the nose alone gives away the DNA of this phenomenal wine. This Merlot-dominated Cheval has a beautiful core of cocoa powder, prune and plums. Structure from sweet oak and cab franc skins come through on the finish. Excellent, but a world away from the 2000 that's a palate-reference for me. Don't wait on this one, this well-stored bottle felt past its apex. — 10 years ago

Daniel Mahdavian

Consulting Somm-Daniel Mahdavian Ventures

9.0

Core of velvety crushed vanilla cherry candy, a bit closed, not showing as mature. Good little mint, herbs, black olives. — 11 years ago

Neil Johnston

9.0

Nice big balance of berries, earth and velvet finish. — 12 years ago

Joe Gillies

9.2

Amazing and very accessible right now. Black fruit with some smoke. Purchassd on sale at $24. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.3

A few fun 4th Friday wines from tonight.

A bigger and more rich style of GL than I’m accustomed to, but in a good way. This powerhouse vintage is evident in this wine with so much concentration and complexity. Classical Bordeaux traits of herbs de Provence, leather, cedar and graphite. The core here is deep and dark with ripe black fruits, currant, potpourri and a finish showing sweet tannins. This will cruise for a while, but it’s very good now. — 6 years ago

with Dan

Bill Bender

9.4

Very strong showing and actually really surprising for this vintage. Thank you so much @Shawn R. A very deep ruby core, noticeable chewy tannins, truffle, iron and cassis. Less sweet fruit than the ‘86 but more powerful. — 7 years ago

Dimitri Fedotov, C.S.

Sommelier Osteria 177

9.2

Gorgeous. Complex. Nice tannin trap at the end. — 9 years ago

George Chen

9.1

A little bready now but still sweet core and melted tannins. Cork was dry though but wine seemed fine. — 9 years ago

David Castricone

9.7

Sweet black licorice and bright chewy fruit core, wrapped in a silk layer with a ultra long finish. The mouthfeel is drawn out in some slow, ethereal motion. Still many years to go. — 10 years ago

with Kiley, Heath and 1 other

Paul Schmidt

9.7

An incredible wine. It tasted as if it were just a few years old. Beautiful core of dark fruit and earth. A gorgeous expression of the valley. As Austin Peterson, Ovid Winemaker, said as we drank this "man California wine!" — 11 years ago

with Ashley