Christanna Honer

10

Can't say enough about the depth and complexity. Brûlée, dulce de leche, saffron, cumin, cashews, touch of coconut, kaffir, ginger. Silence-inducing on the palate.

This is perfect. — 10 years ago

Lauren Fowler

9.4

Just beautiful. A touch of American oak. Vanilla. Perfect companion for Christmas dinner. — 10 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.5

1998 vintage. Earthy and roasted almond. Ripe lemon rind. Full bodied. Rich mouth feel. Mocha. Acidity not overbearing - touch light? Long concentrated finish. Excellent — 11 years ago

Jonathan Lipsmeyer

9.5

This differs from the 07-09s in that it has an intriguing green aroma (bay leaf? Menthol? Geranium? Some strange stalky pollen?) and seems just a touch hotter at 13%, but my beloved skunky Black Forest wine is here and this is just gorgeous. Pomegranate and cranberry. Lacks just a tiny bit of heft on the finish to be truly stratospheric. — 12 years ago

Joyce Lin

8.9

Purple/red flower on the nose, candied cherry, tiny touch of black pepper, thyme, mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, medium plus tannin, a touch of tobacco, cocoa powder, beautiful and velvety. A very nice Chinon. Had pasta asparagus/mushroom pasta with anchovy garlic butter sauce with it. It's a wonderful pairing. — 10 years ago

Kyo Jin

9.3

Thought this would be a bit lean, but pleasantly proved otherwise. Still very full fruit with a touch greenness. — 11 years ago

Francis Wilden

Director Francis Wilden Food & Wine Consulting

9.0

2009: quite dense appearance; ripe black / red fruit w a faint touch of horse hair (Brett ); generously proportioned attack of ripe red and black fruit, leads onto medium weight palate which finishes fruitfully but without the verve of a "classic" vintage. A satisfying and quite delicious drink without being memorable. A lot of 09 burgundies would fit these descriptors. — 11 years ago

Cody Short

9.2

Drinking really well. Wonderful notes of tobacco, lead pencil, earthy and a touch of bell pepper. — 10 years ago

Kristi

9.0

A touch of brett added intrigue without needing to dump the bottle. Otherwise the wine shows like many Bordeaux. Albeit with napa fruit. — 10 years ago

Justin Ennis

10

This is the 1985 Napa Cab and was tasted out of 5 liter. This wine was excellent! Herbal notes with a touch of saddle. I was so surprised by how much red fruit was on the pallet with a wine this old! Amazing! — 11 years ago