Scott Kahn

9.2

Twos year later from my last tasting reaffirms my last rating. Still amazingly soft for a Cabernet; the tannic structure reveals itself on the back palette. Dark fruit and leather - some more time opening would improve the experience. Beautiful balance; we are enjoying sans food but some red meat would complement nicely! — 5 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Last time I opened one of these was back in 2012....what a difference six years has made! This wine has come to full maturity. Drinking at the very top and showing everything it has. Dark black mulberry, balckberry, figs and sweet roasted plums. Middle goes dark and gritty. Espresso bean, while still retaining an overt sweetness. the finish of this has great balance, nice acidity, resolving tannin, roasted black fruits and black pepper. Dang. Happy 4th of July everyone! — 6 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.6

Man, this is really when these wine should be consumed... the unfortunate truth is that my willpower to hold these wines for 10 years post vintage is just about zero. Lucky for me I kind of forgot about some of these, enabling me to experience them at full maturity. This wine was built to kick ass. And that is exactly what it is doing tonight. Black fruit, tar, hedonistic black fruit from start to finish. Tannin that is resolving and integrating nicely. Wine is balanced amazingly well from front to back. The last one of these I opened was with @Shay A and doing well....but I think it has really come into prime! This one only took about 15 minutes of air to start expressing its maturity. I think the last bottle took about an hour. I would say this wine is just about as top of the Heap as it can get. DRINK NOW! — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

REALLY glad I'm getting another one of these in soon, but it is going to take some willpower to hold on to the remainder of these. Compared to the 2006 that was opened up a little while back, this one has a more youthful flare to it. Black cherry crush. Fruit density is there. Still perhaps a touch acidic from start to finish, definitely more acidity than the 06. Finish is sweeter youthful raspberry and black cherry and a bit of pepper and tannin. Definitely less 'old world' than the 06. — 7 years ago

WineMascot

9.3

2011, bright red fruit and youthful fruit tannins great acidity in the back — 8 years ago

LM Segal

9.7

Top 2-3 Napa Cabs I've ever had. Magical nose, cassis, cocoa, red flowers. Rich but nicely aged mid-palate, spreading into a wide swathe of candied red and black fruit, soft but powerful. Secondary stuff in spades. Then - an explosion at the back-end of cedary fruit and fig, tobacco, dark chocolate that lasted for >60 seconds. Just a monumental wine, sadly a solo.
This is note #500 for me, grateful to so many Delectable contributors who take the time to educate and expand my wine perspectives (or, in the case of @Bill Bender...other stuff, too!). Thanks to @Anthony Lombardi @Kimberly Anderson @Jörgen Lindström Carlvik @Jeff Savigny@Ron R@Shawn R @Richard Steinberg @Martin G Rivard (who is living the dream), @Greg Gregory among so many others, not to mention @Roman Sukley with magical reach to inaccessible, iconic SQNs (and the will to pop them) and frank open perspectives from legendary winemakers like @Mike Smith and @Cathy Corison, you all make this a neat community of which I try to be a small contributor.
Finally - a renewed plea to @Antonio Galloni to return "trending" to this community, as it was stolen by the bean counters! I'm no social media expert (I do have 2 teenagers!) but I'm pretty sure that "trending" speaks to the integrity and will to contribute of an entire community...take a look! — 9 years ago

with Melissa

Donald Williams

9.1

Wellington 2006 week drawing to a close with a spectacular Cab. Three single vineyard Cabs from a wine.woot offer back in 2012, and a single vineyard Zin, all from the 2006 vintage. It’s been a week of superb food and equally superb wine. — 5 years ago

with Bonnie

Hayden B. Oothout

9.0

Well balanced blend from Chappellet. Nothing over the top or spectacular about this blend but it is very enjoyable and drinkable. Fruit forward with some spice on the back end that integrates well with the balanced oak. Subtle tannins and light acidity. Drink now or hold for a few years but nothing long term. — 7 years ago

Dan skoda

9.2

From 375. Brought back from a Napa trip a few years ago. This is singing with lamb loin chops, basmati wild rice and salad. Savory wood notes and Incense. Black cherry and black raspberry fruit holding it’s own. Finishes fresh and satisfying. — 7 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Wonderful evening at the City Club courtesy of Jeff’s hosting at the Friday group. Cellar guessing Jeff is a dangerous game as he’s the type who plans to throw curveballs! All wines served blind.

Ageless. Based on color, I immediately thought Napa but the palate had me second guessing. Some rose petal, spice and tart cherry. Cedar. This tastes so much younger than the ‘88 I opened a few months back. Wonderful wines. — 7 years ago

with Dan

Y Kwon

9.3

Extracted, dark purple. Powdery tannins with nice back end fruit. Double decanting to see if I can get it to open up. — 8 years ago

Ryan Akens

9.6

Full of berries that boast a tremendous amount of flavor that keeps you coming back for the next sip — 8 years ago

Rick Phillips

9.7

Great Deep Flavors. Smooth velvet front to back! Dark Cherry Vanilla Hint of Blackberry! — 9 years ago

with Letha

Ken Venezio

9.2

This is old school Ladera back when the Stotesbury fam had the winery. Quintessential Howell Mtn. Inky in the glass with florals and cocoa and black/blueberry on the palate. Soft and elegant finish. Needed a good hour decant but this 10 yr bottle age did wonders. — 6 years ago

Skip Smyser

9.3

A real treat. Something different. Most enjoyable. Long lingering back pallet taste — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.5

The 2016 Long Shadows 'Saggi' is a thrilling blend of Sangiovese (Boushey and Candy Mountain Vineyards) with 29% Cabernet Sauvignon (Weinbau Vineyard) and the remainder Syrah (Den Hoed Dutchman and Bacchus Vineyards). The nose is drop-dead gorgeous with bacon fat, black olive tapenade, mocha and fennel. The stunning range of aromas bring you back to the glass for more. Revealing a silky texture and a wonderfully ripe mouthfeel, this slowly unveils smoked meat, black tea, milk chocolate covered cherry and roasted fig flavors. Decadent, layered and downright delicious, this beautiful wine will enjoy an exceedingly long life in the cellar. Drink 20-9-2033- 95 — 7 years ago

Robert McCall

9.2

I let this air out for about 4 hours. Glad I did. Soaring nose of clean dark berry, plum, and tobacco lifted me up and floated me back down into my chair. Wowsies! The drinking part of this wine is more or less as expected but still very enjoyable providing dark plummy fruit, anise, smoothed out tannic structure. Misses a bit mid-palate. That being said I spent most if my time with it sniffing while my wife depleted most of the bottle herself. Go figure. — 7 years ago

Justin Rose

9.2

Strong aromas of baking spices, caramel, currant and back strap molalass. Good balance that builds. Soft firm supple tannins. Paul says BOOBS. I agree. Aubrey thought it was a cab. Enough said. — 8 years ago

Kirk F

9.0

Nice juice from Minnesota folk to wrap up a nice evening. This has been laying down a while and the tannins are smoothed out, taking a back seat to ample dark fruits. It all results in a super dark and juicy wine in the glass with a soft texture. — 8 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

The best thing about pouring for a producer is the leftover at the end of the night. Yesterday, this wine was meek and mild. Tonight? Quite the opposite. Power and complexity which is still there is magnified significantly. These wines are young! Tonight this one had a dense blackberry core with graphite, a hint of cola toward the finish. Licorice as it hits the back. Nice and dense core. 2013 Rian is even darker! — 9 years ago