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

WineMascot

9.3

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

Trish Barry

9.4

So wish that I could have brought more of this wine back to Australia. It's superb! — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.2

Napa wines are where I got my start and '97-'02 was my playtime, it's great to taste an excellent wine like this 15 years later when people back then said Napa would only age 6-10 years tops. Many like this one can go 20, or in some cases 30 years. Cheers to the #oldschool which seems to be the #newschool. — 9 years ago

Jonathan Wall

9.2

California Duck migration North. Duckhorn's Washington State adventure looks promising. Full, meaty, and smooth. And taste True to Washington. For their 2nd bottling a great effort and one I expect would get deeper and open with a few years in the bottle because it feels to be holding back from its full potential. Tasted over two nights. — 10 years ago

David L

9.0

11' medium bodied. Middle and back of the palate are showing. Fruit & some light oak. Blueberries, ripened fresh strawberries. Complexity is lacking :$).Can't wait to try the 12' # wife enjoyed it. @ Ka'ana kitchen, Maui — 10 years ago

Deb K

10

Full bodied wine layered with cooked black fruit and a smooth back spice. — 10 years ago

Jim Walsh

9.0

This wine gets better with age. Very refined, bold fruits. Full bodied and silky smooth finish. Don't rush - just sit back and enjoy the complexity. A wonderful experience! — 11 years ago

Brian Koncius

10

Love the back label! See previous for thoughts on wine. — 12 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

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

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

David L

9.5

10' Bevan Sugarloaf . Cabernet Franc & Merlot blend... I also think a little CS? Super dark purple in color. This is a beast out of the bottle. Poured a very small glass & decanted the rest of the bottle for an hour +. I get chocolate, tar, tea, spices. The black fruits I get towards the front/middle/back of the palate...very , very good!! Nevertheless a lasting impression with a smooth & long finish. Another wine I would love to try again in 2/3 years. Drinking over the next 10 years. — 10 years ago

Michael LoRusso

9.6

2007 Vintage V - pulled it from the cellar and shared with colleagues on the plane ride back rom San Diego Friday night. Simply spectacular. I think that Mike Lamborn and family may have picked up a few more customers! — 10 years ago

Rick Phillips

9.5

One of the few bottles remaining. This wine has been discontinued but we were lucky enough to buy some of the few remain bottles. Smooth front to back. 2005 — 10 years ago

with Letha

Corrie Lyle

9.6

Smooth and lovely. Just like me. And back at the sheriffs tower x-Tina. Aka Claudia. — 11 years ago

with Sue

Bernard Rethore

Owner, Fion Wines

9.1

Back in 2006, I had the good fortune to invest in a box of the Neal vineyard designated bottlings pre-release. They have been sleeping in my cellar ever since. Last night, Tony the Fish, who is a frequent contributor to these pages, arrived with a bottle of the 2010 Neal cab sav. It was a solid effort and Mrs Fish quite enjoyed it. As we finished the bottle I remembered I had some of the 2003 vineyard designated wines in the back of the cellar and figured it was time to check in on them. We started with the Second Chance from Atlas Peak. Generally I am a mountain fruit guy, and like the volcanic soil that yields low yielding structured wines. There was plenty of stuffing left after 11 years, and a nice contrast to the 2010 cab sav blend. We then moved to Chafen. Another mountain- Howell this time, slightly lower elevation vineyard. This wine was bigger than the Second Chance with mouthfuls of ripe cassis, berry fruit and coffee- almost a cocoa powder character to it. The final wine of the night - and best of show - was the Howell Mountain Estate. Dark rich tannins with intense velvety chocolate cake flavors. This was a fun night going from the 2010 blend to the all 2003 single vineyard designates. Most of us aren't patient enough or buy them as a group so you can taste them altogether at once. Everyone should do this from to time. It reminds me at least of how different climate and soil can be in the same year. It's even better with friends. Thank you Mr Fish for the inspiration. — 11 years ago

with Susan

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

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

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

Nils Johnson

9.3

(My portfolio). Still cruising along with its powerful self. Black licorice and blueberry jam and a smokiness to go along with that Howell Mountain herbal back note. — 9 years ago

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.3

Definitely would drink now. Decanted for about 3 hours. Still has a bit of a kick on the back end. Starting to taste a little raisin-y though. Still a nice wine though. Quite smooth. — 9 years ago

Evan Carlson

9.3

Fabulous black fruits with savory notes. Fine tannins and acidity. Just keeps u coming back for more. — 10 years ago

Steve Cade

9.0

For the price a very good wine. $16.99 at Costco-Nov 15
I went back and bought six more — 10 years ago

Julie D

9.7

Plumpjack wine tasting today & brought bottle back to hotel to enjoy! — 10 years ago

Cherie McNett

9.0

Brought this back from our recent trip to Napa and shared with my dear cousin last night--it was wonderful. Definit — 10 years ago

Chris Garmon

9.2

Still going strong with dark fruits on the front and a little spice on the back end — 11 years ago

Mark Hicken

9.0

Tasty and a dialled back style for Napa , could use slightly better oak integration, but lovely, looking forward to pairing with a rib-eye. — 12 years ago