Tom Garland

9.4

Library tasting at Seavey...luv them with some age on them....Dont drink em too young!!
1999 estate cabernet
2006 estate cabernet
2008 estate cabernet
2012 estate cabernet
2016 estate cabernet
2006 Caravina cab
2011 Caravina cab
2004 Merlot
2006 Merlot

Fun tasting way back on Conn Valley Road in Napa. — 6 years ago

with Brenda

Rebecca Fletcher

9.7

1988 vintage! Still has vibrant acidity and fruit! Fabulous! — 7 years ago

Bryan Kesting

9.4

A few friends got together to drink a couple Cayuse “Armada” wines. One was a 2005 library wine purchased over the summer and the 2012 I had. The biggest difference between the two was the long finish on the 2005. I do feel if you give the 2012 a few more years it will be the overall better wine. I felt like it had more going on. The 2012 was fresh and lively just without the long finish. — 8 years ago

Chris England

9.3

Love this aged library release @ £32 that's fab value 👍

🍷 Garnet ruby w/ brick edge

👃 Gorgeous stewed spiced dark berries & plums through old leather, warm smokey oak, mushroom, red cherry potpourri, wet earth, liquorice, dates, prune & rich cocoa - it's sniffing oo la la 😍

👄 Med+ body of creamy silky dark fruits galore w/ an earthy liquorice & mocha gateaux backbone

🎯 Med+ deep earthy dark fruit mocha chewy gateaux finale

Recommended for sure 👍 — 8 years ago

Yianni Stone

9.2

Library Recorking 3L — 9 years ago

Matt Trader

9.5

2000 is just beautiful right now! The color is mesmerizing - sunburnt orange rim, brick red, with a dark crimson core. When you open this one, you get immediate cellar funk and compost flying out of the bottle, but after about 40 minutes, the funk flies, and what you're left with a true lightning bolt..(coup de foudre!) Leather couches in a frequented library, espresso, stewed red apple skins, and bell pepper, tobacco, and dried carnations. Tannins are still firmly present, and still sexy in feel (yes, velvet love in liquid form), black plums, graphite, bell pepper, clove spice, and a soft and lush finish. I think this wine could see another 15 years at least with the youth it began to show around 2.5 hrs after being opened. If you can find any 2000 around, grab 3.. lay 2 down, drink one now. Happy Valentine's Day! — 9 years ago

Trefethen Family Vineyards

9.9

Still beautiful after all these years. — 10 years ago

Raechel Sims

9.1

Not a terrible bottle for a Tuesday night. Coincidentally, was discussing the 1998 vintage with the Cristom team today. Steve's recollection: cool July, nice Indian summer mid-September, provided a lot of good acidity. Obviously that had tapered off somewhat in this bottle, but in its wake was a bit of anise, tea, dusty fig - pretty much all the lovely things you want to say about a library Eyrie and sound like an asshat no matter what. Lovely pour. — 11 years ago

Ben Palos

9.1

Lots of dried red fruit and herbs. Beautiful showing of how #NapaValley #CabernetSauvignon can age well. — 12 years ago

Mike Kane

9.7

From the Longshadows library. Excellent. — 12 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

And they call this their “second” wine. After McHenry in Santa Cruz, Seavey was an absolute show stopper for me on our recent trip to wine country. We had the opportunity to try five different wines with three bonus pours from recent and library wines and I tell you: All 👏🏼 eight 👏🏼 were 👏🏼 bangers 👏🏼. From their Chardonnay (which was sprung on us the moment we arrived, was acid driven and had the most delightful spine of minerals that I could have sworn it was GC Chablis), to their Rosé (which is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend and bends what’s possible with the genre) to their Founder’s Reserve (which didn’t present much in the value dept. but was a killer wine nevertheless). Anyway, this 2005 Caravina is positively singing right now. Opulent amounts of plums, cassis, brambles, and sweet tobacco with secondary characteristics juuuuust starting to make their appearance: leather, truffle, and forest floor. Moderate acid. Firm tannins still! What a beauty...in a sort of masculine way. America! — 7 years ago

Andrea Watt

9.2

Smoked apricot and honey. — 7 years ago

Pete Midgley

10

Our fav bubbles! Only available in Nappa though. — 8 years ago

with Lisa

DB

9.3

... works perfectly for our palate — 8 years ago

with TB

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

They should have called the Winery Floral Springs based on the nose. Beautiful; blackberry, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, dry cranberries and plum floral fruits. Nice spice, vanilla, touch of clove & cinnamon, used leather, dark rich soil, crushed volcanic minerals, black fruit tea, black raspberry cola and dark fresh florals with violets. The tannins are 95% resolved. The body is lush & ripe. The length, tension & structure are nearing the end. Just a few years left of being worthwhile. However, the balance is stereo tuned. The fruit on the palate shows even more elegant & ripe floral fruits than the nose. Blackberry, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, dry cranberries and plum floral fruits. Nice spice, vanilla, light clove & cinnamon, used leather, dark rich soil, crushed volcanic minerals, black fruit tea, black raspberry cola and dark fresh florals with violets for days. The acidity is like a waterfall. The beautiful, long, elegant finish is a little lean yet has a nice richness. Beautiful wine that just missed 9.2. Photos top to bottom and left to right. The Winery; which is separate from the other tasting room only on Hwy 29. The tasting room on Hwy 29 in St. Helena, Flora Spring caves and the front of their tasting room along Hwy 29. Producer notes and history...the stone winery on the grounds were built in 1885 by two immigrant brothers from Scotland, James and William Rennie. They were in construction, built the winery and planted 60 acres of grapes. The brothers had some bad fortune when phylloxera consumed the vines, and then a fire in 1900 destroyed their wine press and cooperage. In 1904, they sold the winery and fifteen years later Prohibition started. The winery was then closed until 1933. That year, Louis Martini, looked into their magic eight-ball and saw Prohibition collapsing and bought the Rennie property. They built a new stone house and also made a reserve wine from the hillside vineyards. However, the old winery remained empty until the Komes family bought the property, 325 acres, the old farm house, the newer stone house and 60 acres of vineyards. The son thought he’d persuade his dad to restore the old winery and proposed to call it Chateau Jerome. Although it had been designed by Hamden McIntyre an architect of several other classic 19th-century Napa wineries, by 1977, the place was a wreck. The tin roof of the building had so many holes in it. They called it the starlight roof. His father looked at it and stated, “I’ve worked all my life for my good name. I don’t want to squander it now.” John’s mother, Flora, however, sided with her son on the potential of the property. Carrie Komes suggested they could name the winery for her mother-in-law. Combined with the abundant springs on the land, they decided the name would be Flora Springs. It was a sure way to their mom’s heart and father’s wallet. Komes put his construction expertise to work on renovating the old winery, which still had scorch marks on the walls. So skeptical was his father about his son’s wine-making project, they divided the winery building. John rented half where he put his first fermenting tank, which he named R2D2. He invited a couple of friends from his wine-making class to help make wine at the new place. He also hired Mary Ann Graf, who in 1965 had been the first woman to graduate from the viticulture and enology department at UC Davis to help manage the project. She told John, “if you don’t hire a winemaker, I’ll quit.” He did and the 1979 Flora Springs chardonnay won a gold medal at the Los Angeles County Fair. In those days, it was fairs, not ratings. This was his first lesson in marketing as they sadly sold all the wine before they won the medal. Fairs were the big news instead of ratings as Parker had not yet risen to fame as he was the only one to call the grand 1982 Bordeaux vintage correctly. They submitted their 1981 Cabernet to eight fairs and won seven gold medals. From there, the winery just kept growing. They were the 67th winery in the county. Over the years, they had their ups and downs, but kept growing. One of their highlights was the creation this wine, Trilogy. It was one of the first Meritage blends in the valley. By 1984, they planted all the Bordeaux varietals; Malbec, Merlot, Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. They wanted to create a blend “by taste”, not by formula for a nice smooth wine that goes deep into the palate. They worked with a little of this and little of that. The first Trilogy was Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc. It was dubbed as velvet in the mouth. A lot of what they do is taming the tannins. One man who bought Trilogy by the case said, “it’s the only red wine his wife would drink young.” From the leftovers, they began making single-varietal estate wines. Another highlight was the discovery of a unique clone of Sauvignon Blanc in vineyards his father bought in Oakville. UC Davis could identify nothing like it in their vast library of clones. They were a bit ahead of the times, but this clone showed Flora Springs how different in that time period what Sauvignon Blanc could be like as it took all the grassiness out of Sauvignon Blanc. — 8 years ago

Scott C

Founder / Co-director SR Wine imports

10

By far the best Austrian Riesling I have ever tasted . Salomon Undhof fantastic producer , this wine is incredible . Granit , honey , wet stone , still so fresh . Perfect — 11 years ago

Adam Jesberger

9.8

Whoa, true oxidative goodness here. Brioche, toast, slight lanolin and some awesome oxidized green apple presentation. Lemon curd and lime rind, dust and library notes. Great bottle! — 11 years ago

Jason Hemming

9.1

Definitely some bottle variability in these library releases but this '95 was singing. Dark fruit remain front and center with moderate oak and well integrated tannins. Some dusty rustic notes make add some appreciated complexity. — 12 years ago

Brian Tuite

8.9

Love Fred's library releases! Friday first pour. — 13 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

The reason I fell in love with Bordeaux is because I had one of the greatest mentors one could have, Clyde Beffa Jr. - Owner of K&L Wine Merchants. I could never thank him enough or show enough gratitude for the kindness he has shown me. He has been going to Bordeaux multiple times a year for 40 plus years and shown me the greatness of well made Bordeaux’s enjoyed at the age of 25 years plus!

Many who open well made Bordeaux’s young will never know the absolute Heaven they bring to the palate and even more so with a great steak. You only rob yourself of perfection when you open them inside of 25 years. Sure you can check em at 10-15 years for longevity but, you need to have/save bottles for 25 years plus.

Also, an old Bordeaux at 95 is not nearly the same as a young 95. At this age, technical scores are simply not the same as young wine. The enjoyment is completely different.

The nose reveals; a slight touch of funk, dark, ripe, currants, blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, strawberries on the edge of the glass, anise, cedar, graphite, used leather, just a whiff of green pepper, vanilla, caramel, mocha, dark Asian spice, incense, dark & mid berry cola, dark, rich earth, underbrush, limestone, dry stone, hint of sweet tarriness, light, dry herbaceousness, black tea, with dry, withering, fresh, dark, red, blue candied flowers and violets and lavender for days.

The body is round, soft and full. The 90 is the definition of elegant and floral. The structure, tension, length and balance are perfect with another 5-10 years of pleasure to give. It’s gorgeous and sexy. Dark, ripe, currants, blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, some blueberries, strawberries on the long set, anise, cedar, graphite, soft, used leather, vanilla, caramel, mocha, dark chocolate, salted, milk chocolate, dark Asian spice with just a touch of palate heat, a hint of green pepper, savory meats, incense, dark & mid berry cola, dark, rich earth, underbrush, limestone, dry crushed minerals, dry stone, hint of sweet tarriness, light, dry herbaceousness, black tea, with dry, withering, fresh, dark, red, blue candied flowers and violets and lavender for days. The acidity is perfect like a warm gentle rain shower. The finish is a “forget about it.” It’s; gorgeous, sexy, lush, ripe, just the right amount of earthiness, elegant, well balanced and will persist until you go to sleep.

13% ABV. I sure miss the 12–13% ABV of the 80 & early 90 Bordeaux’s.

Photos of; the majestic Chateau Cos d’Estournel and Estate vines, their barrel room with translucent floor to walk above, their library cellar that most would love to raid and their sitting salon.
— 7 years ago

K L

9.2

Really nice. Excellent value. More interesting than the library cab. Would stock up on this. — 8 years ago

with Matt

Alex Hughes

9.4

Aged beautifully. Purchased directly from the Hanzell library 4 years ago. Surprisingly dark core considering its age, with it progressing to medium garnet and brown at the edge. clean nose with primary cherry, fig, prune, forest floor, and secondary of toasted wood, Caramel, and loads of tertiary aromas- leather, cigar box, anise. Perfectly balanced and long finish. Drink within the next 12 months. — 8 years ago

Tom Inners

9.4

Yum. Bought this bottle on 'Evacu-cation' during our escape from Calistoga wildfires to sunny Ojai. One of a few library wines scored from the Ojai Vineyard tasting room. Great example of California Chardonnay at its best. Shows restraint and reserve with invigorating acidity. Tasting great at this age. — 9 years ago

Boxer Briefs

10

First sparkling wine Argyle ever made. On Yeast for 25 years, disgorged 5 years ago for the 25th anniversary. Like butterscotch and lemon had a baby. Incredibly fresh and alive. It's all about context... — 9 years ago

Landshark 626

9.1

A fantastic summer wine. Enjoyed at the Huntington Library summer concert. — 10 years ago

Dan Mellor

9.0

Seriously it is not a library wine but for an $8 blend not sure there's is a ton better — 10 years ago

Richard Baum

9.4

Our pick of the Wine Library 2015 Charity Tasting — 11 years ago

with Josh

Lily Mirabelle Freedman

9.3

Cedar lined old library disturbed for the first time in 2 decades — 11 years ago

Nicole Dodson

9.4

Stunning, pre-bret Cain! — 12 years ago

Scott T

VP/Senior Wine Specialist Christie's

9.6

Rock'n bottle. Believed original release, not library release. I luv '64s! — 13 years ago