1985 vintage. Nice fill. Excellent cork. Decanted and tasted after 15 minutes thru the 1.5 hours it lasted. Very little sed. Plenty of color. Light-medium body but got bigger and more developed after 45 mins or so. Tobacco, earth and cedar in spades along with dark fruit. This has plenty of life remaining at a high level. Wonderful stuff. 3.24.24. — 3 months ago
4th wine of BYOB blind. Very light with a slight effervescence, leading us to call this as a natty pinot. Was surprised it was such a classic. Have had Mt Eden Pinot before and this was not in the same neighborhood of depth/forest floor. Alas, not my favorite vintage — 5 months ago
Lovely oak smell, medium-full bodied, dark fruits, lightly dry. — 6 months ago
Great with a cheese tray! — 4 months ago
Imagine a great Cote Rotie, Cornas, and a Cal Syrah step into a bar. The atmosphere is all French but the ‘Mercian makes it interesting and overblown with too much density. It was spectacular, but if it were a bit more reserved, and didn’t stain my Riedel, it would have been on another level. — 5 months ago
On first open, the butter/malo notes are overpowering everything. Some fruit and acidity in there but hidden. Will see how it evolves with some air. — 3 months ago
Privileged to sample the 2016 Monte Bello at the winery as part of their Library offerings. The bottle is $375 at the winery. Tight and tannic after 8 years (and half an hour of decanting) but promising much more. Josh at the winery concedes that it’s in a dumb phase but should reach its peak in 20-30 years. I could analyze and pick apart this one for hours. — 4 months ago
Pretty darn close to old school Napa. — 9 months ago
Delicious and fine. Nice balance and rich. — 5 months ago
Excellent — 5 months ago
Wine pairing at Harbor House Inn lunch — 7 months ago
John Howard
Harvest production at Hirsch and Cobb Wineries
So good. Leaner vintage. — a month ago